Impact of Macrotexture and Microtexture on the Skid Resistance of Asphalt Pavement Using Three-Dimensional (3D) Reconstruction and Printing Technology

In this study, the feasibility of using three-dimensional (3D) printing technology to investigate the impact of macrotexture and microtexture on the skid resistance of asphalt pavement was verified. The macrotexture characteristics of the five types of real asphalt mixtures were captured, reconstructed, and printed. The comparison analysis of the skid resistance between the pavement and printed specimens was conducted, and the correlations and contribution proportions of the macrotexture and microtexture on skid resistance were also calculated. Results show that five printed asphalt mixtures present good consistency in the microtexture with a roughness of about 100 nm. The impact of thin water film on the skid resistance is insignificant for real asphalt mixtures, while it is significant for printed mixtures. The printed specimens under dry conditions show a similar British pendulum number (BPN) with the real pavement specimens under wet conditions, while the BPN under wet conditions for printed specimens are much smaller than the real ones but follows a similar variation trend. Mean profile depth (MPD) values of four printed asphalt concrete (AC) mixtures are well linearly correlated with their BPN under dry and wet conditions, especially for wet conditions with the R² of 0.91. The contribution proportion of macrotexture to the skid resistance is nearly 90% for the dry condition and about 50% for the wet condition.