ABSTRACT
This paper proposes a simple method to establish an equivalency between two-dimensional (2D) microstructures of Asphalt Concrete (AC), and subdivided computational specimens with ‘discretized’ properties, i.e., no microstructure. A rough estimate of the behaviour of the AC micro-structure is obtained by (1) determining the aggregate area per subdivision of the 2D microstructure using a grid, and then (2) estimating the mechanical properties of the subdivisions using exponential interpolation between the properties of the Fine Aggregate Matrix (FAM) and the aggregates. Results are presented after following this subdivision procedure for two AC microstructures generated at random, using a range of 1 to 50 subdivisions. A criterion is suggested for selecting an optimal number of subdivisions to reasonably approximate the overall mechanical response of the microstructure.
