Fracture simulation of pre-cracked heterogeneous asphalt mixture beam with movable three-point bending load

•Experiment and heterogeneous simulation are combined to investigate fracture behavior.•Aggregate generation and packing algorithm is for creating a mesostructural model.•Characterize microcrack initiation and coalescence and macrocrack gestation.•Mode I and mixed mode cracking behaviors are investigated.

The random aggregate generation and packing algorithm is employed to model pre-cracked three-point bending beams of asphalt mixture which is treated as a two-phase material comprising randomly distributed coarse aggregates and asphalt mastic, and the cohesive elements are inserted inside mastic and into aggregate-mastic interfaces to simulate crack initiation and propagation. The mode I and mixed mode cracking behaviors are simulated through changing the beam location in the loading setup. The predicted results compare very well with the experimental ones, and then the influences of crack location and coarse aggregate distribution on cracking behavior are evaluated.