Study on Low-Temperature Index and Improvement Measures of Emulsified Asphalt Cold Recycled Mixture

With the promotion of cold recycled mixture (CRM) in cold areas and the improvement of its application layer, the enhancement of the low-temperature performance of mixtures is particularly important. The applicability of the current low-temperature bending test method to CRM is controversial. Firstly, the low-temperature crack resistance of CRM with different gradations and emulsified asphalt contents was studied by the indirect tensile (IDT) test and the semi-circular bending (SCB) test. Thereafter, the low-temperature performance evaluation index suitable for CRM was put forward. Then, the low-temperature performance of CRM with different gradations, fiber types, and contents was evaluated by using the above low-temperature evaluation index. The results show that the low-temperature performance of CRM with different gradations and emulsified asphalt contents can be distinguished by fracture work (W) and fracture energy (G(f)). Not only do the test results have little variability (about 12% and 15%, respectively), but also the correlation coefficient with the new asphalt film thickness is the highest (0.8595 and 0.8939, respectively). Compared with coarse gradation (AC-25) and fine gradation (AC-13), medium-gradation (AC-20) CRM has higher low-temperature performance, and polyester fiber can significantly improve the low-temperature performance of CRM. Compared with non-fiber, the W and G(f) of CRM of polyester fiber (0.3% content) can be increased by at least 42% and 30%, respectively.

Automated summary

This study investigates the low-temperature crack resistance of cold recycled mixture (CRM) with different gradations and emulsified asphalt contents. A low-temperature performance evaluation index suitable for CRM is proposed, and it is found that medium-gradation CRM performs better at low temperatures, and the addition of polyester fiber significantly improves the low-temperature performance of CRM.