Freeze–thaw performance of base course treated with carboxylated styrene–butadiene emulsion–Portland cement

Abstract

Freeze–thaw (FT) cycles and moisture susceptibility are important factors influencing the geotechnical characteristics of soil–aggregates. Given the lack of published information on the behaviour of base course materials stabilised with styrene butadiene emulsions (SBE) and cement–SBE-treated base (CSBETB) under environmental conditions, especially freezing and thawing, this study investigated the effects of these additives on the CSBETB performance. The primary goal was to evaluate the resistance of CSBETB to moisture damage by performing FT, Marshall conditioning and AASHTO T-283 tests and to evaluate the long-term stripping susceptibility of CSBETB while also predicting the liquid antistripping additives to assess the mixture’s durability and workability. Specimens were stabilised with Portland cement, SBE and a Portland cement–SBE mixture and cured for 7 days, and their short- and long-term performances were studied. Test evaluation results show that the additions of additives increase the resistance of the mixtures to moisture damage. Results of durability tests performed for determining the resistance of compacted specimens to repeated FT cycles indicate that the specimen with the 4% cement–8% SBE mixture significantly improves water absorption, volume changes and weight losses. This indicates the effectiveness of this additive as a road base stabiliser with excellent engineering properties.

Keywords:

• Freeze–thaw
• moisture susceptibility
• Marshall conditioning
• moisture damage
• long-term performance
• stabiliser

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the Sustainable Urban Transport Research Centre (SUTRA) at the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Mallard Creek Polymers, Inc. (MCP) for providing research facilities. The authors also would like to acknowledge UKM for providing research funding through project DLP-2014-010.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia [grant number DLP-2014-010].