Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 43 (2007) 333 – 343

www.elsevier.com/locate/finel

Investigation into stress states in porous asphalt concrete on the basis of

FE-modelling
L.T. Mo a,b,∗ , M. Huurman a , S.P. Wu b , A.A.A. Molenaar a
a Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, Delft 2600GA, The Netherlands
b Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials Science and Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430070, China

Received 25 February 2006; received in revised form 30 November 2006; accepted 30 November 2006
Available online 17 January 2007

Abstract
A new approach for the investigation of stress states in the asphalt-aggregate adhesive region and in the mastic of porous asphalt concrete
(PAC) is presented in this paper. The method makes use of finite element (FE) modelling at meso-level. Hereto the geometry of PAC is
simplified so that the main components (aggregate particles, mastic, interfacial zones and air voids) in the actual mixture are represented in the
model separately. The visco-elastic Burger’s model is used to simulate the response of the mastic consisting of fine aggregates and bituminous
binder. The effects of the type of bitumen, traffic speed, degree of compaction, bitumen content and contact angle of packing are examined.
Results demonstrate that the 2D model can be used to investigate stress states in the binder–particle interfacial zone and in the mastic. The
FE-models give results that are in agreement with theoretical predictions. It is expected that the insights that are obtained via the discussed
meso mechanical analysis of PAC will enable the development of a PAC mixture with a higher ravelling resistance.
䉷 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Porous asphalt; Ravelling; Particle contact region; Cohesive failure; Adhesive failure; Finite element analysis

1. Introduction Transportation has been started at the Delft University of Tech-

In the Netherlands almost 70% of the primary road net-
work is surfaced with a porous asphalt concrete (PAC) wear-
ing course. Noise reduction, driving comfort and driving safety
are obvious reasons for this [1,2]. However, the durability of
PAC, especially loss of aggregates (ravelling) remains an is-
sue that results in high maintenance costs [3,4]. Various phe-
nomenological/empirical research projects have been executed
to prolong the design life of PAC in the Netherlands. These re-
search programs resulted in better types of PAC. However, the
obtained prolongation of design life remained small and funda-
mental insight into PAC behaviour where not obtained. Because
of these reasons, a fundamental research project sponsored by
the Road and Hydraulics Division of the Dutch Ministry of
∗ Corresponding author. Key Laboratory of Silicate Materials Science and
Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan
430070, China. Tel./fax: +86 27 87162595.
E-mail addresses: molt@whut.edu.cn, l.mo@tudelft.nl (L.T. Mo).
0168-874X/$ - see front matter 䉷 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.finel.2006.11.004
nology [5].
Ravelling is much more a type of material damage than struc-
tural damage. It is strongly believed that cohesive failure in the
binder or mastic and adhesive failure of interfacial zone be-
tween binder and particle contribute to PAC ravelling. Cohesive
failure is the fracture manner that occurs within binder/mastic
itself so that both fracture surfaces was observed still coating
with binder/mastic; whereas, adhesive failure happens among
the stone-binder interface, thus one of the fracture surfaces will
be found only bare stone surface without binder coated. In-
sights into these phenomenons can only be obtained when the
mechanics within the material are investigated. Meso mechan-
ical material modelling thus becomes a necessity.
Compared with the macro-level scale of the whole pave-
ment structure, the meso-level scale discussed here is defined
as limited space dimensions similar to the magnitude order of
stone aggregates, in which at least two stone aggregates con-
nected by a binder layer should be involved. This implies that
the main mixture components (aggregates, binder, adhesive
interfacial zone and air voids) must be taken into account in
334 L.T. Mo et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 43 (2007) 333 – 343

any mechanistic model that is to give insight into the mechanics

that explain ravelling. Furthermore, the geometry of the mixture
(level of compaction, angle of packing, volumetrics) should be
considered. Currently there is not much experience with meso
mechanical modelling of asphalt mixtures. A meso mechanical
model for road surfacing seals, however, showed that material
related design issues strongly benefit from insights obtained by
material modelling on meso scale [6–8].
The goal of this research is to get full insight into the me-
chanics that play a role within the PAC mixture. From this
insight the material loading of relevant components (mastic
and adhesive interfacial zone) should be extracted and be
translated into expected design life. It is believed that such
an approach enables the objective study of the effects of var-
ious design parameters (particle size, bitumen content, level
of compaction, etc.). Furthermore founded material (bitumen,
mineral) choices can be made when the loads to which the ma-
terials are subjected are known. Combined these insights will
lead to better PAC mixture designs and probably also to new
types of binders/mastics that are specially developed to repeat-
edly withstand the stresses to which they are exposed in a PAC
mixture.
It is foreseen that three meso-mechanical structural models Fig. 1. Image of double-layer porous asphalt using X-ray computerized
of PAC are required to obtain the above-described situation. tomography technique.

