Abstract Damage due to freeze-thaw cycles is a major problem for asphalt mixtures. Considering the complexity of the damage process in asphalt mixtures, characterization of the process and its effect on the material behavior is not straightforward. This paper therefore develops a thermodynamics-based model which includes viscoelasticity, damage due to freeze-thaw cycles, and temperature dependent damage due to external forces which affects the elastic strain energy. Furthermore, the model couples the freeze-thaw damage and the damage due to external forces in order to capture the aggravating effect that they have on each other in reality. The freeze-thaw damage evolution is in the model dependent on the number of freeze-thaw cycles and the duration of the freezing in each cycle. The novelty of the model, the freeze-thaw damage and its coupling to the elastic energy damage, is highlighted through numerical examples. It is shown that the model is capable of simulating an increase of the freeze-thaw damage through several freeze-thaw cycles and a realistic deteriorating effect on the material properties which is consistent with reported results from previous studies. Furthermore, the effect of coupling the two damages is illustrated by comparing the effect of the resulting damage to an uncoupled case.

中文翻译：

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基于热力学的沥青混合料冻融损伤模型

摘要 冻融循环造成的损坏是沥青混合料的主要问题。考虑到沥青混合料损坏过程的复杂性，该过程的表征及其对材料行为的影响并不简单。因此，本文开发了一个基于热力学的模型，该模型包括粘弹性、冻融循环引起的损伤以及影响弹性应变能的外力引起的温度相关损伤。此外，该模型将冻融损伤和外力引起的损伤耦合起来，以捕捉它们在现实中对彼此的加重影响。模型中的冻融损伤演化取决于冻融循环次数和每个循环中冻结的持续时间。模型新颖，通过数值例子强调了冻融损伤及其与弹性能量损伤的耦合。结果表明，该模型能够模拟通过几次冻融循环造成的冻融损伤的增加以及对材料特性的真实恶化影响，这与先前研究报告的结果一致。此外，通过比较产生的损坏与未耦合情况的影响来说明耦合两种损坏的影响。