Cement-fly ash stabilization of cold in-place recycled (CIR) asphalt pavement mixtures for road bases or subbases

For lack of laboratory and field performance data on stabilization of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) aggregate and stabilized soil (S) for road bases and subbases construction, the influences of RAP/S ratio, cement and fly ash content, modifying agent (MA) on the compact, unconfined compressive strength, indirect tensile strength and water stability of the CIR mixtures were investigated. The experimental results showed that the maximum dry density and the optimum moisture content of the mixture changed significantly with the RAP/S ratio and cement-fly ash content. Unconfined compressive strength, indirect tensile strength and water stability were improved significantly by the addition of MA, and the water stability was improved by nearly 20% on average. Scanning electron microscopy(SEM) images indicated that MA accelerated the hydration of cement-fly ash system. Needle-like AFt and fibrous C-S-H gel were observed in the mixtures, which resulted in the cementation effect among the CIR mixture particles and a more compact microstructure. All these could be the cause of high strength of the CIR mixtures with MA.