ABSTRACT
The computational cost of pure microscale models at the macroscale is extremely high and the advantages of the microscale simulation are generally restricted to some specific regions of the macroscale structure. As a result, the Finite Element Representative Volume Element (FE-RVE) approach is proposed to do the multiscale analysis, which provides opportunities to more comprehensively describe the mechanical response of asphalt pavement, e.g., the microscale models enable parametric studies on the influence of such as aggregate morphology on the macroscopic response of asphalt pavements. In this study, a general workflow is put forward to do the FE-RVE based simulation. Afterward, a pavement structure model is set up as an example with microstructural RVE models. The example proves the algorithm to be sufficiently effective and reliable.
