About
67
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Introduction
Civil Engineer, MSc, PhD, specialized in road engineering and materials with more than 15 years of professional and academic experience in Chile and overseas. Focus in the development of new technologies to increase the local road industry productivity. Current research is the self-healing and sustainable materials for road construction, use of recycled materials, and soil stabilization techniques for the productive sector.
Current institution
Additional affiliations
March 2018 - present
February 2011 - present
Position
- Professor (Associate)
Description
- Mechanics, Solid Mechanics, Research methods, Pavement Engineering, Geometric Design of Roads
February 2011 - February 2016
Education
August 2005 - September 2009
March 2000 - March 2002
March 1995 - March 2000
Publications
Publications (67)
The challenge of global warming has catalysed an urgent need for innovative materials that can reduce emissions and enhance sustainability in flexible pavements. One such advancement is the incorporation of biopolymers, particularly Kraft lignin, into asphalt mixtures. Kraft lignin is renowned for its high phenolic content, which endows it with ant...
Asphalt pavements are widely used in Chile and around the world, but their durability is compromised by bitumen aging, leading to higher maintenance costs. To mitigate this deterioration, studies have examined the use of antioxidants like lignin—a biopolymer derived from the paper industry—which can reduce bitumen hardening. In this study, Kraft li...
In the last decade, biomaterials derived from renewable sources have gained recognition as viable alternatives, particularly in the case of using lignin as an asphalt modifier. The rheological characterization of asphalt–lignin blends is typically conducted with a Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR), most commonly employing a Frequency–Temperature Sweep...
This study investigates how recycled metal fibres from End-of-Life Tyres (ELTs) affect both microwave heating efficiency and crack healing properties in dense asphalt mixtures. The aim is to improve tyre recyclability by using their fibres in asphalt and exploring their self-healing potential with microwave heating. To achieve this, four dense asph...
Global warming has triggered a series of strategies and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the reuse and recycling into asphalt pavements. One of these, is the reduction of production temperatures of asphalt mixtures, and the other is using sustainable antioxidants, such as Kraft lignin, with high phenolic content. Kraft lignin...
La predicción de la vida útil y la programación de obras de mantención de pavimentos son de gran importancia en la gestión de infraestructura, debido la gran cantidad de recursos económicos destinados para ello. En el caso de los pavimentos de una red aeroportuaria, la predicción de la vida útil y la programación del mantenimiento deben ser precisa...
Asphalt pavements are fundamental to the road networks of many countries. Every year, large sums of money are allocated for their development and maintenance. These funds are constantly being constrained, making it necessary to adopt alternatives that enhance durability. The processes that most affect asphalt performance involve aging caused by the...
Pavements are designed to provide an adequate level of service to road users, which is closely tied to their surface condition, with the longitudinal profile being the most significant factor affecting vehicles. Pavement profiles are evaluated using profilometry equipment. The standardized method for profile analysis is the International Roughness...
A nivel mundial y en Chile, los pavimentos asfálticos son infraestructura estratégica y anualmente, se deben asignar grandes cantidades de recursos económicos para nuevos caminos y el mantenimiento de los existentes. Sin embargo, estos recursos se van restringiendo siendo necesario estar a la búsqueda de alternativas que permitan reducir los costos...
The frequency and intensity of floods have increased due to climate change. These natural events negatively affect asphalt pavements, submerging their layers and reducing structural resistance. This work introduces a computational finite element model suitable for investigating the impact of floods on asphalt pavement response. Unlike previous work...
Pavements are the major load-carrying Civil Engineering structures in roads, runways, parking lots, and driveways; hence, they are fundamental for regional or national development. However, the pavement life cycle has significant environmental, economic, and social impacts. The asphalt pavement microwave heating self-healing technique (MWHSHT) is a...
The application of microwave radiation is an effective technique to promote the crack-healing of asphalt mixtures. The heat increases the bitumen temperature and reduces bitumen viscosity, flowing and sealing the open cracks. Normally, these types of asphalt mixtures contain metal additives that promote microwave heating. However, the literature re...
This chapter provides a comprehensive summary of the significant advances in self-healing bituminous materials from the engineering technologies associated with promoting the autonomous healing capability in the asphalt pavements to the large-scale applications.
