Prediction of fatigue crack growth behavior of chemically stabilized materials using simple monotonic fracture test integrated with computational cohesive zone modeling

Abstract

Mechanical behavior and fatigue damage characteristics of chemically stabilized soils under cyclic loading conditions are complex and require better understanding due to its large demand in many critical infrastructures including roadways. Fatigue tests are usually not easy to conduct and time-consuming, and the challenges increase when materials become more complex due to chemical stabilization. This study proposed a simple monotonic fracture test that is integrated with computational fracture modeling to identify fracture characteristics for predicting fatigue damage behavior of complex materials such as chemically stabilized soils. Toward that end, an extrinsic inelastic cohesive zone model (CZM) was used. The fracture parameters of the CZM were first obtained from a monotonic fracture test that is integrated with its model simulation. With the fracture parameters, the same CZM was used to predict fatigue behavior and ultimate failure. The simulation results indicate that the predicted fatigue behavior and performance are comparable to the fatigue test results. With limitations remained for further improvements, the proposed experimental-computational approach incorporated with the inelastic fracture model such as the CZM in this study presented its benefits for predicting time-consuming and labor-intensive fatigue behavior of complex materials.