Long-Term Performance Analysis of Epoxy Resin Ultra-Thin Wearing Course Overlay on Cement Concrete Pavement

Abstract

The overall rigidity of the cement concrete pavement is high, but there are defects such as easy cracking and insufficient anti-slip performance. The epoxy resin ultra-thin wearing course overlay can effectively solve these issues. However, there is still a lack of knowledge about the long-term performance of epoxy resin ultra-thin wearing course overlay on cement concrete pavement. Therefore, this article analyzed the interlayer adhesion and durability of epoxy resin ultra-thin wearing course overlay through the Hamburg rutting test and a series of shear tests under damp heat, thermal oxygen aging, and ultraviolet (UV) aging conditions. Shear test results indicated that the shear performance of epoxy resin overlay grew with the increase in epoxy resin content and was severely affected by high temperature, and the optimal content was set as 3.4 kg/m2. The Hamburg rutting test results showed that the epoxy resin overlay exhibited satisfactory high-temperature performance and water resistance. For the damp heat effect, it was revealed that damp heat led to more significant shear strength loss compared with the overlay specimens without damp heat. The water immersion caused the shear strength decline due to the water damage to the overlay interface. As for the thermal oxygen aging effect, it was reflected that the short-term thermal oxygen aging had a minor impact on the shear performance of the epoxy resin overlay. However, with the increase in thermal oxygen aging duration, the shear strength of the epoxy resin overlay significantly decreased due to the aging of epoxy resin binders. Regarding the UV aging impact, it was also found that the shear performance of the epoxy resin overlay rapidly decreased as the UV aging duration grew whether at 20 °C or 60 °C. Moreover, UV aging led to a more significant impact on the shear performance of the epoxy resin overlay than thermal oxygen aging.