Characterizing the cracking features of seamless asphalt plug joint (SAPJ) under cooling process using ABAQUS and FE-SAFE

The development of traffic movement comfort has placed new demands on seamless asphalt plug joints (SAPJ), which are directly exposed to atmospheric conditions and are prone to rapid deterioration under the combined effects of vehicle load and temperature variations. To mitigate undesirable cracking in SAPJ, this paper proposes a novel SAPJ structure incorporating rubber for stress absorption. The extended finite element method (XFEM) and cohesive zone model (CZM) were employed to simulate its mechanical behavior , using the finite element software ABAQUS and FE-SAFE. The results demonstrate that the utilization of rubber at the corners of the steel plate significantly reduces the maximum stress and delays initial cracking. Additionally, the optimal width of the filling materials is recommended to postpone initial cracking during temperature reduction, and the cracking path was investigated, which follows the direction of the prefabricated elastic materials. Furthermore, factors influencing the internal crack propagation and damage accumulation in the filling materials were examined, among which the cooling amplitude and the initial cracks were found to be the most significant contributors to structural deterioration . Finally, the fatigue behavior of the proposed SAPJ was analyzed under temperature-load coupling, and the influence of various factors was quantified. The relationships between fatigue life and cooling amplitude, modulus of filling materials, and width of filling materials were revealed. The combined numerical method of XFEM, CZM, and FE-SAFE is expected to realize advanced performance assessment of the SAPJ structure before engineering application . • A new SAPJ structure with rubber at both ends was proposed, and its cracking features were characterized. • The optimal width of filling material was proposed, and the crack path under different working conditions was detailed. • The relationships between fatigue life of SAPJ and environmental factors or initial crack conditions were revealed. • A reasonable method of estimating the damage evolution of the interface in SAPJ was detailed.