Modeling of T/C Fatigue Test with Boundary Element Method and Linear Fracture Mechanics

Abstract

This work presents the simulation of 3D crack propagation in samples in order to determine fatigue life. The modellings have been achieved by using MBEMv3.0: a fast software based on the Symmetric Galerkin Boundary Element Method (SGBEM) accelerated with the Fast Multipole Method (FMM) in 3D elasticity. Fatigue crack propagation has been simulated with Paris law. We present the simulations of a tensile/compression fatigue test on cylindrical samples of a semi-coarse asphalt concrete considered as homogeneous, containing very small cracks. When the number of cycles increases, the cracks propagate, and we can observe a loss of rigidity of the sample. Parametric studies of the modelling parameters have been performed where the damage evolutions exhibit a typical shape that proves that, for asphalt concrete materials subjected to T/C fatigue test, the shape of the fatigue test curve is mainly governed by biasing effects at the beginning then by mechanical damage at the end.