The Study on the Substrate Effect in the Nanoindentation Experiment of the Hybrid Material

The nanoindentation (NI) experiment is an effective method to evaluate the micromechanical property of materials. The substrate effect is a nonnegligible factor which could influence the accuracy of the NI experiment result. Large numbers of previous studies have focused on the substrate effect based on the coating/substrate model, whereas the substrate effect in the testing of the hybrid material was rarely involved. The real NI experiment and the numerical simulation method were adopted to reveal the characteristics of the substrate effect in the NI experiment of the hybrid material in this paper, such as the rock or cement material. The peak displacement h peak and the residual displacement h residual of the indenter, which could obtain directly from the NI experiment and were usually considered as key basic variables to calculated other parameters, were selected as evaluation indexes of the substrate effect. The results indicated that there was a significant difference of the NI experiment result between the coating/substrate and the hybrid material under the same condition. The lateral boundary stiffness and discontinuous face were considered as main factors that induced this difference, and their effect were analysed, respectively. Young’s modulus E s and Poisson’s ratio μ s of the substrate were selected as the variables in the parametric study, and the relationship between them and the NI experiment result were discussed.

Deformation superposition effect of asphalt mixture based on experiments and micromechanical modeling

Under multi-wheel heavy load, the asphalt mixture is prone to exhibit the deformation superposition effect, which exacerbates the damage of pavement structure. Multi-point penetration tests and numerical simulations by discrete element method (DEM) are performed to investigate the deformation superposition effect and micromechanical characteristics of asphalt mixture. The effect of wheel spacing, wheel group, and the evolution of micromechanical deformation superposition behavior are analyzed. Results indicate that the deformation superposition resistance of the asphalt mixture under the multi-wheel load decreases dramatically with the decrease in wheel spacing and the increase in the number of wheels, specifically the wheel spacing is 54 mm and the number of wheels is 4. The DEM simulations reflect the micromechanical property of asphalt mixture in the multi-point penetration test. The reduction of tensile chains is the internal reason for asphalt mixture deformation superposition, indicating the decrease of the adhesive strength of the material. A remarkably positive correlation is found between the reduction of the tensile chain and the deformation effect coefficient. In the process of superposition, the aggregate skeleton force chains are gradually destroyed and decrease to zero until cracking. The numerical simulation outcome is consistent with the laboratory penetration test outcome.

Deformation Superposition Effect of Asphalt Mixture Based on Experiments and Micromechanical Modeling

Under multi-wheel heavy load, the asphalt mixture is prone to exhibit the deformation superposition effect, which exacerbates the damage of pavement structure. Multi-point penetration tests and numerical simulations by discrete element method (DEM) are performed to investigate the deformation superposition effect and micromechanical characteristics of asphalt mixture. The effect of wheel spacing, wheel group, and the evolution of micromechanical deformation superposition behavior are analyzed. Results indicate that the deformation superposition resistance of the asphalt mixture under the multi-wheel load decreases considerably with the increase in wheel spacing and the number of wheels. The DEM simulations reflect the micromechanical property of asphalt mixture in the multi-point penetration test. The reduction of tensile chains is the internal reason for asphalt mixture deformation superposition, indicating the decrease of the adhesive strength of the material. A remarkably positive correlation is found between the reduction of the tensile chain and the deformation effect coefficient. In the process of superposition, the aggregate skeleton force chains are gradually destroyed and decrease to zero until cracking. The numerical simulation outcome is consistent with the laboratory penetration test outcome.