Microwave heating of asphalt pavement is a promising technique to reduce the maintenance and increase the service life of materials through self-healing of cracks. Previous studies have shown that microwave heating technology at high temperatures could damage the bitumen of asphalt mixture, which is an unwanted effect of the crack-healing technique...
Self-healing asphalt pavements are an alternative and sustainable road infrastructure. Through a literature review and laboratory tests, the authors aimed to develop a methodology to study the efficiency of asphalt pavement self-healing techniques. Results showed that Healing Indexes based on peak loads could be misleading to estimate the effective...
Although researchers have investigated the concept of self-healing asphalt materials for decades, only recently has scientific interest in methods triggering self-healing properties of asphalt increased. Self-healing technologies are expected to increase the service life of materials and reduce their maintenance, decreasing raw materials consumptio...
Debris flows cause recurrent interruptions and permanent damages in rural road networks, representing significant economic losses. Embankments are road assets frequently exposed to debris flows, especially in mountainous areas. The potential risk of infrastructure exposed to debris flows can be assessed in terms of the probability of expected damag...
This paper reports part of an international research project with the long-term aim of developing more sustainable asphalt mixture with crack-healing properties by the addition of recycled metallic waste from industrial sources. Specifically, this article presents an evaluation of the physical, thermophysical, and mechanical properties of asphalt m...
The application of microwave radiation is an effective technique to promote the crack-healing of asphalt mixtures. The heat increases the bitumen temperature and reduces bitumen viscosity, flowing and sealing the open cracks. Normally, these types of asphalt mixtures contain metal additives that promote microwave heating. However, the literature re...
The growth of the population in cities and the increase in the use of construction materials caused the cities' internal temperature to increase, producing the effect known as urban heat island. For this reason, there is scientific interest in mitigation methods of adaptation to this effect in the construction area.
The main objective of this resea...
This article studies the effect of Portland and Pozzolanic cement on the crack-healing of mortars prepared with Bacillus pseudofirmus and calcium lactate as a nutrient. Mixtures were prepared with the same content of cement, water, sand, and Light Weight Aggregate. Results showed an inverse relationship between crack width and self-healed area, wit...
Rural roads play a crucial role in the economic and social development of societies. Therefore, they should be managed accordingly and supported by consistent public policies and suitable management practices. Maintenance requirements and costs depend upon the desired serviceability expected for the prevailing traffic, which can be estimated from t...
Water scarcity is a critical global-scale social risk. Several factors are affecting the availability of fresh water, like global population growth and the increase of industrial activities. Particularly in the mining industry, water is a critical resource for mineral production and road maintenance. Haul roads in surface mining operations are trad...
Self-healing asphalt mixtures by increasing bitumen temperature using microwave radiation is an effective technique for crack-healing asphalt mixtures. Normally, these types of mixtures contain additives that promote microwave heating. However, results from the literature suggest that crack-heling would be possible without additives. If this is pos...
Stabilized Emulsions (SE) is a Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) technique that reduces mixing temperatures to approximately 100 °C, the range of WMA with the greatest reduction in temperature compared to Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA). The term ‘stabilized’ refers to the good storage stability of the stabilized emulsion compared to that of common emulsions. Another t...
This paper aims to evaluate the effect of metallic waste addition on the electrical, thermophysical and microwave crack-healing properties of asphalt mixtures. With this purpose, asphalt mixtures with two different types of metallic waste, steel wool fibres and steel shavings, added in four different contents, were tested. Electrical and thermophys...
RESUMEN La autorreparación de mezclas asfálticas mediante calentamiento por microondas, es una tecnología que puede ser utilizada para la rehabilitación de pavimentos. La característica principal de este tipo de mezclas es que poseen pequeñas cantidades de elementos metálicos como fibras de lana de acero (FLA), que hacen que las mezclas tengan la c...
RESUMEN El hormigón es uno de los materiales más utilizados en Ingeniería Civil. Sin embargo, una de sus pocas desventajas es la formación de fisuras, por donde pueden ingresar el agua y agentes que aceleran el deterioro del material. Una alternativa para extender la vida útil del hormigón en la infraestructura es la incorporación de agentes autorr...
