Research Focus
Cement Concrete
Asphalt Concrete
1. Fiber-reinforced concrete
2. Post-crack behaviors of fiber-reinforced concrete
3. Joint load transfer behavior of concrete
4. Fresh properties of concrete
5. Thin concrete pavements and overlays
6. Distresses and structural responses of thin concrete pavements and overlays
1. Pavement distresses
2. Pothole patching
3. Crack sealant
4. Low-volume road asphalt mixture design
5. Thermal cracking of asphalt
6. Life cycle cost analysis
Funded Research Projects
Principal Investigator
1) Title: Mitigation of tenting of transverse cracks and joints in asphalt pavement
Co-PI: Mihai Marasteanu, Univ. of Minnesota, Twin Cities (UMN-TC)
Sponsor: Local Road Research Board (LRRB), Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT)
Fund: $150,900; Start/End: 07-01-2021/06-30-2024
2) Title: Towards the Development of Pavement-Specific Structural Synthetic Fibers
Co-PI: Mr. Gerald J. Welch, FORTA Corporation; Clifford N. MacDonald, Vigilant Enterprise LLC
Sponsor: National Road Research Alliance (NRRA)
Fund: $99,972; Start/End: 01-01-2021/12-31-2023 (contract in progress)
3) Title: Optimizing Asphalt Mixture Designs for Low-Volume Roads of Minnesota
Co-PI: Mihai Marasteanu, Univ. of Minnesota, Twin Cities (UMN-TC)
Sponsor: Local Road Research Board (LRRB), Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT)
Fund: $161,333; Start/End: 07-01-2019/06-30-2021
4) Title: Establishing Fresh Properties of Fiber Reinforced Concrete for Performance Engineered Mixture (PEM)
Sponsor: Transportation Research Innovation Group (TRIG), MnDOT
Fund: $147,070; Start/End: 07-01-2019/06-30-2021
5) Title: Performance Benefits of Fiber-reinforced Concrete Pavement and Overlays
Sponsor: National Road Research Alliance (NRRA); Pooled fund, participant states - MN, IA, WI, MI, IL, MO, ND, and CA, and many paving industries
Fund: $149,999; Start/End: 11-01-2017/10-31-2020
6) Title: Cost/Benefit Analysis of the Effectiveness of Crack Sealing Techniques
Sponsor: LRRB, MnDOT
Fund: $108,504; Start/End: 07-01-2017/06-30-2019
7) Title: Comparison of Performances of Structural Fibers and Development of a Specification for using Structural Fibers in Thin Concrete Overlays
Sponsor: LRRB and TRIG, MnDOT
Fund: $153,972; Start/End: 07-01-2016/06-30-2018
8) Title: Comprehensive Field Evaluation of Asphalt Patching Techniques and Development of Best Practices Manual and Simple Decision Tree
Sponsor: LRRB and TRIG, MnDOT
Fund: $87,106; Start/End: 04-30-2014/06-30-2017
9) Title: Development of a portable data acquisition system for concrete-related research and teaching
Co-PIs: Ben Dymond, Mary Christiansen
Sponsor: University of Minnesota Duluth
Fund: $5,283; Start/End: 11-27-2017/12-31-2018
10) Title: Purchase of Asphalt Mixture Performance Tester (AMPT)/ Asphalt Standard Tester behavior of concrete
Sponsor: Office of the Vice President for Research, University of Minnesota
Fund: $120,000 (University of Minnesota System - $60,000; UMD’s match - $60,000; Start/End: 07-01-2016/06-30-2016
11) Title: Disc-Shaped Compact Tension Testing for Local Government/ Cracking Resistance of Asphalt Mixtures with and without Fiber Reinforcement
Sponsor: St. Louis County, Minnesota
Fund: $6,587; Start/End: 02-29-2016/05-31-2016
12) Title: Development of test setups for characterization of flexural strength and load transfer behavior of concrete
Sponsor: University of Minnesota Duluth
Budget: $3,000; Start/End: 01-15-2016/12-15-2016
Co-Principal Investigator
13) Title: Cost Estimate of B vs. C Grade Asphalt Binders
PI: Mihai Marasteanu (UMN-TC)
Co-PIs: Manik Barman
Sponsor: Local Road Research Board (LRRB), Minnesota
Fund: $169,776; Start/End: 07-01-2021/06-30-2023
14) Title: Taconite as a Lower Cost Alternative high Friction Surface Treatment to Calcined Bauxite for Low Volume Roads in Minnesota
PI: Larry Zanko (NRRI)
Co-PIs: Manik Barman, Mihai Marasteanu (UMN-TC)
Sponsor: MnDOT
Fund: $322,250; Start/End: 07-01-2020/12-31-2023
15) Title: Developing Civil Engineering Outreach Kits Targeting Early Elementary, Late Elementary, Middle, and High School Audiences
PI: David Saftner
Co-PIs: Manik Barman, Mary Christiansen, and Rebecca Teasley
Sponsor: University of Minnesota Duluth
Fund: $3,000; Start/End: 08-01-2016/08-31-2017
16) Title: Evaluating Locally-Sourced Sanding Materials for Road Salt Reduction
PI: Chan Lan Chun
Co-PIs: Manik Barman, Larry Zanko (NRRI)
Sponsor: Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources
Fund: $162,000; Start/End: 07-01-2019/06-30-2021
17) Title: Experimental and Computational Investigations of High-Density Asphalt Mixtures
PI: Dr. Mihai Marasteanu(UMN-TC)
Co-PIs: Manik Barman, Jia-liang Le (UMN-TC), Kimberly Hill (UMN-TC)
Sponsor: MnDOT
Fund: $150,935; Start/End: 07-01-2017/04-30-2020
18) Title: Influence of Fiber Dosage on the Residual Strength Ratio of Fiber Reinforced Concrete
PI: Dr. Mary Christiansen
Co-PI: Manik Barman
Sponsor: American Engineering Testing (AET)
Fund: $4,999; Start/End: 07-01-2017/09-30-2017