Transportation Materials Research Center

In 1998, Michigan Tech and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) entered into a partnership to create the Transportation Materials Research Center (TMRC). The TMRC is a good example of what partnering between MDOT and a university can accomplish with regards to applied research, outreach, and education. Over the following years, the TMRC has grown with MDOT, adapting its mission as MDOT continues to restructure and decentralization. The mission of the TMRC is to provide expertise and facilities to support MDOT's transportation infrastructure materials and geotechnical engineering needs through technical services and engineering support. In addition, the TMRC provides education and outreach to transportation professionals within the state. The specific areas of focus include the behavior and performance of transportation infrastructure materials such as Portland cement-based materials, asphalt-based materials, aggregates and geotechnical engineering. The center activities presented herein describe a continuation of the core activities of the TMRC. The main center activities will continue to be technical support through material testing and analysis in conjunction with our traditional research investigations, education, and outreach, in direct support of MDOT's mission. The primary function of the TMRC is to provide technical services and expertise to MDOT to assist in solving transportation materials problems. Expertise and technical support is available to the Department in four materials thrust areas: Portland cement-based materials, asphalt-based materials, aggregates, and geotechnical engineering. Over the last ten years, the TMRC has experienced growth in both personnel and facilities to support research and technical services in transportation materials. The transportation materials characterization facilities at Michigan Tech have been improved and are now at a world-class level. Facilities include a fully modern microstructural characterization facility housing both optical and environmental scanning electron optics, a fully equipped Superpave asphalt binder laboratory, a state-of-the-art asphalt mixture characterization laboratory, a full-scale aggregate processing facility, a Portland cement concrete mixing and testing facility including a complete resilient modulus testing system, split Hopkinson pressure bar for dynamic testing of materials and traditional soil testing equipment including triaxial and consolidation equipment. These facilities and test equipment support technical investigations of existing materials and the exploration of new technologies such as the warm mix asphalt, Superpave simple performance criteria for hot mix asphalt, thermal expansion coefficient of Portland cement concrete and the dynamic characterization of material strength and stiffness.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $60501.00
• Contract Numbers:

  2010-0295 Z6 / R1

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Michigan Department of Transportation

  Murray Van Wagoner Building
  425 West Ottawa, P.O. Box 30050
  Lansing, MI  United States  48909
• Project Managers:

  Staton, John

• Performing Organizations:

  Michigan Technological University, Houghton

  1400 Townsend Drive
  Houghton, MI  United States  49931
• Principal Investigators:

  Vitton, Stanley

• Start Date: 20101001
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20130930
• Source Data: RiP Project 35417

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Asphalt based materials; Education and training; Geotechnical engineering; Infrastructure; Materials; Portland cement concrete; Technical assistance
• Geographic Terms: Michigan
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Education and Training; Geotechnology; Highways; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01494651
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Michigan Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: 2010-0295 Z6 / R1
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Sep 28 2013 1:00AM