Study on the temperature characteristic and high temperature risk of asphalt layer of Beijing-Xinjiang ExpresswayWutong Daquan to Yiwu Section

High temperature rutting is a typical highway damage in Xinjiang, China, and its trigger process usually has a close relationship with characteristics of road temperature distribution. A numerical model of earth-atmosphere coupling heat transfer on a typical section of the Beijing-Xinjiang Expressway(G7) from Wutong Daquan to Yiwu was established in this work. Spatiotemporal characteristics of pavement structure layer temperature distribution, frequency and duration times of road surface high temperature from May 1 to September 30 are statistically studied. The effects of wind speed, weather and air temperature on asphalt layer and pavement temperature are analyzed. The results show that:(1) Spatial and temporal temperature distribution characteristics of pavement structural layers are greatly affected by the coupled earth-atmosphere heat transfer process. Surface temperature increases along the airflow direction and daily temperature variation of the pavement structure layer decreases with an increase of depth.(2) G7 expressway will face the challenge of high rutting damage. The proportion of temperature higher than 50 ℃ for pavement surface and asphalt upper layer both exceeds 50%and high temperature of road lasts for more than six hours in numerous days.(3) High temperatures of asphalt pavement are usually associated with low ambient wind speeds, while the wind flow has little cooling effect when the road surface temperature is relative high. Weather conditions have a significant impact on temperature of the road surface. The probability of high temperature in sunny days is obviously higher than other weather conditions.(4) Pavement temperature rises as air temperature rises. When air temperature is higher than 30 °C, the proportion of pavement daily maximum temperature over softening point reaches up to 78%.