(1) a 3D model of idealised PAC. This model will require long

computational times and is thus not practical.
(2) a 2D model of idealised PAC. This model will be highly
practical.
(3) a 2D model of scanned PAC, representing the meso struc-
ture as it is.
By combining the results of the first and second model in-
sight into the errors that follow from 2D representation are ob-
tained. The combined results of the second and third model
give insights into the effects of idealisation. Combined the three
models lead to full insight and a practical tool.
In this paper the 2D finite element (FE) model of idealized
porous asphalt on meso level is discussed. The model is de-
veloped within the CAPA-3D FE platform (Computer Aided
Pavement Analysis) and gives insights into the development
of stress in the mastic and interfacial zones of the PAC mix-
ture under moving tyre loads. It is expected that the develop-
ment of a cost-effective, long-life, and low maintenance PAC
will benefit from the insights obtained on the basis of this
model.
2. Model characteristics
When compared to 2D models, 3D FE models are complex
and expensive to use in terms of data preparation and compu-
tational time. This is especially true for FE models on smaller
scale where various material components have to be taken into
account. The structure of PAC at meso-level is complex as it
includes aggregates with a wide range of sizes and shapes.
It should be known that there are millions of mineral particles
including coarse and fine aggregates in a small volume of PAC.
Due to this the degrees of freedom required to model each indi-
vidual particle will be far beyond the capability of modern com-
puters even when only a limited volume of material is modelled.
Modelling of the structure of PAC thus asks for simplifications.
These simplifications, however, may not affect the capabilities
of the model to accurately represent the PAC structure. Given
the complexity involved with the structural modelling of mate-
rials it was decided to start with the development of a 2D FE
model. It was thus decided that a 2D model is appropriate for
modelling porous asphalt at this initial phase of the project.
2.1. Geometry and restrains
The aggregates in PAC are gap graded, i.e. a large amount
of coarse aggregates combined with a small amount of fine
material. As a result hereof PAC is an open material as shown
in Fig. 1. Due to the mineral grading fine aggregates smaller
than 2 mm become fully mixed with the bitumen to form the
mastic; while coarse aggregates larger than 2 mm will form
the stone skeleton throughout the whole structure. This im-
plies that the coarse aggregates play an important role in the
structural stability and force transmission within the mixture,
whereas mastic acts mainly as binding effect between aggre-
gates in real mixture. To enable PAC structural modelling, the
structure of PAC is simplified to the following three phases:
(1) aggregate particles larger than 2 mm; represented by spher-
ical 3D grains with an equivalent size; (2) mastic consisting
of bitumen and fine aggregates smaller than 2 mm; and (3) air
voids.
 L.T. Mo et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 43 (2007) 333 – 343
D k=
Mastic film

void
r Stone
Fig. 2. Schematic illustration of idealized porous asphalt and relevant param-
eters (D and  is the central distance and contact angle of adjacent particle;
r is the radius of aggregate particle).
The simplifications of the model are schematically illustrated
in Fig. 2, where the following parameters are taken into account:
(1) the radius of aggregate particles; (2) the distance between
adjacent aggregate particles; (3) contact angle between aggre-
gate particles; (4) thickness of the free mastic coating around
aggregate particles; (5) the thickness of mastic at the contact
regions; and (6) air void content.
In this paper the model parameters are chosen in such way
that the model reflects the uniformly graded aggregate of typical
PAC used in the Netherlands as shown in Table 1. As discussed
the aggregates larger than 2 mm are represented by circular
bodies with an equivalent size determined by the following
equations:
n
wi d̄i
d̄ = i=1 n , (1)
i=1 wi
where
d̄i = (di + di−1 )/2,
where n refers to the total number of sieves for coarse aggre-
gates; d̄ is the representative size of aggregate particle, mm; di
and di−1 is the size of i and i − 1th sieve, respectively, mm;
wi is percentage by weight remaining on the ith sieve, %; d̄i is
the average size of adjacent sieve sizes di and di−1 , d̄1 = d1 =
16, mm.
Using the above equations the equivalent size of coarse
aggregates becomes 9.6 mm for the gradation as presented in
Table 1.
Assuming that the larger aggregates are homogeneously
coated with a mastic film the thickness of this film may be
determined theoretically. Hereto the weight percentage and
specific gravity of relevant components is to be known. The
volume fraction k of coarse aggregates in idealized porous
asphalt mixture is calculated by the assumption that spherical
3D grains with an equivalent size were coated by uniform
thickness of mastic, thus k is obtained by the volume of stone
ball body divided by the bigger ball one consists of stone and
335
mastic
 3
(4/3) · r 3 r
= . (3)
(4/3)(r + h)3 r +h
With (3) the theoretical thickness of the mastic film h becomes
h = r(k −1/3 − 1) (4)
where r is the radius of aggregate particles, r = d̄/2, mm; k is
the volume fraction of coarse aggregates in mixture; h is the
mastic film thickness, mm.
On the basis of an aggregate specific gravity of 2650 kg/m3 ,
a bitumen specific gravity of 1020 kg/m3 and a bitumen content
of 4.4% a mastic film thickness of 0.45 mm are obtained.
PAC applied in the Netherlands usually has an air void
content of 22% or greater. In the result of this, the voids
in the PAC should clearly be reflected in any model.
The model discussed here is such that each representative
course aggregate is seated in a cubical cell. From the ge-
ometry within this cell the modelled void content can be
determined
 
