Construction and Building Materials 274 (2021) 121836

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Study on relationships between static mechanical properties and

composition of low modulus CA mortar
Xiaohui Zeng a, Huasheng Zhu a,⇑, Xuli Lan a, H.A. Umar b, Youjun Xie a, Guangcheng Long a
a
School of Civil Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, China
b
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria

h i g h l i g h t s

Study the relationship between mechanical properties and composition of CA mortar.

A mechanical model of CA mortar from four different levels was proposed based on experimental results and theoris.

The asphalt has a limited contribution to the static compressive strength f and elastic modulus ECA of the CA mortar.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: As an organic–inorganic composite material, the mechanical properties of cement asphalt mortar (CA
Received 22 September 2020 mortar) are closely related to its composition. In order to studying the relationship between mechanical
Received in revised form 10 November 2020 properties and composition of CA mortar, a mechanical model of CA mortar from four different levels (i.e.,
Accepted 21 November 2020
cement hydration products, cement gel skeleton, cement-asphalt composite system and CA mortar) was
Available online 4 December 2020
proposed based on the microscopic experimental results, the gel-space ratio theory and the Hashin com-
posite ball model. The mathematical relationships among the elastic modulus of CA mortar, compressive
Keywords:
strength f and composition parameters were derived. The results shown: The volume fraction of cement
CA mortar
Asphalt
hydrates is an important parameter affecting the CA mortar elastic modulus ECA and the compressive
Compressive strength strength f. When the asphalt is regarded as a pore or a low modulus phase, the static elastic modulus
Elastic modulus of the CA mortar ECA and the volume fraction of cement hydrates VCH, the compressive strength f and
Gel-space ratio gel-space ratio x all have a power function relationship, and R2 > 0.7. The cement hydrates in the CA mor-
tar are still a continuous phase and constitutes the composite gel skeleton, asphalt interspersing among
them, and the contribution of asphalt to the CA mortar strength and elastic modulus is relatively limited.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
CA mortar has been widely used in the high-speed railways of
Japan, Germany, and China, it is a kind of inorganic–organic com-
posite material compounded by cement (C), asphalt (A), sand (S)
and various admixtures [1–3]. According to the difference of elastic
modulus and strength, CA mortar was divided into CRTS (China
railway track system) I and II. CRTS I type has high asphalt content,
high toughness, low strength (28d compressive strength is not less
than 1.8 MPa), low elastic modulus (28d elastic modulus is
100 ~ 300 MPa), and CRTS II has low asphalt content, high strength
(28d compressive strength is not less than 15.0 MPa), high elastic
modulus (28d elastic modulus is 7 ~ 10GPa), etc. [4–6].Under the
service conditions, the degradation and destruction phenomena
⇑ Corresponding author.
of the two kinds of CA mortar filling layers are separated, erosion,
cracking and fragmentation, and the evolution of the microstruc-
ture under service conditions is one of the important reasons for
the above phenomenons.
The mechanical properties of CA mortar are closely related to its
microstructure. There are two structures of CA mortar, type I with
asphalt as the continuous phase, cement hydrates as the dispersed
phase, and type II with cement as the matrix and asphalt embed-
ded therein [7]. The emulsified asphalt particles can adsorb cement
particles, and finally form an interpenetrating composite structure
of cement hydration and asphalt membrane [8]. Study[9] showed
that there is no chemical reaction between asphalt and cement
particles, in the composite hardened structure, the cement
hydrates act as a skeleton and the asphalt membrane coats it to
form an interpenetrating system. Therefore, the mechanical
strength of CA mortar are closely related to its W/C and A/C [10–
11].

