New Damage Evolution Law for Steel–Asphalt Concrete Composite Pavement Considering Wheel Load and Temperature Variation

Abstract

Epoxy asphalt (EA) concrete is widely used in constructing long-span steel bridge pavements (SBDPs). This study aims to derive a fatigue damage evolution law, conducting an experimental investigation of SBDP. First, a general theoretical form of the fatigue damage evolution law of materials is established based on the thermal motion of atoms. Then, fatigue experiments demonstrate that this evolution law well represents the known damage–life relationships of SBDP. Taking into account the experimental relationships between damage and fatigue life under symmetrical cyclic loadings with different overload amplitudes and temperature variations, a detailed damage evolution law is deduced. Finally, the role of damage accumulation is discussed on the basis of the proposed damage evolution law for the extreme situation of heavy overload and severe environments. The results show that both heavy loading and falling temperatures increase the fatigue damage of SBDP considerably. EA shows a fatigue life two to three times longer than that of modified matrix asphalt (SMA) or guss asphalt (GA). For the same thickness, EA pavement is demonstrated to be more suitable for an anti-fatigue design of large-span SBDP under high traffic flows and low temperatures.

Special Issue: Characterization of Innovative Asphalt Materials for Use in Pavement Design and Analysis

“…Twenty universities and scientific centres contributed with their original research papers to this Special Issue of Materials . The issues covered can be divided into five main topics: Characterization of recycled materials in asphalt concrete mixtures, such as waste of sanitary ceramics [ 23 ], crumb rubber (CR) from waste tires [ 24 , 25 , 26 ] and reclaimed asphalt (RA) [ 27 , 28 ]; Investigation of natural [ 28 ] or bio-based [ 29 ] materials used as rejuvenators in recycled asphalt applications; Study of rheological and fatigue behaviour of bituminous materials with [ 30 ] and without [ 31 ] the use of renewable bio-materials; Evaluation of lubricant characteristics of graphite nanoplatelets [ 32 ]; Fatigue life prediction model for materials employed on long-span steel bridge decks [ 33 ]. …”

“…In the paper presented by Xu et al [ 33 ], a fatigue life prediction model for asphalt concretes laid on long-span steel bridge decks was established based on the mechanism of fatigue damage evolution of materials from the microscopic perspective. Moreover, the reliability of the model was verified by fatigue tests performed on epoxy asphalt (EA), stone matrix asphalt (SMA) and gussasphalt (GA).…”

Effect of Crack Initiation and Life Prediction of Polyacrylonitrile-Reinforced Gussasphalt Surfacing over Steel Bridge Deck under Fiber Content Variation

“…According to the structural characteristics of Jiangyin Yangtze River Bridge, the composite beams for the fatigue test were designed based on the models. Under the action of standard axle load (BZZ-100), the cyclic load amplitude was 5 kN [46]. Generally, the traveling speed of vehicles on the steel bridge surface is between 50 km/h and 100 km/h, and the corresponding fatigue loading frequency is 5-10 Hz.…”

Fatigue Performance of Steel‐Concrete Composite Continuous Box Girder Bridge Deck

“…At present, research on the effect of the wheel position on the fatigue performance of bridge decks mainly focuses on steel decks [33][34][35][36][37]. For example, Zhou et al [34] showed that the lateral position of a vehicle was very sensitive to the transverse stress of the steel bridge deck and the fatigue damage of key parts.…”