Thermo-mechanical modeling of pavement’s response considering asphalt concrete’s tension-compression asymmetry

Pavements experience significant tension-compression (TC) variations under thermal and traffic loads, yet this critical characteristic remains largely overlooked in pavement design. This research addresses this gap by developing a thermo-mechanical dual viscoelastic constitutive model that integrates environment-induced pavement temperature variations with asphalt concrete’s (AC) viscoelastic TC asymmetry for numerical modeling. Simulation results indicate that AC layers undergo substantial temperature fluctuations and corresponding stress/strain TC variations due to daily temperature cycles. Incorporating AC’s TC asymmetry reduces thermal stress compared to models that consider only compressive properties. Further evaluation under traffic loading reveals seasonal effects: in winter, high stress and strain occur at the bottom of the AC layer, while in summer, they shift to the top, with maximum strain near the tire load’s edge. This research provides insights into the impact of temperature variations and TC asymmetry on pavement performance, contributing to the development of climate-resilient pavement designs.