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.121836
0950-0618/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
X. Zeng, H. Zhu, X. Lan et al.
The volume fraction of each phase has an important influence
on CA mortar microstructure. The relationship between the
mechanical properties of cement stone and the volume fraction
of each phase in the hardened slurry has been studied, Verbeck
G.J. [12] found that the elastic modulus E of cement stone and
the porosity P c are in a power function relationship. Powers [13]
found that the mortar compressive strength f c and the gel-space
ratio x are also in a power function relationship. However, there
are few studies on the relationship between the mechanical prop-
erties of CA mortar and the composition parameters of hardened
slurry. Tian et al. [14] established a functional relationship
between the elastic modulus E and the hydrated phase volume
fraction V CH for the type I CA mortar based on the theory of particle
reinforced polymer matrix composites.
In this study, the mechanical properties of CA mortar with dif-
ferent mix proportions were tested. The gel-space ratio x was cal-
culated by theoretical method, and the relationship between
mechanical properties and composition parameters of CA mortar
was analyzed, which provided a reference for the study of the evo-
lution of CA mortar microstructure under service conditions.
2. Experiments
2.1. Materials
The cement used was P
II 52.5R Portland cement that complies
with the Chinese code GB 175-1999. The compositions and proper-
ties of the cement are shown in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. The
sand is manufactured sand with a maximum particle size of
1.18 mm, the particles size distribution of the sand is shown in
Table 3. The emulsified asphalt was a cationic asphalt emulsion
consisting of water and AH-90 petroleum asphalt modified by
styrene-butadiene styrene copolymer (SBS), its physical and chem-
ical properties are shown in Table 4. The expansion agent used in
this test is UEA (U-type) expansion agent, its physical and chemical
properties are shown in Table 5.In addition, tap water.
2.2. Samples preparation
In this paper, the inorganic cementitious material (cement + ex-
pansion agent, hereinafter referred to as B) is the basic unit 1. By
adjusting the ratio of SBS modified asphalt (hereinafter referred
to as A) to inorganic cementitious material (A/B), sand (S) and inor-
ganic cementitious material ratio (S/B), absolute water consump-
tion and inorganic cementitious material ratio (W/B), the mix
proportions and some properties of fresh CA mortar are shown in
Table 6. Stirring with a dry powder pre-wet process, and adjusting
the CA mortar fluidity and gas content to the required value. The
mold was injected into a U50 mm  50 mm mold, and the mold
was removed after about 24 h. Then, it was cured at 20 ± 3 °C
and 65 ± 5% RH for 180 days.
2.3. Measurement of stress–strain curve
Stress–strain curves of CA mortar were measured by an elec-
tronic universal testing machine system. Firstly, CA mortar was
preloaded for 3 times at the loading and unloading rate of
Table 1
Physical properties of cement.
The specific surface area (m2.kg1) Standard consistency (%)
342 27.5
2
Construction and Building Materials 274 (2021) 121836
0.5 mm/min, and the preload was 0.1 MPa. Then, its stress–strain
curve was measured at the loading rate of 0.5 mm/min and the
experimental data were collected.
2.4. CA mortar microstructure observation
The CA mortar samples were sliced into a number of small test
pieces of 5 mm  5 mm and a thickness of 3 mm. Some test pieces
were immersed in CS2 solvent for a long time (one month) to dis-
solve the asphalt. Mechanical polishing was performed on the test
piece with the dissolution treatment and without dissolution treat-
ment, and microstructure was observed by Back scatter Electron
Imaging (BSE) technology. However, the microstructure of CRTS I
and CRTS II CA mortar with the dissolution treatment was
observed by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) technology
because the mechanical polishing will seriously destroy its
microstructure.
2.5. Volume fraction of each phase
Based on the study results of Powers and Brown yard [15], Deng
et al. [16] derived the formula for calculating the volume fraction
of each phase of cement emulsified asphalt. The experimental
results showed that the theoretical calculated value is within 5%
of the measured value. Therefore, in this study, the formula pro-
vided by Deng et al. [16] was used to calculate the composition
parameters of CA mortar, and it does not consider the admixture
with less content.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. The mechanical properties of CA mortar
The volume fractions of CA mortar with different mix propor-
tions were calculated according to the formula of Deng et al. [16]
and the mechanical properties of CA mortar were obtained based
on experiments. The relationship between the mechanical proper-
ties of CA mortar and the composition parameters of hardened
paste was established. Fig. 1 is the stress–strain curve of CA mortar.
The tangential slope of the CA mortar origin is difficult to deter-
mine due to the small initial stress. However, the tangential mod-
ulus of the mortar is excellent in the middle of the loading curve.
120 points of CA mortar strain between 0.002 ~ 0.004 were
selected, and the correlation reached 0.9995, which is an excellent
indicator of the linear deformation of CA mortar under uniaxial
pressure.
In order to obtain the static elastic modulus data of CA mortar
with different mix proportions, In this study, the mechanical prop-
erties of CA mortar with the curing age of 180d was tested, physical
properties and construction performance meeting the require-
ments of Chinese code [17]. In the hardened asphalt cement gelling
system, the main components are cement hydrates, capillary,
asphalt and free water. The volume fraction of each phase and
the mechanical properties of CA mortar are shown in Table 7.
Stability Flexural strength Compressive strength
(MPa) (MPa)
3d 28d 3d 28d
qualified 5.3 9.3 28.2 58.1
X. Zeng, H. Zhu, X. Lan et al. Construction and Building Materials 274 (2021) 121836

Table 2
Chemical properties of cement.

