Research of reflective crack in asphalt pavement using SCB specimen and XFEM: From laboratory test to numerical simulation

Reflective cracking is one of the main failure mode of pavement structures, resulting in structure deterioration and reduced traffic safety. This study investigated the cracking behavior of reflective cracks using semi-circular bending (SCB) specimens and fracture tests were conducted to obtain fracture energy, which is the critical parameter of facture calculation, and the reasonability of fracture energy was validated using a numerical model of SCB specimen. Then, a numerical model of typical pavement structure was established and cracking behavior of reflective cracks and related parameters influencing cracking were investigated in detail. The simulation results indicate the main form of reflective crack is mode I and mode II mixed crack, among which mode I takes the dominant position. Among the four investigated influence factors, overloading and long-time loading have a significant influence on the expansion of reflective cracks, while the temperature mainly influences the expansion of mode I crack. The traffic speed mainly affects the direction of crack expansion, while other factors do not have a significant effect on it.