Fictitious Rough Crack Model (FRCM): A Smeared Crack Modelling Approach to Account for Aggregate Interlock and Mixed Mode Fracture of Plain Concrete

The intention of this paper is to clarify the mechanisms of mixed mode fracture and shear stress transfer in plain concrete. To capture these scarcely explored phenomena, a new mechanical formulation is proposed called the fictitious rough crack model (FRCM). The FRCM considers mode I deformations to control crack formation and residual tensile stress transfer, while mode II deformations are assumed to induce shear stress transfer along the crack surfaces and compressive normal stresses attributed to aggregate interlock. The fundamental idea of the FRCM is to combine these tension-softening and shear-transfer laws and to superimpose the emerging shear and normal stresses of both mechanisms in the crack. The paper illustrates the analytical development of the FRCM and its numerical implementation. Three well-known experimental benchmark problems (concrete panel test series by Nooru-Mohamed and by Hassanzadeh as well as aggregate interlock test series by Paulay and Loeber) are numerically addressed to test plausibility of FRCM results. The numerical implementation of the FRCM is capable of simulating the transition from mode-I fracture to mixed-mode fracture in the structural response and is also able to predict the crack path with reasonable agreement.

Image processing procedure to quantify the internal structure of porous asphalt concrete

Purpose In order to fully understand the properties of porous asphalt, investigation should be conducted from different point of views. This is from the fact that porous asphalt mixture designed with the same aggregate gradation and air void content can give different infiltration rate due to the different formation of the internal structure. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the micro-structural properties and functional performance of porous asphalt simultaneously. Design/methodology/approach The aim is to develop imaging techniques to process and analyze the internal structure of porous asphalt mixture. A few parameters were established to analyze the air void properties and aggregate interlock within the gyratory compacted samples captured using a non-destructive scanning technique of X-ray computed tomography (CT) throughout the samples. The results were then compared with the functional performance in terms of permeability. Four aggregate gradations used in different countries, i.e. Malaysia, Australia, the USA and Singapore. The samples were tested for resilient modulus and permeability. Quantitative analysis of the microstructure was used to establish the relationships between the air void properties and aggregate interlock and the resilient modulus and permeability. Findings Based on the results, it was found that the micro-structural properties investigated have successfully described the internal structure formation and they reflect the results of resilient modulus and permeability. In addition, the imaging technique which includes the image processing and image analysis for internal structure quantification seems to be very useful and perform well with the X-ray CT images based on the reliable results obtained from the analysis. Research limitations/implications In this study, attention was limited to the study of internal structure of porous asphalt samples prepared in the laboratory using X-ray CT but can also be used to assess the quality of finished asphalt pavements by taking core samples for quantitative and qualitative analysis. The use of CT for material characterization presents a lot of possibilities in the future of asphalt concrete mix design. Originality/value Based on the validation process which includes comparisons between the values obtained from the image analysis and those from the performance test and it was found that the developed procedure satisfactorily assesses the air voids distribution and the aggregate interlock for this reason, it can be used.