ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The self-restoring or healing capacity of bitumen has been known for quite some time. Yet, to this date, there is no consensus of the fundamental mechanism underlying this phenomenon. In this paper a new finite element based model is presented which focuses on the healing phenomenon from a thermodynamic point of view. In the model, healing of bituminous material is simulated via a phase field model, utilizing a modified version of the Cahn Hilliard and Flory-Huggins equations. The paper presents the developed hypothesis and summarizes the theory behind it. The model has been implemented in the 3D finite element system CAPA-3D and preliminary results are shown.
