Journal
ENGINEERING FRACTURE MECHANICS
Volume 170, Issue -, Pages 23-43Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.engfracmech.2016.11.030
Keywords
Asphalt concrete; Fracture; Low-temperature; Air void; DEM
Categories
Funding
- Jiangsu Natural Science Foundation [SBK200910046]
- National Science Foundation [CMMI-0408390]
- CAREER award [CMMI-0644552]
- American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Foundation [PRF-44468-G9]
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [51250110075, U1134206]
- Ministry of Communication of China [0901005C]
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Air void plays an important role in the crack resistance of asphalt concrete. Although the impact of porosity on the fracture resistance of asphalt concrete has been studied in the literature, there is a lack of fundamental analysis of void characteristics (e.g., void size and void distribution) under different loading and temperature conditions. Hence, a series of edge cracked semi circular bend (SCB) tests are performed in mode I fracturing, mode II fracturing and mixed mode I & II fracturing at -6 degrees C and 10 degrees C. A heterogeneous fracture modeling approach using different porosity, void sizes and void distributions based on discrete element method (DEM) is utilized to simulate the fracture process of SCB tests. Experiments and heterogeneous simulations are combined to investigate the impact of void characteristics (porosity, void size and void distribution) on the fracture performance and crack propagation of asphalt concrete. Porosity, void size and void distribution have considerable effects on the fracture performance and crack propagation of asphalt concrete. The fracture toughness and the time at which peak load occurs reduced with the increasing porosity and void size. The impact of void size is more significant than that of porosity. At -6 degrees C, the impact of void characteristics on crack propagation is not significant, except in mode II fracturing. The crack in mode II fracturing no longer passes through aggregates, and tends to bypass aggregate with the increasing porosity. At 10 degrees C, cracks tend to move away aggregate/mastic interface and pass through mastic with the increasing porosity and void size. The distribution of void in cracking initiation zone is a key factor for the fracture performance and crack propagation of asphalt concrete. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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