Composition SiO2 CaO Al2O3 Fe2O3 MgO SO3 Na2Oeq f-CaO C3S C2S C3A C4AF
Content (%) 21.88 65.89 4.61 2.65 1.76 1.77 0.59 0.98 60.22 17.33 7.63 8.52

Table 3 cement paste (including capillary pores) (Fig. 5, Model 1). If asphalt
The particles size distribution of the sand. is regarded as pores distributed in the hardened cement paste, the
No. Particle size (mm) Weight (w%) asphalt-cement paste could be simplified into a composite mate-
1 0.6 ~ 1.18 15.5
rial model consists of cement paste and pores (capillary pores + as-
2 0.3 ~ 0.6 38.5 phalt) (Fig. 5, Model 2). Pouliot et al. [20] believed that in cement
3 0.15 ~ 0.3 38.5 asphalt mortar, the incorporation of asphalt will greatly reduce the
4 0.075 ~ 0.15 7.5 strength of mortar. The asphalt distributed in the rigid matrix
should be regarded as pores, and at lower loading speeds, the
asphalt can be considered to have strain behavior without stress
3.2. Microstructure and mechanical model analysis of CA mortar behavior.
According to Hooke’s law:
In this study, the microstructure of CA mortar was analyzed by
r ¼ e  E; r ¼ rB ¼ rs ð1Þ
BSE and SEM, the results were shown in Figs. 2 and 3. In the CA
mortar, the cement hydrates and asphalt were mixed, and the sand
eCA ¼ eB þ es ð2Þ
was wrapped therein, while it was filled with a large number of
tiny air pores. The BSE results of the CA mortar indicated that the
eCA ¼ r=EB þ r=Es ð3Þ
cement hydrates as a continuous phase wraped with the sand after
the asphalt was dissolved in CRTS I and CRTS II CA mortar (Fig. 3a, Because; so; r=EB  r=Es ð4Þ
d). Many spherical holes with a diameter of about 5 lm were
observed on both type I and CRTS II CA mortar hydrates, which eB  es ð5Þ
may be left after the asphalt particles were dissolved, indicating
that the asphalt may not completely form a film to coat the cement andalso : eCA  eB ð6Þ
particles. And zeng et al. [18] found that cement hydretes C-S-H
have no reaction with asphalt emulsion, this two phase just mixed r ¼ eCA ECA ¼ eB EB ð7Þ
together physically. Therefore, the CA mortar can be regarded as a
multiphase composite material composed of asphalt, cement so : ECA  EB ð8Þ
hydrates and sands, and the sand particles are suspended in
cement-asphalt paste.
Based on the above CA mortar microstructure, Hashin’s com- 3.2.1. Analysis of elastic modulus of CA mortar
posite ball model [19] was used. As shown in Fig. 4, this model con- The testing results of the G.J. Verbeck indicated that the cement
sists of a series of tapered ball (sand) embedded in the continuous modulus of elasticity has a certain relationship with its porosity
matrix phase (cement-asphalt gel system). Although the size of (Eq. (9)). As shown in Fig. 6, the elastic modulus ECA of CA mortar
each composite ball model is not the same, an/bn (an is the gritra- and the cement hydrates volume fraction V CH also have a similar
dius; bn is the radius of the composite ball) is a constant. power function relationship, indicating that the asphalt can be
When the uniaxial compression test is carried out, the sand and regarded as a pore in the cement- asphalt paste (also confirming
the asphalt-cement paste are subjected to the same stress. The the hypothesis of Pouliot et al) Its contribution to the CA mortar
asphalt cement mortar is simplified into a two-phase composite elastic modulus ECA is very limited.
composed of asphalt cement paste and aggregate, and a composite E ¼ E0 ð1  Pc Þ3 ð9Þ
material model was established (Fig. 5). If the asphalt is considered
to be isolated in the cement slurry, the asphalt cement paste can be In the formula:
simplified into a composite material model consists of asphalt and
E——the elastic modulus of cement stone.

Table 4
Physical and chemical properties of emulsified asphalt.

