Understanding Fundamentals of Asphalt Concrete Materials with Discrete Element Models
Yu Liu:
Abstract:
Asphalt concrete is highly used for building highway or runway pavements, whose performances are not only governed by its components’ properties, but also impacted by loading and environmental conditions. Both traditional experimental and analytical methods have limited capability for studying fundamentals of asphalt concrete. With the rapid development of computational facilities, numerical methods become important and powerful tools for engineers and researchers. Discrete element method (DEM) is a numerical method which has been utilized for modeling asphalt concrete materials since 1993. The purpose of this poster is to present the authors’ research progress in DEM modeling for understanding fundamentals of asphalt concrete materials. In term of environmental or sustainability benefits, this research will ultimately result in longer-lasting roads by improving pavement and mixture design methods. Additionally, the research findings can be used for studying other anisotropic composite materials which have the similar microstructural features.
Understanding Fundamentals of Asphalt Concrete Materials with Discrete Element Models
Yu Liu:
Abstract:
Asphalt concrete is highly used for building highway or runway pavements, whose performances are not only governed by its components’ properties, but also impacted by loading and environmental conditions. Both traditional experimental and analytical methods have limited capability for studying fundamentals of asphalt concrete. With the rapid development of computational facilities, numerical methods become important and powerful tools for engineers and researchers. Discrete element method (DEM) is a numerical method which has been utilized for modeling asphalt concrete materials since 1993. The purpose of this poster is to present the authors’ research progress in DEM modeling for understanding fundamentals of asphalt concrete materials. In term of environmental or sustainability benefits, this research will ultimately result in longer-lasting roads by improving pavement and mixture design methods. Additionally, the research findings can be used for studying other anisotropic composite materials which have the similar microstructural features.