 · (r + h)2
VV = 1 − 2 × 100%, (5)
D sin(2)
r D/2 r + h, (6)
where VV is void content, %;  is friction angle of stone-stone
contact; D is the centre to centre distance between aggregates,
mm.
The maximum Dmax = 2(r + h) leads to the maximum void
content, VVmax = 21.5%; while the minimum Dmin = r leads
to the minimum void content, V V min = 6.0% when friction
angle is equal to 45◦ . It is well known that the maximum
packing density (v/v) of the single size of sphere in 3D equals
to 74.05%. Therefore, the equivalent maximum void content
in a 3D representation will be 25.95%. These void contents are
smaller than VCA (voids in coarse aggregates), namely, the
void contents in blended mixtures of coarse aggregates larger
(2)
than 2 mm, which can be calculated through the following
equation.
VCA = (100 − VV)(1 − k) + VV. (7)
Assuming that VV = 25%, and k = 0.76 in Dutch PAC-16,
VCA will become 42.8%, which is in agreement with test results
with a VCA of approximately 40%.
From the above it is learned that volumetric differences exist
between 2D and 3D representations. However, these differences
remain relatively small and on the basis of perfectly shaped
single sized particles both approaches lead to a relatively small
void content.
An important parameter in mix design is the percent of the
VCA filled with mastic (VCAM), which is given as follows:
VCA − VV
VCAM = × 100%. (8)
VCA
Based on the equation above, the VCAM for real PAC mix-
tures becomes 41.6%. In the simplified model of PAC-16,
336 L.T. Mo et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 43 (2007) 333 – 343

Table 1
Gradation of typical PAC-16 porous asphalt

Sieve size di (mm) 16 11.2 8 5.6 2 0.063 <0.063

Weight percentage wi (%) 3.5 19 35 20 7.5 10.5 4.5

Interface zone

Mastic film

Stone a
b
Y
Void

Z X

Fig. 3. Overview of 2D model for idealized porous asphalt (Node a: interfacial zone; Node b: mastic).

