This CAREER project integrates research and educational programs and will focus on roadway materials and infrastructure systems to develop a multiscale computational model and associated experimental programs that accurately predict damage and failure of granular composites in general and asphaltic composites and pavements in particular. The broad goal is to seek state-of-the-art advances in the modeling, analysis, and design of various civil engineering geo-materials and infrastructure systems. Central to this effort is the proposed multiscale-computational approach that employs only the fundamental properties of the mixture constituents to predict damage-dependent behavior and service life of an entire structure. The approach minimizes modeling effort/cost and produces more accurate simulations than current phenomenological approaches. This study will provide better understanding and clear investigation of constituent-level material phenomena and their interactions on inelastic-nonlinear structural performance and distresses by successfully linking microstructural responses to macroscopic performance. Complementing these research efforts is the training of new engineers through an educational program that seamlessly incorporates new technologies and laboratories into the classroom, integrates experimentation with engineering fundamentals, and engages students especially those belonging to groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM in civil engineering.
Based on fundamental findings from this study, roadway engineers and practitioners can improve traditional guidelines to select mixture constituents in a more appropriate way and are also capable of advancing current mix-design concepts, materials models, and performance prediction models that will eventually lead to improvements of mixture/structure designs. In addition, this study is potentially applicable in a broad range of other cases with damage-associated nonlinear inelastic mechanical behavior, such as geologic media, other construction materials and infrastructure systems, and various types of complex composites.
