A material model for creep and fatigue applied to asphalt

There is an increasing need for the use of numerical methods in road design. Here, the main difficulty lies in modeling the highly complex, nonlinear material behaviour of asphalt. In the following paper, a material model based on relationships for quasibrittle materials is presented. This model is intended to describe asphalt behaviour under different loading types within the framework of the finite element method. Plastic deformation, damage and crack development as well as viscous processes are treated by combining plasticity theory and continuum damage theory with a rheological model [1]. Damage resulting from short-term loading as well as long-term or cyclic loading can likewise be described. The model is implemented into the finite element program Abaqus and is used to simulate tests on asphalt specimens. It can be stated that, with appropriate calibration, the model is capable of describing the material behaviour under short-term and long-term or cyclic loading conditions