a VCAM of 41.6% is obtained at a void content VV of about Table 2

12.6% and 15.2% for the idealized 2D and 3D packing, respec- Relevant parameters for modelling structure
tively. These values of VV are smaller than the earlier discussed Diameter of particle d̄ (mm) 9.6
V V max and larger than V V min indicating that a realistic level Interfacial zone thickness h 0.005
of compaction is required to obtain a model geometry with re- (mm)
alistic VCAM. Mastic thickness h (mm) 0.45–0.50
Void content VV (%) 11–14
Typically the thickness of hot asphalt layer should at least be Central distance between parti- 10.0–10.1
three times of the normal maximum aggregate size (NMAS). cles D (mm)
In the proposed model, NMAS is 9.6 mm implying that the Contact angle of adjacent aggre- 40–50
required layer thickness of idealized porous asphalt is about gates  (degree)
30 mm. Model sizes (mm) High 30 × length 180 ×
thickness 2
Fig. 3 gives both an overview and a detailed view of the 2D
FE model for PAC. In the represented case the model contains
50 simplified particles in four layers. As indicated in Fig. 3 the
upper parts of the surface grains are not surfaced with mas- As indicated in Fig. 3, the boundary condition is as follows:
tic. This is in accordance with real trafficked PAC. A detailed movements in the mastic surface at the bottom of the model
view, in which the various structural components may be dis- are fully restraint; at the vertical boundaries of the model only
tinguished, is presented in the upper part of Fig. 3. The main horizontal movements are restrained.
area of interest is the upper middle part of the model so that Relevant parameters for the calculations discussed in this
more nodes in the contact regions between aggregate particles paper are listed in Table 2.
are created in that particular area to obtain the most accurate
results. 2.2. Loads
The model is created in the CAPA-3D platform. The ele-
ments used for modelling the stones and the mastic are 20- The model is loaded by applying concentrated stresses on
node cubic elements, i.e. solid elements. The elements used to individual grains. These stresses are defined such that a moving
model the interfacial zone between mastic and stone are 16- wheel load is simulated. Given a scale of the model the loading
node interface elements. Effectively these elements act to tie consists of the contact stresses between tyre and pavement. The
nodes on either side of the interface by means of springs, so load case applied to the model so far consider a set of two
allowing for extreme aspect ratios. The total number of ele- 80 kN axles. The length and width of the tyre footprint is 220
ments for stone aggregates, mastic and interface zone is 1260, and 230 mm, respectively for both axles, resulting in an average
625 and 625, respectively. As CAPA-3D is a pure 3D platform 0.8 MPa vertical contact pressure. Each first axle is free rolling
the model is made 2D by choice of boundary conditions. In ef- while each second is driven. Two driving speeds are selected:
fect no displacements perpendicular to the plane in which the a high speed of 22 m/s and a low speed of 5.5 m/s.
model is plotted are allowed, which makes the model a plane Based on measurements at earlier research it has led to a
strain model. procedure that translates wheel loading into contact stresses on
 L.T. Mo et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 43 (2007) 333 – 343
1.0
Function A
0.5
Function value
Function B
0.0
-0.5
-1.0
0 0.5
Relative time
Fig. 4. Function value against relative loading time.
individual particles [9]. More detailed information is presented
in Ref. [9] if one is interested in. This procedure is also applied
here according to reported researches. Two functions shown in
Fig. 4 are used to translate contact stresses into grain loadings.
The vertical load is transferred to the particle surface via func-
tion A (fA (t)) with a maximum vertical stress 1.6 MPa. Please
note that this stress is twice as high as the average vertical con-
tact stress 0.8 MPa.
y = 1.6 × fA (t).
In the direction of travel a free rolling wheel introduces shear
stresses, which can be described by a combination of function
A with a maximum 2.5% of the maximum vertical stress and
Function B (fB (t)) with a maximum of 30% of the maximum
vertical stress
x = 0.04 × fA (t) + 0.48 × fB (t)
for a free rolling wheel.
The driven wheel has to transfer the engine output to the
pavement, thus implying additional longitudinal stresses should
be loading compared to the free wheel. At the additional longi-
tudinal stresses caused by a constant energy output of 275 kW
could be computed. These stresses are applied to the surface
via Function A. The longitudinal additional stresses that follow
from the transfer of engine output are −0.16 and −0.64 MPa
for a vehicle speed of 22 and 5.5 m/s, respectively when tak-
ing into consideration 36% energy output loss. Therefore, the
final longitudinal stresses for driving wheel should be the com-
ponent of free wheel plus the additional part by driving force,
which is given as follows:
x = −0.12 × fA (t) + 0.48 × fB (t)
for driven wheel at 22 m/s,
x = −0.60 × fA (t) + 0.48 × fB (t)
for driven wheel at 5.5 m/s.
The loading time, t, for each individual particle is determined
on the basis of the speed and the length of the contact area
L
t= , (13)
v elastic properties: normal stiffness Kn = 6.4 × 105 MPa/mm,
where L = 220 mm and v = 22 m/s or 5.5 m/s.
337
The distance between two tyres is much larger than the length
of a contact area. This implies that a calculation in which the
spacing between tyres is realistic mainly computes what hap-
pens when no load is present. To make use of computer more
effectively a rest period of 3.5 times the loading time is imple-
mented between load pulses.
In combination of the discussed equations, it leads to the load
case graphically shown in Fig. 5. To simulate a moving tyre
the load on each individual particle is delayed as a function of
the longitudinal position of the particle.
1
The discussed stresses are average contact stresses and have
to be translated to grain loads. This is done by considering the
surface in which each individual grain is sitting.
Fx/y = x/y × x × z, (14)
where Fx/y is the force applied on one particle in x or y direc-
tion, N; x is the distance between particles at the road surface,
mm; z is the thickness of 2D model, z = 2 mm.
The forces that follow from (14) are transferred to individual
particles via concentrated stress acting on the particle surface.
2.3. Material behaviour
(9)
The grains have been modelled linear elastic; E=5×104 MPa
and  = 0.25. The mastic is modelled by the elasto-visco model
implemented in CAPA [10]. In the calculations discussed here-
after this model equals to the well-known Burger’s model by
choice of parameters, schematically shown in Fig. 6. The be-
haviour of the mastic is determined by the Burger’s parameters
of pure bitumen and a relation between bitumen stiffness, bi-
tumen content and mastic stiffness obtained from the literature
(10) [8,11].
Hagos reported the Burger’s parameters (E0 , E1 , 1 and
∞ ) for various types of bitumen [11]. Two types of bitumen;
straight run 70/100 penetration bitumen and modified bitumen
with 7% BSB are considered here and the properties at 25 and
40 ◦ C are listed in Table 3.
Several experimental studies have shown that the stiffness
ratio of mastic to bitumen exhibits a wide range between 2
and 12 depending on temperature, type of binder, the volu-
metric concentration and the mineralogy of the aggregates in
the mastic. Based on the work done by Masad, it is found
that the stiffness ratio of mastic and bitumen is about 5 when
the volume fraction of minerals in mastic is 0.57 [8]. In the
considered mixture of PAC-16 the volume fraction of miner-
als in the mastic equals 0.56. This enabled the estimation of
(11) the mastic properties on the basis of the properties of the ap-
plied bitumen and the volume fraction of minerals in mastic
(see Table 3).
(12)
The stiffness of the interfacial zones between mastic and
particle are a result of both binder behaviour and particle be-
haviour. At this moment it is assumed that the stiffness of this
zone may be obtained by a combination of 50% particle be-
haviour and 50% binder behaviour. This leads to the following
shear stiffness Ks = 1.3 × 104 MPa/mm for straight-run
338 L.T. Mo et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 43 (2007) 333 – 343

