Ice-Breaking and Numerical Simulation of Crumb Rubber Modified Asphalt Mixture

To explore the ice-breaking mechanism, the discrete element model which reflected the interaction between a rubber particles asphalt mixture and ice under different ice thicknesses was established. The macroscopic parameters of the weighted average rebound amount of British Pendulum Number （BPN) and the weighted average rebound rate of BPN were compared with the mesoscopic parameters of the strain energy and particle displacements. The results indicate that the weighted average rebound amount and the weighted average rebound rate of BPN reach constant values basically when the ice thickness is 4 mm. The particle displacements are maximum and the strain energy overcoming the tensile force among parcels in ice layer is largest when the ice thickness is 1mm. In addition, the icebreaking mechanism of the rubber particles asphalt mixture is studied from the macroscopic and mesoscopic viewpoints.