Comparative study on the mechanical properties of base mixture using continuous and discontinuous paving technologies

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to compare the mechanical properties of continuous and discontinuous paving base mixtures. Two groups of different types of mixtures of upper and lower layers are designed. Two different forming methods are used for each type to simulate the construction process of double layer continuous and discontinuous paving. Then, unconfined compressive strength, splitting shear strength and flexural tensile strength were tested under two curing periods (7 and 30 days) and three test temperatures (room temperature, low temperature and freeze–thaw). According to the results, it is concluded that under the same curing time and test temperature, continuous paving can significantly improve the mechanical properties of the base, especially the shear and bending properties. The mechanical properties of the specimens with two kinds of mixtures at continuous paving are as follows: the increase percent of the unconfined compressive strength was 10.39%−38.65%, the increase percent of the shear strength was 88.89%−425%, and the increase percent of the flexural tensile strengths were 34.01%−50.57%. The increase of strength at low temperature and the decrease of strength under freezing-thawing condition are smaller than those of discontinuous samples. The research results can provide a technical basis for the design and construction of the base layer of discontinuous and continuous paving technology with different mixture composition. The purpose of this study is to compare the mechanical properties of continuous and discontinuous paving base mixtures. Two groups of different types of mixtures of upper and lower layers are designed. Two different forming methods are used for each type to simulate the construction process of double layer continuous and discontinuous paving. Then, the mechanical properties of the mixtures were evaluated. The results indicated that under the same curing time and test temperature, continuous paving can significantly improve the mechanical properties of the base, especially the shear and bending properties. For the continuous paving, the increase percent of the unconfined compressive strength was 10.39%–38.65%, the increase percent of the shear strength was 88.89%–425%, and the increase percent of the flexural tensile strengths were 34.01%–50.57%. The research results can provide a technical basis for the design and construction of the base layer of discontinuous and continuous paving technology with different mixture composition.