High-Throughput Calculation for Meso-Contact of Asphalt Mixture Skeleton

In order to realize the high-throughput calculation of meso-contact for asphalt mixture skeleton, this paper firstly put forward two contact calculation methods, the neighbor list method and the improved window search method, and then four asphalt mixtures AC13, AC16, OGFC13 and SMA13 were used to compare the difference in calculation accuracy and efficiency among two new methods and exhaustive method, window search method and iPas software, and the range of image resolution that can achieve the balance of calculation speed and accuracy was investigated using virtual specimens. Finally, the applicability of the high throughput calculation method was verified. The results show that neighbor list method can avoid the redundant contact calculation of contact aggregate pairs with the exhaustive method, and the improved window search method can accomplish the purpose of a one loop sweep of the traditional window search method by morphological expansion processing. Neighbor list method, exhaustive method, window search method, improved window search method and iPas software have the same accuracy although there are differences in calculation principles. The order of computational efficiency of different calculation methods is: neighbor list method > exhaustive method > Improved window search method > iPas software > window search method. The decrease of image resolution will improve the speed of contact calculation but reduce the accuracy of contact point calculation results. Considering the requirements of both accuracy and efficiency, a balance of calculation speed and accuracy can be realized when the image resolution range is 0.05~0.075 mm/pixel. The neighbor list method can effectively realize the high throughput characterization of meso-contact of asphalt mixture skeleton.