2 Speed: 22 m/s
1.5

Sress (MPa)
1
0.5
0
-0.5 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
-1 Time (milliseconds)

2 Vertical contact stress

Speed: 5.5 m/s
1.5
Sress (MPa)

1
0.5
0
-0.5 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
-1
-1.5 Time (milliseconds) Longitudinal contact stress

2nd wheel load:

1st wheel load:
Not driven

Driven
Rest period Rest period

Fig. 5. Graphical representation of the load case introduced by a set of two modelled axles (tyre loadings).

Elastic Visco-elastic Viscous (5) Contact angle between adjacent aggregates, 45◦ vs. 49◦ ;
(6) Temperature, 25 vs. 40 ◦ C.

It is known that ravelling may be a result of adhesive fail-

E0, ν0 E1, λ1, ν1
Fig. 6. The elastic-visco Burger’s model.
bitumen (70/100 penetration) and Kn = 2.8 × 105 MPa/mm,
Ks = 5.7 × 103 MPa/mm for 7% SBS modified bitumen.
ure (failure of the interfacial zone), cohesive failure (failure
through the mastic) or combinations hereof. To get insight into
the state of stress of the interfacial zone the computed normal
λ∞, ν∞ stress n and shear stress  have to be translated into a single
quantity that indicates material loading. There are indications
that bituminous interfaces show a Mohr–Coulomb like failure
envelope at higher normal stress. For this reasons the stress in
the interfacial zone is translated into the minimum required ten-
sile strength taking into account a 45◦ angle of internal friction,
n,45◦

3. Results
The main purpose of the present work is to evaluate the
possibilities of 2D modelling for the determination of the local
in-material state of stress as it develops under moving tyre
loads. To investigate these possibilities eight load cases are
defined that give insight into the effects of following parameters
(see Table 4):
(1) Type of binder, SBS modified bitumen vs. 70/100 penetra-
tion straight-run bitumen;
(2) Speed, 22 vs. 5.5 m/s;
(3) Binder content, 4.4% vs. 5.5%, corresponding to mastic
film thickness, 0.45 vs. 0.50 mm;
(4) Degree of compaction, 99% vs. 101% based on the refer-
ence void content of 12.6%, reflected in the distance be-
tween particles, 10.1 vs. 10.0 mm;
n,45◦ = n + . (15)
Also the stresses computed in the mastic has to be translated
into a single quantity that indicates material loading. It is ex-
pected that the von Mises equivalent stress, v is a good indi-
cator for mastic material loading and thus for the chances of
cohesive failure. The von Mises stress is calculated as follows:

(1 − 2 )2 + (2 − 3 )2 + (3 − 1 )2
v = . (16)
2
Two locations, a and b in Fig. 3 are selected for the stress
analysis in the interfacial zone and mastic, respectively. The
maximum values of n,45◦ in the interfacial zone and v in
the mastic are listed in Table 4. Fig. 7 shows the development
of the von Mises stress in mastic under two wheel passages.
Fig. 8 displays the relation between normal stress and shear
stress in particle–mastic interface zone during wheel passages.
 L.T. Mo et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 43 (2007) 333 – 343 339

Table 3
Burger’s parameters for binder and mastic

Properties Binder with 70/100 Binder with 7% SBS Mastic with 70/100 Mastic with 7% SBS
penetration modified penetration modified

Temperature (◦ C) 25 40 25 40 25 40 25 40
E0 (MPa) 2.00 × 102 2.00 × 102 8.50 × 10 8.50 × 10 9.89 × 102 1.30 × 103 4.53 × 102 6.12 × 102
E1 (MPa) 1.50 × 100 1.50 × 10−2 5.00 × 10−2 5.00 × 10−2 9.89 × 10−1 9.76 × 101 2.67 × 10−1 3.60 × 10−1
1 (MPas) 8.67 × 10−3 3.81 × 10−4 6.86 × 10−2 2.96 × 10−3 1.29 × 10−2 2.48 × 10−3 3.66 × 10−1 2.13 × 10−2
∞ (MPas) 8.67 × 10−2 3.81 × 10−3 1.01 × 10 4.36 × 10−1 4.28 × 10−1 2.48 × 10−2 5.40 × 10 3.14 × 100

