ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Multiscale characterization and modelling is an increasingly popular technique for the investigation of asphalt concrete due to limitations with the level of insight possible from macroscale mechanistic models with respect to certain key performance characteristics. Four key questions arise in the multiscale experimental/mechanical evaluation of asphalt concrete; 1) what are the different characteristic length scales within asphalt concrete, 2) how should these materials be constructed in the laboratory for experimentation 3) what are the characteristic behaviours of these different scales, and 4) how are these behaviours linked across the scales. In this paper the authors present research findings concerning the fourth question. A characteristic index, the structuralization index, is identified as a scale independent characteristic that explains the stiffening characteristics of asphalt concrete across length scales. The definition and basis for the development of this structuralization index is presented. Next, the application of this structuralization index to two different materials is shown. It is the authors’ belief that this structuralization index can serve as a means to link the characteristic behaviours of asphalt concrete for analytical upscaling of the modulus, and perhaps other properties as well.
