Department of
Civil Engineering
 

Image of Gordon Airey

Gordon Airey

Professor of Pavement Engineering Materials, and Director of the Nottingham Transportation Engineering Centre, Faculty of Engineering

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Biography

Gordon Airey is the head of the Nottingham Transportation Engineering Centre research group.

Transportation Infrastructure Engineering MSc: Sustainable Highways / Sustainable Railways

Expertise Summary

Gordon's general research interests are in the areas of rheological characterisation of bitumen and asphalt mixtures, including polymer modified bitumens (PMBs) and crumb rubber modified (CRM) binders and mixtures; durability assessment (ageing and moisture susceptibility) of asphalt materials; micro-structural and mechanical property characterisation of asphalt mixture using 2D image analysis techniques and mechanical property tests including stiffness modulus, fatigue and permanent deformation resistance; the influence of compaction methods on the micro-structural and mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures; the influence of filler type and concentration on mechanical performance of asphalt mixtures and bitumen-filler mastics; constitutive modelling of asphalt mixture performance; and the measurement and assessment of interlayer bond between asphalt mixture pavement layers and materials. Gordon's interests are currently expanding to include physico-chemical analysis of bituminous materials in collaboration with chemists and chemical engineers.

Research Summary

An EPSRC-funded project 'The Influence of Laboratory Compaction Methods on the Performance of Asphalt Mixtures' investigating the effect of different compaction methods on the micro-structural and… read more

Selected Publications

Current Research

An EPSRC-funded project 'The Influence of Laboratory Compaction Methods on the Performance of Asphalt Mixtures' investigating the effect of different compaction methods on the micro-structural and mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures using primarily 2D image analysis techniques and standard mechanical property tests. An EPSRC-funded project 'Development and FE Implementation of a Non-Linear Constitutive Model for Asphalt' looking at the development of laboratory tensile and compressive failure tests for asphalt mixtures and the development, implementation and calibration of a constitutive model to predict permanent deformation performance of asphalt mixtures. Assessment of the influence of filler type and concentration on mechanical performance of asphalt mixtures and bitumen-filler mastics using zero shear viscosity concepts, dynamic mechanical analysis and binder fatigue testing protocols. Measurement and assessment of interlayer bond between asphalt mixture pavement layers and materials using the Torque Test and the Leutner Test. Measurement and computational fluid dynamic modelling of the viscosity-temperature relationship for pure binders, polymer modified bitumens and bitumen-filler mastics using the rotational viscometer.

Past Research

An EPSRC-funded project 'Fundamental Rheological Testing of Bitumen using a Dynamic Shear Rheometer' investigating issues such as repeatability of test results, the influence of sample preparation methods on rheological testing and the use of rheological data representation methods such as Black diagrams at identifying inconsistencies in rheological data. An EPSRC-funded project 'Characterisation of dry process crumb rubber modified asphalt mixtures' looking at the use of recycled tyres as a secondary aggregate in asphalt mixtures. Linearity limits for the stress-strain behaviour of bituminous binders and asphalt mixtures. The use of a visco-elasto-plastic constitutive model to characterise the mechanical performance of asphalt mixtures. The rheological and morphological characterisation of elastomeric and plastomeric polymer modified bitumens in their unaged and aged conditions using dynamic mechanical analysis and fluorescent microscopy. The development of a combined ageing/moisture susceptibility testing procedure, known as the Saturation Ageing Stiffness Modulus (SATS) test, to determine the long-term durability of high modulus base materials. The use of secondary aggregates such as slags and glass cullet as a partial aggregate replacement in asphalt mixtures.

Future Research

Expansion of the micro-structural analysis of asphalt mixtures using 3D X-ray tomography. Fundamental investigation of the influence of filler types on asphalt mixture durability and mechanical peformance using compositional analysis (grading, size analysis, shape) and surface properties (area and surface energy). Assessment of the influence of bitumen-aggregate interaction on both the ageing of bituminous binders and asphalt mixtures as well as the moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixtures. Expansion of research to include physico-chemical analysis of bituminous materials in collaboration with chemists and chemical engineers.

I welcome enquiries from potential PhD candidates from Home, EU and international countries who are interested in the following research areas: Mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures and mastics, bitumen rheology and binder modification, moisture damage and ageing of bituminous materials.

Department of Civil Engineering

The University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD


telephone: +44 (0) 115 95 14081