Coupled Navier–Stokes Phase-Field Model to Evaluate the Microscopic Phase Separation in Asphalt Binder under Thermal Loading
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 28, Issue 10
Abstract
The evolution of asphalt microstructures under thermal loading has always been a critical issue for pavement engineers. Previous researches show that phase separation will greatly affect the mechanical performance of asphalt at microscale. To analyze this important phenomenon, the conserved phase-field model is coupled with the Navier–Stokes equation to simulate the phase kinetics in this paper. The asphalt is chemically simplified to a quaternary system consisting of four chemical components: asphaltene, resin, oil, and wax. The coupled Navier–Stokes phase-field system is solved in a unified finite element framework in COMSOL software. It is observed that phase separation has a significant influence on the thermal stress distribution. Moreover, stress concentration is observed at the interfaces between different phases, which may result in microcracks. This conclusion is validated by atomic-force microscopy (AFM) experiment results.
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Acknowledgments
The first author would like to express sincere gratitude to Dr. Troy Pauli at Western Research Institute for sharing the AFM experiment results. The research performed in this paper is supported by Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2015EQ009), the Fundamental Research Funds of Shandong University (2015HW024), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project (2015M582093).
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 28 • Issue 10 • October 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 6, 2015
Accepted: Dec 30, 2015
Published online: May 2, 2016
Published in print: Oct 1, 2016
Discussion open until: Oct 2, 2016
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