INTERFACES BEHAVIOUR IN GLUED GRANULAR MATERIALS

In this paper a micro-scale model to investigate the structural integrity of a runway surface has been developed. By performing stress analysis on a representative volume element (RVE), our model specification has been focalized on two elementary mixture constituents, two rigid components glued together by asphalt. The analysis is performed under thermo-mechanical actions, as those produced by landing gear impact and variable high surface temperatures. Three different interfaces (rigid to rigid, rigid to soft and soft to soft), three different asphalt density and two different values of surface temperature have been considered in the simulation. Resulting stress and strain fields are compared to define the greater critical conditions and to evaluate the microscale structural integrity.