{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T13:23:04Z","timestamp":1787664184873,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787616000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009110","name":"Natural Science Foundation of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2024D01B03"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024D01B03"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009110","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Shandong Province Transportation Science and Technology Plan Project","award":["2024B39"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024B39"]}]},{"name":"Shandong Province Transportation Science and Technology Plan Project","award":["2023B32"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023B32"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Polymers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Durability deterioration and interlayer bonding failure of ultra-thin overlays remain critical challenges under coupled environmental and mechanical actions. Although environmental damage to asphalt mixtures has been widely investigated, the relationship between pore-structure evolution and interlayer fatigue deterioration in polymer-composite-modified ultra-thin overlays incorporating styrene\u2013butadiene\u2013styrene (SBS) and micro carbon fiber (MCF) remains insufficiently understood. This study therefore extends existing research by clarifying this relationship under freeze\u2013thaw cycling and water immersion. Three-point bending and direct shear fatigue tests were conducted to evaluate bending and interlayer shear fatigue performance, respectively, while nanoindentation and X-ray computed tomography (CT) were used to characterize micromechanical properties and three-dimensional pore-structure evolution. The results showed that five freeze\u2013thaw cycles reduced the bending fatigue life by 75.3% and the interlayer shear fatigue life by 49.6%, while six days of water immersion reduced the interlayer shear fatigue life by 55.1%. Freeze\u2013thaw cycling promoted open-pore and pore-throat development and increased total porosity by 23.9%, contributing to aggregate displacement and redistribution of the internal skeleton. In contrast, immersion increased the proportion of small and closed pores, while isolated pores concentrated near the interlayer weakened interlayer shear resistance. Although immersion caused greater reductions in hardness and modulus, freeze\u2013thaw-induced pore development was associated with greater deterioration in bending fatigue performance. Furthermore, an adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) was developed to predict pore tortuosity from equivalent diameter, shape factor, and porosity, with testing errors ranging from 0.102 to 0.129 for untreated, freeze\u2013thaw, and immersed specimens. An exponential relationship was further identified between tortuosity and the pore comprehensive effect index (PCEI), providing a quantitative approach for characterizing pore connectivity and evaluating environmental deterioration in polymer-composite-modified asphalt concrete.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/polym18172062","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T12:57:17Z","timestamp":1787662637000},"page":"2062","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Fatigue Performance and Pore Characteristics of SBS\/Micro Carbon Fiber Composite-Modified Asphalt Concrete for Ultra-Thin Overlays"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Xiaodong","family":"Yang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Transportation, Kashi University, Kashi 844000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mingxin","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Transportation Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250101, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaojin","family":"Lu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Transportation Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250101, China"},{"name":"School of Transportation, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jingyu","family":"Xiao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Transportation Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250101, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jifa","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Taishan Communications Planning and Design Consulting Co., Ltd., Tai\u2019an 271000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Quanman","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Transportation, Kashi University, Kashi 844000, China"},{"name":"School of Transportation Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan 250101, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"141","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jreng.2023.01.006","article-title":"Review of emulsified asphalt modification mechanisms and performance influencing factors","volume":"3","author":"Meng","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. 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