Phase Field Modeling of Mode I Cracking Failure in Asphalt Binder

Cracking failure in asphalt binder in winter has always been one of the most serious problems in pavement structures. Classical fracture mechanics is the most widely used method to analyze the initiation and propagation of cracks. In this paper, a new modeling and computational tool, namely, the phase-field method is proposed for modeling the Mode I cracking failure in asphalt binder. This method describes the microstructure using a phase-field variable which assumes one in the intact solid and negative one in the crack region. The fracture toughness is modeled as the surface energy stored in the diffuse interface between the intact solid and crack void. To account for the growth of cracks, a non-conserved Allen-Cahn equation is adopted to evolve the phase-field variable. The energy based formulation of the phase-field method handles the competition between the growth of surface energy and release of elastic energy in a natural way: the crack propagation is a result of the energy minimization in the direction of the steepest descent. Both the linear elasticity and phase-field equation are solved in a unified finite element frame work, which is implemented in the commercial software COMSOL. The mode I crack simulation is performed for validation. It was discovered that the onset of crack propagation agrees very well with the Griffith criterion and experimental results.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AFK20 Characteristics of Asphalt Materials.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Hou, Yue
  • Yue, Pengtao
  • Wang, Linbing
  • Sun, Wenjuan
  • Pauli, Troy
  • Wang, Dong
  • Zhou, Wenhuan
  • Hu, Mingfang
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 92nd Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2013-1-13 to 2013-1-17
• Date: 2013

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 15p
• Monograph Title: TRB 92nd Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Binders; Cracking; Finite element method; Fracture mechanics; Microstructure; Modulus of elasticity; Pavement distress
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials; Pavements; I30: Materials;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01473518
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 13-1554
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 22 2013 10:30AM