A micro-damage healing model that improves prediction of fatigue life in asphalt mixes

The focus of the current paper is on the development and validation of a micro-damage healing model that improves the ability of an integrated nonlinear viscoelastic, viscoplastic, and viscodamage constitutive model based on continuum damage mechanics for predicting the fatigue life of asphalt paving mixtures. The model parameters of the continuum-based healing model are related to fundamental material properties. Recursive–iterative and radial return algorithms are used for the numerical implementation of viscoelasticity and viscoplasticity models respectively, whereas the viscodamage and micro-damage healing models are implemented using the concept of the effective undamaged-healed natural configuration. Numerical algorithms are implemented into the well-known finite element code Abaqus via the user material subroutine UMAT. Finally, the model is validated by comparing its predictions with experimental data on an asphalt mix that include repeated creep-recovery tests for different loading times and rest periods in both tension and compression. The significant enhancement of the ability of the constitutive model to predict fatigue life due to inclusion of the micro-damage healing is clearly demonstrated.