Low volume roads (LVR) account for approximately 70% of the world's roads, equivalent to 26 million kilometers. In LVR, unbound and stabilized granular layers give structural strength to the road. Since LVR present lower traffic volumes and loads compared to high traffic roads, lower standards are demanded, resulting in limited studies for understa...
Microwave heating of asphalt mixtures containing metal fibers is a promising technology for asphalt pavement rehabilitation. The main characteristic of these types of mixtures is that they have the ability to self-heal their cracks when external microwave heating is applied. Prior to this study, the assessment of crack-healing has only been conduct...
Several research groups and laboratories all over the world have taken up the idea of developing an asphalt that has self-healing properties. This technical article presents a general vision about research on self-healing asphalt conducted in The Netherlands and its example of application in Chile through the development of different research proje...
La supresión del polvo en caminos no pavimentados es fundamental para reducir enfermedades respiratorias en la comunidad, la probabilidad de accidentes por mala visibilidad, y la pérdida de productividad en caminos asociados a actividades económicas como la minería. Tradicionalmente la supresión de polvo se realiza regando grandes volúmenes de agua...
El objetivo de la estabilización química de suelos para caminos es aumentar la resistencia al corte del suelo o material existente para la condición prevaleciente de operación de dicho camino. Sin embargo, en ocasiones el comportamiento mecánico que tiene el suelo estabilizado es limitado, lo cual dificulta el diseño. Este trabajo presenta los resu...
La escasez del recurso árido en la zona sur de Chile y en particular en el sector forestal ha motivado que desde hace aproximadamente 15 años se haya comenzado a construir una cantidad importante de kilómetros estabilizados químicamente, con el fin de utilizar los suelos existentes en terreno y disminuir costos. Sin embargo, no existía un levantami...
In Chile, as in many South American countries, AASHTO-93 is the current official method for the design of asphalt pavements. The method gives an estimated number of 80 kN standard axle loads (W18) that the pavement can withstand for a certain serviceability. A safety factor is then applied to W18 to take into account the confidence level and the es...
In Chile, as in many South American countries, AASHTO-93 is the current official method for the design of asphalt pavements. The method gives an estimated number of 80 kN standard axle loads (W18) that the pavement can withstand for a certain serviceability. A safety factor is then applied to W18 to take into account the confidence level and the es...
The mix proportion design methods for full-depth reclamation mixtures using foamed bitumen normally fix a constant active filler content, and an indirect tensile strength (ITS) test is used to determine the optimum bitumen content. However, it has been reported in the literature that for some materials the ITS test is not sufficiently sensitive to...
Hygroscopy is the main stabilization mechanism that explains the good performance of magnesium chloride hexahydrate (6H(2)O.MgCl2 or simply MgCl) roads, as it absorbs and retains relative humidity (RH), reducing erosion and increasing durability. However, road users have observed that the skid resistance of MgCl roads decreases with increased RH. T...
From the literature, it is possible to find two trends regarding the stiffness evolution of foamed bitumen stabilized recycled mixtures. The first trend indicates that once the foamed bitumen mix reaches a constant value because of the curing process, the stiffness decreases with time because of load cycles. The second trend indicates that stiffnes...
Deterioration models allow predicting pavement condition and the development of maintenance programs. Normally, when evaluating pavement performance through model deterioration, the forecast given is a determinist value. However, pavement engineering projects have a degree of uncertainty. This implies that an adequate performance of the engineering...
In Australia increasing traffic loadings are placing greater pressure on sprayed seal unbound granular pavements, with some non-standard materials no longer being fit-for-purpose. Unfortunately, in many rural areas, the use of high-quality crushed rock is not a cost-effective treatment to improve the structure of these pavements. Consequently, ther...
Deterioration models allow predicting pavement condition and the development of maintenance programs. Normally, when evaluating pavement performance through model deterioration, the forecast given is a determinist value. However, pavement engineering projects have a degree of uncertainty. This implies that an adequate performance of the engineering...
Areas of New Zealand are running out of premium aggregates that meet the demanding specifications used in unbound granular road construction. Stabilising aggregate provides a viable alternative to using premium aggregates. The objective of this project was to improve the sustainability of New Zealand roads via a combination of Accelerated Pavement...