Table 4
Calculation results for various modelling cases

Case no. D h VV Type of binder Speed (m/s)  Temperature (◦ C) n,45◦ v

1 10.0 0.45 13.2 Straight 22 45 25 0.323 4.590

2 10.0 0.50 11.6 Modified 22 45 25 0.247 4.423
3 10.1 0.50 13.3 Modified 22 45 25 0.312 4.721
4 10.0 0.45 13.2 Modified 5.5 45 25 5.549 6.874
5 10.0 0.45 13.2 Modified 22 45 25 0.297 4.518
6 10.0 0.45 12.6 Straight 22 49 25 0.178 4.043
7 10.0 0.45 13.2 Modified 22 45 40 0.359 4.300
8 10.0 0.45 13.2 Straight 22 45 40 0.370 2.190

It is observed that the interfacial zones are mainly subjected to
a combination compressive stress (negative) and shear stress.
Tensile stresses (positive) remain relatively small. However, the
high shear stresses in interfacial zones may exceed adhesive
bonding strength and so cause adhesive failure leading to loss
of particle, i.e. ravelling.
A similar general trend in v is observed for all the mod-
elled cases. However, the development of shear stresses in the
interfacial zones proves to be more complex, especially at low
speeds.
The calculations show that driven wheels when compared to
non-driven wheels lead to higher material loading within the
structure of PAC. This holds for both interfacial zone loading
and mastic loading. The maximum material loading of both the
interfacial zone and the mastic occurs when a tire just passed
over a particle. In the interfacial zone this maximum is caused
by a combination of higher shear and minor tension.
The results listed in Table 4 show that n,45◦ ranges from
0.18 to 5.55 MPa and that v ranges from 2.2 to 6.9 MPa. This
strongly indicates that the stresses within the components of
PAC are affected by the composition of the mix, the properties
of the applied bitumen, temperature and load case, particularly
for the velocity. This implies that material design (geometry and
choice of raw materials) may well lead to stronger PAC. Based
on the calculations discussed here the following conclusions
may be drawn from Table 4.
3.1. Type of bitumen
By the comparison of Cases 1 and 5 it is shown that the use
of modified bitumen reduces stress levels in both mastic and the
interfacial zone at a temperature of 25 ◦ C. At a higher tempera-
ture of 40 ◦ C the situation becomes more complex. Cases 7 and
8 indicate that the stresses in the mastic with modified bitumen
are now roughly twice as high as the stresses in the mastic with
straight run bitumen. Apparently the modified binder remains
more active at higher temperatures. At 40 ◦ C the stresses in the
interfacial zone are hardly dependant on the type of bitumen.
3.2. Binder content
Cases 2 and 5 indicate that an increase of the bitumen con-
tent results in a decrease of stress levels in both mastic and
the interfacial zone. The reason may be that the contact area
increases with the increase of binder content, thus resulting in
reduced stress level at a given loading.
3.3. Compaction
Cases 2 and 3 indicate the positive effect of compaction on
stress levels within the material structure. It is expected that the
increase in degree of compaction leads to closer contact, thus
increasing contact area when two stone become closer with a
given mastic thickness.
3.4. Angle of packing
The angle of packing herein is defined as the included an-
gle made with the central connection line between adjacent
particles by the horizontal line, shown in Fig. 2. The strongest
positive effect on the reduction of stress levels is caused by an
increase of the angle of packing 45–49◦ (Cases 1 and 6). In this
2D model, the loading applied on the individual stones con-
sists of a major vertical stress and a minor longitudinal stress.
Hence, it is expected that the stress components in contact
340 L.T. Mo et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 43 (2007) 333 – 343

7.0

1 2 3 5 6 7 8 4
6.0

5.0
Von Mises stress (MPa)

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (10-3 second)

Fig. 7. Development of von Mises stress in mastic over time (Case 4 low speed: time scale should be 4 × 10−3 s).

