3D Simulations of Two-Component Mixes for the Prediction of Multi-component Mixtures’ Macrotexture: Intermediate Outcomes

It is a consolidated knowledge that road macrotexture affects direct primary aspects related to road safety as friction or aquaplaning and secondary aspects related to environmental issues as noise or fuel consumption. These premises highlight how the prediction of road macrotexture is still an open research field for pavement designer, especially for theoretical models which would better describe the relationships with grading and volumetric properties, laying techniques and compaction energy.In this paper intermediate outcomes about the theoretical prediction of road macrotexture are presented. In order to investigate the arrangement and compaction of a bituminous mix in a gyratory compactor, the Discrete Element Method (DEM) approach has been used to develop numerical simulations of two-component mixes. A large simulation campaign has been designed and performed and the Void Content diagram has been used for the macrotexture representation.In analogy with the packing theory, the extension of the results obtained for the two-component mixtures into the multi-component systems, has been proposed and an effective novel theoretical method, based on a "revisiting" of the classical Void Content diagrams, for the macrotexture prediction has been performed. Finally, a numerical application of the method has been provided and the outcomes discussed.