Quantitative Analysis on Force Chain of Asphalt Mixture under Haversine Loading

Abstract

AC-13 asphalt mixture was taken as the research object to investigate the evolution and distribution laws of force chains. A digital specimen of AC-13 asphalt mixture was reconstructed using the discrete element method (DEM) to simulate the simple performance test (SPT). Next, the force chain information among aggregate particles was extracted to analyze the evolution, probability distribution, and angle distribution of force chains. The results indicate that the AC-13 mesoscopic model reconstructed using the DEM is feasible to simulate the mesoscopic mechanical properties of asphalt mixture by comparing the predicted results and laboratory test results. The spatial distributions of force chains are anisotropic. The probability distributions of normal force chains varying with the loading times are consistent. Furthermore, the probability distribution has the maximum value at the minimum (the ratio of contact force to mean contact force); the peak value appears again at = 1.75 and then gradually decreases and tends to be stable. In addition, the angle distributions of force chains mainly locate near 90 ∘ and 270 ∘ , and the proportions of strong force chains are slightly greater than 50%, but the maximum proportion is only 51.12%.

Interdependent evolution of robustness, force transmission and damage in a heterogeneous quasi-brittle granular material: from suppressed to cascading failure

“…asphalt [43]) -concerns not just the pattern they form but also the nature of the self-organization process behind their formation. Unravelling this process may yield clues to the question raised in [1]: how and why do these preferential paths for force transmission arise?…”

Review on Load Transfer Mechanisms of Asphalt Mixture Meso-Structure

“…Due to the anisotropy of the contact force distribution, there is a certain deficiency to characterize the contact force distribution by the strong or weak alone. Therefore, a series of studies are carried out to characterize the contact force distribution, mainly including two categories: contact force probability distribution [ 82 , 83 ] and contact force statistical characteristics [ 23 , 28 , 84 , 85 ]. Shashidhar and Shenoy [ 41 ] studied the contact force distribution in asphalt mixtures by means of a photoelastic experiment.…”

“…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 ]. Studies of force chain fall into two categories, force chains identification criteria, including force chains length [ 25 , 26 ] and force chains number [ 27 , 28 ], and force chains structural characteristics [ 6 , 29 ].…”

Study on the Contact Stress Distribution Model of Asphalt Mixture Particles

“…e effects of friction angle and stiffness between particles on the shear capacity of numerical components under large strain were studied according to the fitting parameters. Chang et al [15][16][17] reconstructed the meso-model of asphalt mixture by using a particle flow program, taking into account the influence of different particle sizes and gradation on the distribution of force chain. Five groups of rigid particles of 10 mm, 13 mm, 16 mm, 19 mm, and 20 mm were selected for the carbon paper indentation test.…”