Abstract
A three-dimensional (3D) microstructure-based discrete element (DE) model was developed to study the creep behaviour of high viscoelastic asphalt sand (HVAS) with the uniaxial compression creep tests. The three-point bending creep tests of asphalt mortar were carried out in order to obtain the parameters of the Burger model, to determine the transformation method of macroscopic parameters and microscopic parameters of the model in theory, to obtain the parameters used in the discrete element model, and then establish the discrete element analysis model for the asphalt mixture. A 3D-DE digital specimen was composed of coarse aggregates, asphalt mortar and air voids, which could also take gradation, irregular shape, random distribution of aggregate and air voids into consideration, and the boundary conditions of the model were set through the simulation of the uniaxial compression creep tests. An accurate and extensive mapping model of HVAS was built by 3D-PFC (Particle Flow Code), which can provide a simple alternative to the laboratory tests. This method can simulate a series of numerical examples based on different stress levels, coarse aggregate homogenizations, mortar homogenizations and temperatures in a single factor method. Comparison of results of laboratory and numerical tests shows that the 3D-PFC-viscoelastic model can reflect the creep mechanical behaviour of asphalt mixture accurately. It provides the theoretical basis and auxiliary means for analysing the mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures using PFC software. The research on creep behaviour of the asphalt mixture by numerical simulation opens up a new way for the research on creep behaviour of the asphalt mixture, it is of considerable theoretical value and has broad application prospects.
Highlights
An asphalt mixture composed of aggregates, asphalt mortar and air voids is characterized by inhomogeneity and discreteness
Discrete Element Method (DEM) is a numerical simulation method used to study the mechanical behaviour of granular materials, which can be used to quantify the internal stress of the asphalt mixture during loadings (An, Ling, Geng, & Zhang, 2018; Lin, Wang, & Guo, 2015), considering the anisotropic characteristics of asphalt and aggregate, and simulate the effect of aggregate size, distribution, composition, shape and other factors on the performance of the asphalt mixture
The results show that the numerical method provides better approximation for the experimental data over almost the whole range of the curve, the PFC-3D subroutine could effectively predict the creep behaviour of the asphalt mixtures
Summary
An asphalt mixture composed of aggregates, asphalt mortar and air voids is characterized by inhomogeneity and discreteness. An accurate and extensive mapping model of HVAS was built by 3D-PFC (Particle Flow Code), which can provide a simple alternative to the laboratory tests This method can simulate a series of numerical examples based on different stress levels, coarse aggregate homogenizations, mortar homogenizations and temperatures in a single factor method. Comparison of results of laboratory and numerical tests shows that the 3D-PFC-viscoelastic model can reflect the creep mechanical behaviour of asphalt mixture accurately It provides the theoretical basis and auxiliary means for analysing the mechanical properties of asphalt mixtures using PFC software. The research on creep behaviour of the asphalt mixture by numerical simulation opens up a new way for research on creep behaviour of the asphalt mixture, it is of considerable theoretical value and has broad application prospects
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