Effect of Self-Cementing Properties on Pavement Deflection with Recycled Concrete Aggregate

Recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) are increasingly being used as unbound granular materials (UGM) in low-traffic pavement base and subbase layers, while the effect of self-cementing properties of RCA on the long-term performance of RCA and pavement, built with RCA, has not been thoroughly studied. In this paper, the effect of self-cementing properties on the resilient deformation behaviour of RCA, after curing for different times (1, 180, 360, and 720 days), were studied by repeated load triaxial tests (RLTT). Then, the deflection of a low-traffic pavement structure, built with RCA, was investigated by finite element modelling. The results indicate that the resilient deformation behaviour of RCA improves with curing time, which is similar to that of lightly bound materials, due to the self-cementing properties. As a result, the deflection of a low-traffic pavement structure, built with RCA, decreases with curing time, showing the good long-term performance of RCA.