Composition design and performance evaluation of rubber-particle cement-stabilized gravel

To improve the mechanical properties and durability of the cement-stabilized base, rubber particles of three different sizes and with three different contents were optimally selected, the evolution laws of the mechanical strength and toughness of rubber-particle cement-stabilized gravel (RCSG) under different schemes were determined, and the optimal particle size and content of rubber particles were obtained. On this basis, the durability of the RCSG base was clarified. The results show that with an increase in the rubber particle size and content, the mechanical strength of RCSG gradually decreased, whereas the toughness and transverse deformation ability gradually increased. 1% content and 2-4 mm sized RCSG can better balance the relationship between mechanical strength and toughness. The 7 d unconfined compressive strength was 17.7% higher than that of the 4-8 mm RCSG. The 28 d toughness index and ultimate splitting strain can be increased by 9.8% and 6.3 times, respectively, compared with ordinary cement-stabilized gravel (CSG). In terms of durability, compared with CSG, RCSG showed a 3.7% increase in the water stability property of cement-stabilized base with 1% content and 2-4 mm rubber particles, 5.5% increase in the frozen coefficient, and 80.6% and 37.9% increase in the fatigue life at 0.70 and 0.85 stress ratio levels, respectively.