5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
4
Shear stress (MPa)

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (10-3 second)
0

-5
Normal stress (MPa)

-10

-15

-20

-25

Fig. 8. Development of normal stress and shear stress in particle–mastic interface zone over time (Case 4 low speed: time scale should be 4 × 10−3 s).

region will change as the increasing angle of packing. In par- when compared Case 1 with Case 6 in Fig. 8. According to the
ticular, the influence of vertical loading will result in higher Mohr–Coulomb like failure envelope, the equivalent stress e
compressive stress and lower shear stress. Therefore, the can be usually expressed as follows:
increasing angle of packing generally attributes to much
lower shear stress, but similar level of compressive stress, e =  + n tg. (17)
 L.T. Mo et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 43 (2007) 333 – 343
It is known that normal stress n is negative when compressive
stress is subjected and apparently, e will decreases as shear
stress drops obviously in combination with the increase in fric-
tion angle while n remains a same level.
3.5. Temperature
An increase of temperature results in a decrease of stress
levels in mastic for both straight run bitumen (Case 1 vs. 8)
and modified bitumen (Case 5 vs. 7) because the binder be-
come softer and more viscous. Stress levels in interfacial zone
increase with increasing temperature. The decrease of stresses
in mastic with an increase of temperature is much stronger for
the straight run bitumen. The increase of stress in the interfa-
cial zone with increasing temperatures is strongest with the use
of modified bitumen.
3.6. Load case
In both the interfacial zones and the mastic the largest stresses
so far are found in Case 4. It is considered that higher additional
longitudinal stress is induced by driving force at low speed due
to this, thus indicating that accelerating slow moving traffic has
a disastrous effect on ravelling in PAC.
3.7. Causes of ravelling
The calculations showed that the states of stress in both
the mastic and the interfacial zones vary with temperature and
speed amongst others. It is known that the strength of bitumi-
nous materials also varies with these factors. This implies that
the risk of failure, i.e. ravelling, may only be assessed when
the strength of the bituminous components are considered as a
function of temperature and speed.
Heukelom reported tensile strength of bitumen and mixtures
as a function of the bitumen stiffness modulus. He showed that
the tensile strength of a mix is almost 1.4–3 times higher than
that of the bitumen [12]. On the basis of the work of Heukelom
the tensile strength of the mastics involved in this work were
determined. Hereto first the stiffness of both considered bitu-
mens under the involved temperatures and strain rates were
determined.
From Burger’s model parameters at a given temperature
listed in Table 3, it can be computed the relationship between
stress and strain at a given loading frequency. Loading fre-
quency is just related to wheel speed. In this study, the length
of the tyre footprint is 220 mm thus that needs 0.01 and 0.04 s
for a wheel to pass with a speed of 22 and 5.5 m/s, respectively,
which can be considered as a loading cycle, or the reciprocal
of frequency f. In general, if bituminous material is loaded by
a stress signal (t) = 0 sin(2f t), the resulting strain would
follow by (t) = 0 sin(2f t + ). Therefore, the stiffness
modulus is calculated as the ratio of the maximum stress to
the maximum strain E = o /o . Since the stiffness is deter-
mined, the corresponding tensile strength is estimated based
on Heukelom’s data charts, which provided the curves for
341
stiffness–strength relationship. Results are shown in Table 5 and
indicate mastic tensile strength varying from 5.4 to 7.7 MPa.
Computed values range from 2.2 to 6.9 MPa indicating that co-
hesive failure in PAC may well occur especially under repeated
loading.
Only limited information about the strength of the adhe-
sive zones at realistic loading speeds is available in literature.
Babcock [13] reported the shear strength of interfacial zones
between two glass plates at room temperature and at a constant
rate of deformation. Values reported rage from 0.054 MPa
for straight run 120/150 pen bitumen to 0.078–0.147 MPa for
modified binders. Pull-off test results on bitumen–particle ad-
hesive zones were reported by Kanitpong et al. [14]. Pull-off
strengths ranging from 0.15 to 0.36 MPa were found depend-
ing on type of bitumen and particle. Frolov also reported
an adhesive strength range of 1.90–5.20 MPa between as-
phalt film and marble substrate at a loading rate 100 mm/min
and 24 ◦ C [15].
Based on literature analysis, some fundamental bonding
properties of asphalt binders have been determined. But it
could be noted that the bonding strength of bituminous ma-
terials has been studied mainly using strain-control mode,
however, relevant researches using stress-control model have
not been obtained. Due to this, and the fact that the tests were
done at low loading speeds it is not possible to make an ac-
curate analysis of the stress ratio’s in the interfacial zones.
Therefore, the reported strength values measured at high strain
rate by Frolov were compared with computed stress in the
adhesive zones. The adhesive strength values were selected on
the basis that the penetration values of both bitumens using in
the literature and this study should be in the similar range.
In this study, the ratio of computed stress to material strength
is used to evaluate the capability of 2D model. It is clear that the
2D model is unacceptable if the computed stress is extremely
higher or lower than the measured material strength. Table 6
lists the stress/strength situation in the interfacial zone and mas-
tic, which shows the effects of temperature on the mastic mate-
rial loading based on Case 1 vs. 8 for straight run and Case 5 vs.
7 for modified bitumen. The computed stress is compared with
the strength according to Heukelom’s data charts. The values of
computed stress ratio in the mastic range from 0.4 to 0.65 and
tend to increase with a decreasing temperature. However, the
interfacial zone shows much lower stress ratio values of 0.06
to 0.09, compared to the mastic at temperature of 25 ◦ C. The
obtained stress values appear very realistic because they fall in
a range 0.05–0.65 of relevant material strengths. Higher stress
ratio also indicates that cohesive failure in mastic, especially
under repeated loading (fatigue) should be expected at low
temperatures.
With the above indications are that ravelling may well be
a low temperature mechanical type of damage. It was shown
that cohesive failure should surely be expected that low tem-
peratures. From literature it is known that adhesive failure
mainly develops at low temperatures [13]. This indicates that
the observed risk of ravelling at low temperatures may even
be stronger when ample information about adhesive failure
becomes available.
342 L.T. Mo et al. / Finite Elements in Analysis and Design 43 (2007) 333 – 343

