A Cyclic Cohesive Crack Model Based on Bounding Surface Concept

Cohesive crack model (CCM) is essentially a type of non-linear fracture mechanics that can deal with large fracture process zones in inhomogeneous materials such as asphalt concrete (AC). CCM has been successfully used to model cracking under monotonic loading conditions. Its application to fatigue cracking is however limited due to the lack of well-developed mechanisms to account for progressive cracking damage caused cyclic loading. This paper incorporates the bounding surface concept into cohesive crack model and provides a systematic way for introducing hysteresis loop during loading and unloading into CCM. Model behaviors of the resulting cyclic CCM are then examined for reasonableness and flexibility.