Influence of Confinement Pressure on the Mechanical Response of Emulsified Cold-Recycled Mixtures

Abstract

Cold recycling of asphalt pavement is an effective rehabilitation technique in terms of saving natural resources and cost of construction. The current study focuses on cold-recycled asphalt mixture designated as emulsified cold-recycled mixture (ECRM) that contains 100% reclaimed asphalt pavement material and slow-setting asphalt emulsion. Here, a repeated haversine compression test is conducted with and without confinement pressure at six temperatures (0°C, 10°C, 20°C, 30°C, 40°C, and 50°C) and 10 frequencies (25, 20, 10, 5, 2, 1, 0.5, 0.2, 0.1, and 0.01 Hz). The stress–strain–time response of ECRM is investigated, and it is observed that the influence of confinement pressure is negligible in the temperature range of 0°C–10°C, whereas it is significant at temperature 30°C and higher, irrespective of the frequency of loading. However, at 20°C, the influence of confinement pressure is negligible at higher frequencies (25–10 Hz), and it is significant at lower frequencies (less than 10 Hz). The viscoelastic response of ECRM is seen at all temperature, frequency, and confinement conditions of loading from the analyzed Lissajous plots. The dynamic modulus and phase angle are computed using the regression and the fast Fourier-transform (FFT) methods. The dynamic modulus and phase angle master curve is then generated using a free-shifting approach and a model-based approach. The model-based approach involves the numerical solution of the exact Kramers–Kronig relations combined with the generalized logistic sigmoidal model. The FFT-based dynamic modulus is used to construct a master curve with the generalized logistic sigmoidal model. Such a model-based master curve resulted in excellent predictive capabilities for dynamic modulus, and hence it is suggested for ECRM.