“…Recent studies of the load transfer mechanism in asphalt mixture focus on three aspects: contact mechanical behavior, contact force characteristics, and force chain characteristics. The research on contact mechanical behavior of asphalt mixture is mainly focused on analyzing the aggregate contact, such as aggregate contact zone [ 16 ], aggregate contact chain structure [ 2 , 17 , 18 , 19 ], and aggregate contact number characteristics [ 20 , 21 ]. For contact force characteristics, the most common studies are statistical analysis of contact force, including contact force distribution characteristics [ 9 , 22 , 23 ] and contact force evolution characteristics in the compaction process [ 5 , 24 ].…”