Table 5
Calculation results of tensile strengths of various bitumen and mastic

70/100 pen bitumen (MPa) SBS modified bitumen (MPa)

Sbit ˆ bit ˆ mas Sbit ˆ bit ˆ mas

25 ◦ C 5.5 m/s 64.7 4.8 7.5 84.8 4.9 7.6

22 m/s 136.0 4.7 7.1 84.2 4.9 7.6
40 ◦ C 22 m/s 17.0 3.9 5.4 80.0 5.0 7.7

Note: Sbit —stiffness modulus of bitumen; ˆ bit —tensile strength of bitumen; ˆ mas —tensile strength of mastic.

Table 6
Comparisons of modelled stresses and reported material strengths

Type of bitumen Temperature (◦ C) Adhesive issues (MPa) Cohesive issues (MPa)

Modelled Reported Stress/strength Modelled Reported Stress/strength

stress strength rate (%) stress strength rate (%)

Modified 25 0.297 5.2a 6 4.52 7.7 59

bitumen 40 0.359 – – 4.30 7.6 57
Straight run 40 0.370 – – 2.19 5.4 41
bitumen 25 0.323 3.8b 9 4.59 7.1 65
a 3.8 MPa is obtained from a bitumen of 60/90 penetration at loading rate of 100 mm/min reported in Ref. [15].
b 5.2 MPa is obtained from a bitumen of 40/60 penetration at loading rate of 100 mm/min reported in Ref. [15].

4. Conclusions
Based on the previous the following conclusions are drawn:
• Meso mechanical modelling of a material like PAC is feasible.
The reactions of the model to mix design variables such as
bitumen content, type of bitumen, level of compaction, etc.
was logical in all cases.
• The problem of loading meso mechanical models representing
the pavement surface can be solved.
• Computed stresses in the various material components are
well in line with measured strength values reported. This
indicates that the presented 2D model can well be used to
investigate stress states in the interfacial zone and the mastic.
• 2D models differ from 3D models with respect to volumetrics.
However, it was found that these differences remain relatively
small and that the VCAM is a volumetric indicator that is
hardly dependant on the type of model (2D vs. 3D).
• It was shown that ravelling of PAC is a low temperature
problem.
• The particle contact regions are mainly subjected to a combi-
nation of compressive and shear stress. However, indications
are that the worst combination of stresses occurs just after a
tyre passes over a particle. At that moment minor tension in
combination with shear is loading the contact area.
• Results show that the stress levels in mastic and interfacial
zones are reduced considerably with an increase of the contact
angle. This indicates that the condition of the particle skeleton
may be of larger importance than the influence of the type
of bitumen. This is also indicated by the fact that modified
bitumen only exhibits a slight positive effect when compared
to straight run bitumen.
• In the search for a better PAC the role of the particle skeleton
should thus be considered. From literature it is known that the
angle of internal friction of road building granulates varies
from 35◦ to 50◦ [16,17]. Combined, this indicates that the
angle of internal fraction of the particle fraction may be a
mix design parameter of importance.
• It is recognized that the discussed 2D FE model considers
idealised mixture geometry. However, the current model of
simplified PAC gives insights that are of larger importance in
the development of a better PAC-mixture. For this reason the
2D FE model will be further improved using image analysis
techniques. Furthermore, a 3D model will be developed to
investigate the effects of 2D modelling.
• There is a lack of information about the strength of adhesive
zones. For this reason measurement on the strength of these
zones at realistic stress rate will be a major part of the research
program.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge support of the Road and
Hydraulic Engineering Institute, the Netherlands provided un-
der the project DWW-2570, Research Strategy Ravelling. The
authors also appreciate the cooperation between Wuhan Uni-
versity of Technology and Delft University of Technology and
express their wish to prolong and strengthen the current coop-
eration between the mentioned institutes of technology.
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