Visualization and Simulation of Asphalt Concrete with Randomly Generated Three-Dimensional Models |
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| Authors: | Yu Liu Zhanping You |
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| Affiliation: | 1Research Assistant, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological Univ., 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI 49931. E-mail: yul@mtu.edu
2Donald and Rose Ann Tomasini Associate Professor, Transportation Engineering and Director of the Transportation Materials Research Center, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological Univ., 1400 Townsend Dr., Houghton, MI 49931 (corresponding author). E-mail: zyou@mtu.edu
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| Abstract: | The objective of this study is to visualize and simulate microscale properties of asphalt concrete with three-dimensional discrete element models under mechanical loading. The microstructure of the asphalt concrete sample was composed of three ingredients: coarse aggregates, sand mastic (a combination of fines, fine aggregates, and asphalt binder), and air voids. Coarse aggregates were represented with the irregular polyhedron particles which were randomly created with an algorithm developed for this study. The gaps among the irregular particles were filled with air voids and discrete elements of sand mastic. The mechanical behaviors of the three ingredients were simulated with specific constitutive models at different contacts of discrete elements. Based on the geometric and mechanical models, visualization and simulation of asphalt mixtures were conducted in this study. |
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| Keywords: | Asphalt pavements Concrete pavements Discrete elements Micromechanics Imaging techniques Simulation Three-dimensional models |
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