A large research project on foamed bitumen (FB) stabilisation was conducted in New Zealand. The project consisted of an extensive laboratory and full-scale testing of FB pavements. The objective of this paper is to interpret the performance of FB pavements by using finite-element (FE) modelling. The mechanical properties of the materials were calcu...
An accelerated full-scale experiment on foamed bitumen (FB) pavements was conducted at the Canterbury Accelerated Pavement Testing Indoor Facility (CAPTIF) in New Zealand. The results of the CAPTIF experiment showed that the section with 2.8% bitumen content and 1% cement content (section B28C10) had the best performance. These results were publish...
Uno de los objetivos claves de la gestión de pavimentos es desarrollar e implementar una estrategia de construcción y mantenimiento rentables, con el fin de alcanzar niveles requeridos de servicio y desempeño. Una técnica rentable y sustentable para la rehabilitación de pavimentos es la de estabilización o reciclado con asfalto espumado (AE). Este...
The state of the practice for asphalt technology in Chile is very empirical. Binders are specified with traditional testing. Mixtures are designed with the Marshall method. Most mixes currently used are dense graded. Flexible pavement design is carried out with procedures based on AASHTO 93. Important research projects are currently ongoing, which...
In its present general practice, asphalt technology in Chile is still very empirical and traditional. There are, however, important projects on applied research, with industry-university-government partnerships, where significant changes are being generated with the objective of moving towards a performance based approach. An important research pro...
One of the key principal goals of pavement asset management is to develop and implement cost-effective pavement construction and maintenance strategies that achieve the required levels of service and performance. A sustainable, cost-effective technique for rehabilitating pavements is foamed bitumen stabilization. This paper presents a study on the...
The effects of foamed bitumen contents on the strength and deformational behavior of foamed bitumen mixes used for road pavements is very complex and not fully understood yet. While some writers report an increase in strength using one type of laboratory test, other writers report either only a small increase or even a decrease in strength using ot...
Foam bitumen stabilization is a viable alternative for reducing aggregate consumption in New Zealand. An accelerated full-scale experiment on foam bitumen pavements was conducted in the Canterbury Accelerated Pavement Testing Indoor Facility as part of a Transit New Zealand research project to study the effects of foam bitumen on unbound granular m...
The research presented in this thesis studies the effects of foamed bitumen on the deformational behaviour and performance of pavement materials. The research was conducted in the laboratory and the field, using specific New Zealand materials. The aggregate used is a blend of a coarse aggregate imported from the Auckland region with a crushed dust...
Pavement designers trying to use alternative materials in new construction and to recycle existing materials in rehabilitation are severely constrained by a lack of data on the performance of a range of stabilised materials. This paper presents the general results from an accelerated pavement-test and laboratory studies to fill the gaps in this kno...
Pavement designers trying to use alternative materials in new construction and to recycle existing materials in rehabilitation are severely constrained by a lack of data on the performance of a range of stabilised materials. This paper presents the general results from an accelerated pavement-test and laboratory studies funded by Land Transport New...
In developing countries without the availability of reliable pavement management systems, recycling techniques may offer the best alternative for pavement structural rehabilitation. However, for many government officials and contractors there is a clear understanding of the technical advantages of recycling but not a clear perspective of cost savin...
The characterization of unbound granular materials is particularly important in thin-surfaced pavements where most of the bearing capacity is provided by the granular layers. For an accurate modeling of the elastic response of these materials, several important models described in the literature have been considered in a study. Three of the mostuse...
The practical and theoretical principles used for development of the Chilean Structural Design Guide for Low-Volume Roads 2002 and the guide's conceptual model and hypotheses are presented. The design guide is a simplified methodology for selection of different pavement structure alternatives for a variety of conditions (traffic, soil support capac...
RESUMEN El presente trabajo contiene un resumen de los principios prácticos y teóricos utilizados para el desarrollo de la Guía de Diseño Estructural de Pavimentos para Caminos de Bajo Volumen de Tránsito 2002, desarrollado por la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile para la Dirección de Vialidad del Ministerio de Obras Públicas. Se presenta un...
