Finite element modeling of pavement responses based on stress-dependent properties of asphalt layer

In order to investigate the stress-dependent properties of hot-mix asphalt （HMA）,a dynamic modulus test was conducted on a group of AC-20 specimens at various stress states and loading frequencies,respectively.A user-defined material （UMAT ）subroutine incorporating stress-dependent constitutive model was developed and finite element （FE）simulation was utilized to confirm the validity of the UMAT.A three-dimensional （3D ）FE model for typical pavement structure was established,considering the HMA layer as a stress-dependent material and other layers as linear elastic materials.Periodic load was applied to the pavement model and the pavement responses were calculated,including dynamic modulus distributions,surface deflection,shear stress and tensile strain in the HMA layer,etc.Both test results and FE model predictions indicate that the dynamic modulus of asphalt concrete is sensitive to stress state and loading frequency.Using the nonlinear stress-dependent model results in greater predicted pavement responses compared with the linear elastic model.It is also found that the effects of stress-dependency on pavement responses become more significant as loading frequency decreases.

Effects of Structural Characteristics of a Bionic Dragonfly Wing on Its Low Velocity Impact Resistance

The influence of the structural features of dragonfly wings, including the sandwich-type configuration of longitudinal veins and the longitudinal corrugations, on the impact response of a bio-inspired structure is investigated. According to experimental observations of the wing morphology, a novel foam-based composite structure is introduced consisting of E-glass/epoxy face-sheets bonded to a polyurethane foam core. A finite element model is employed to simulate the structural responses of the biomimetic structure under low velocity impact. The initiation and evolution of the impact-induced damage in composite skins are simulated by applying a user-defined progressive damage model together with the interracial cohesive law for intra- and inter-laminar damages, respectively. To simulate the nonlinear behavior of the foam core, a crushable plasticity model is implemented. The numerically obtained results are found to correlate with the experimentally measured ones, acquired by drop-weight testing on a bio-inspired structure. It is numerically predicted that reinforcing the structure with the veins gives the more impact load-bearing capacity and the longitudinal corrugation can increase the stiffness and damage resistance of the structure. Effects of the change in impact location, the configuration of the veins and the corrugated angle on damage resistance of the structures are fully discussed.