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Article
Preliminary Finite Element Modeling of Asphalt Material Using ANSYS
Civil Engineering Beyond Limits (2021)
  • Mena I Souliman, University of Texas at Tyler
Abstract
Finite element modeling (FEM) has been an integral tool for civil engineering researchers. The simplification of day to day engineering problems with known scientific validation makes this tool more appropriate. In the field of pavement engineering, the use of FEM has been a relatively new tool. Various conditions of pavement materials, which are complex in nature, makes the modeling more challenging. This study aims to develop a basic beam model as per AASHTO T321 for evaluating the performance of asphalt material under fatigue loading. The necessary conditions and parameters are best optimized to match the research on National Cooperative Highway Research Program Project 9-44A (NCHRP Report 762). Various mechanical and fatigue-related properties of asphalt materials were studied to develop a simplified finite element approach through ANSYS. It is observed that stiffness induced behavior and fatigue performance can be predicted in advance and in a timely fashion with the utilization of FEM when compared to performing actual laboratory testing. In this study, different life and damage analyses were performed for different sets of the beam. It was found that stiffness plays a significant role in enhancing the minimum critical life of asphalt materials. A higher stiffness of the asphalt beam characterized a higher minimum critical life, and lower stiffness characterized the lower minimum critical life.
Keywords
  • Finite Element Modeling,
  • Asphalt Material,
  • ANSYS
Disciplines
Publication Date
January, 2021
DOI
https://doi.org/10.36937/cebel.2021.001.005
Citation Information
Mena I Souliman. "Preliminary Finite Element Modeling of Asphalt Material Using ANSYS" Civil Engineering Beyond Limits Vol. 2 Iss. 1 (2021) p. 21 - 27 ISSN: 2687-5756
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mena-souliman/145/