Multiscale analysis of tire and asphalt pavement interaction via coupling FEM–DEM simulation

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With the aging of roads and the lack of resources for maintenance, a thorough understanding of the interaction between tires and asphalt pavements is crucial to optimize asphalt pavement surface design. Currently, most research on this interaction system is conducted using mesh-based methods in the frame of continuum mechanics, which are insufficient to model the discontinuity behavior of asphalt mixtures during their lifespan. In this study, the Contact Dynamics method is introduced to investigate this interaction system by coupling the finite element method (FEM) and the discrete element method (DEM). FEM is utilized to model the tire and capture the resulting contact stresses on the pavement surface, while DEM is used to model the heterogeneous structure of an asphalt mixture and examine internal mixture responses at the particle scale. Analysis of contact stress distributions for free-rolling and full-braking conditions proves the tire model’s effectiveness. According to particle displacement and force distributions, particles tend to flow along the longitudinal direction and undergo a high tangential contact force under full-braking compared with those under free-rolling, resulting in mixture instability and damage initiation. This study offers an enriching supplement and expansion to mesh-based methods for analyzing pavement surface degradation under tire loads, which can provide insight into pavement surface design.