Integrated computational–experimental approach for evaluating recovered fracture strength after induction healing of asphalt concrete beam samples

• Apply cohesive zone fracture model to simulate crack development.
• Validate model prediction with measured force–displacement behavior and detected crack path from digital image analysis.
• Calibrate fracture energy of healed samples with measured peak strength for simulation input.
• Reasonably predict the recovered fracture strength of original and healed beam samples.

This paper presents an integrated computational–experimental approach for evaluating recovered fracture strength after induction healing of asphalt concrete beams containing steel wool fibers. The cyclic beam fracture-healing test was utilized to measure the recovered fracture strength of asphalt concrete samples at temperatures of 60 °C, 80 °C, and 100 °C as reported in previous paper. The 2D multiphase bilinear cohesive zone models (CZM) were employed to predict the fracture strength of original and healed (after fracture) beam samples. For the original sample, the CZM with measured fracture parameters has good prediction on both crack path and sample force–displacement relations. With regards to healed samples, the healed fracture energy was proportionally calibrated with peak stress ratios based on bilinear cohesive law. All the nine tested samples were simulated with eight fracture-healing test cycles. The predicted fracture behaviors of these samples showed favorable comparison with the measured fracture strength after each fracture-healing cyclic test. These comparison study indicated that the integrated computational–experimental tools can be applied to evaluate the sample healing performance.