Item Unit Index Results

Exterior Light brown liquid, uniform, no mechanical impurities Light brown liquid, uniform, no mechanical impurities
Particle charge + +
Engler viscosity (25 °C) 5~15 6
Tailover (1.18 mm) ％ <0.1 0.01
Storage stability (1 day, 25 °C) ％ <1.0 0.6
Storage stability (5 days, 25 °C) ％ <5.0 2.8
Storage stability at low No coarse particles or chunks No coarse particles or chunks
temperature (5 °C)
Ability to mix with cement ％ <1.0 0.08
Residue content ％ 58~63 60.5
Penetration (25 °C. 100 g) 0.1 mm 60~120 68
Solubility (trichloroethylene) ％ >97 98.5
Ductility (5 °C) cm 20 24
Ductility (15 °C) cm 50 70
Softening point °C 42 56

3
X. Zeng, H. Zhu, X. Lan et al. Construction and Building Materials 274 (2021) 121836

Table 5
Physical and chemical properties of U-type expansion agent.

The specific surface area (cm2/g) Proportion Chemical composition /%

SiO2 Fe2O3 TiO2 Al2O3 CaO MgO SO3 Loss on ignition
3200 2.85 16.1 0.98 0.89 13.69 35.48 3.05 24.35 1.51

Table 6
Mix proportions and some properties of fresh CA mortar.

NO. Mix proportions Workability(t300) Air content

C E S A W Super plasticizer Aluminum powder
1 0.85 0.15 2 0.95 0.8 0 0.00014 5.0 s 7.9%
2 0.85 0.15 2 0.88 0.7 0.0055 0.00014 7.6 s 7.4%
3 0.85 0.15 1.5 0.82 0.7 0 0.00014 8.0 s 7.6%
4 0.85 0.15 1.5 0.88 0.7 0.0023 0.00014 7.6 s 7.0%
5 0.85 0.15 1.5 0.95 0.7 0.0048 0.00014 10.0 s 7.1%
6 0.85 0.15 1.5 0.68 0.6 0 0.00013 4.0 s 10.3%
7 0.85 0.15 1.5 0.75 0.6 0.0011 0.00013 6.0 s 9.8%
8 0.85 0.15 1.5 0.82 0.6 0.0024 0.00013 5.5 s 9.5%
9 0.85 0.15 1.5 0.88 0.6 0.0036 0.00013 6.0 s 9.0%
10 0.85 0.15 1.5 0.95 0.6 0.0044 0.00013 10.0 s 10.4%
11 0.85 0.15 1 0.68 0.6 0.005 0.00014 5.0 s 9.4%
12 0.85 0.15 1 0.75 0.6 0.006 0.00014 7.0 s 9.5%
13 0.85 0.15 1 0.82 0.6 0.008 0.00014 7.2 s 9.4%
14 0.85 0.15 1 0.88 0.6 0.005 0.00013 7.0 s 9.9%
15 0.85 0.15 1 0.95 0.6 0.004 0.00013 7.6 s 9.6%
16 0.85 0.15 1 1.02 0.6 0.005 0.00013 8.0 s 9.4%

4.5 It can be seen from Fig. 7 that the test results have a good cor-
relation with the formula (Eq. (11)) (R2 = 0.8215), indicating that
4.0 the asphalt may be interspersed in the cement slurry, and the CA
3.5 mortar elastic modulus ECA is determined by the asphalt elastic
modulusEA and the cement slurry elastic modulusE0 . The result
3.0 of EA (5.89 MPa) from fitting meets the testing result of Dan’s study
[21] (EA = 4 ~ 8 MPa), E0 =8338 MPa and the ECA still depends mainly
MPa)

2.5
2.5 on the cement slurry elastic module E0 .
y = 665.61x - 0.3157
2.0 2
2.0 R = 0.9995
3.2.2. Analysis of compressive strength of CA mortar
(MPa)

1.5
1.5 Based on experimental and theoretical analysis, T.C. Powers
1.0 [13]found that there was a power function relationship (Eq. (12))
1.0
0.002 0.003 0.004 between the compressive strength of cement stone and gel-space
0.5
ratio, some previous studies have shown that the compressive
0.0 strength f of CA mortar is mainly related to cement paste [22–
0.001 0.006 0.011 0.016 0.021 24]. As shown in Fig. 8, if the asphalt is regarded as a pore in the
hardened cement-asphat paste, the compressive strength f and
the gel-space ratio x also have a similar relationship. Therefore,
Fig. 1. Stress–strain curve of CA mortar.
the asphalt can be regarded as a pore in the hardened cement-
asphat paste, and its contribution to the compressive strength f
E0——the elastic modulus with zero porosity, the elastic modu- of the CA mortar is very limited.
lus of the hydrated gel body is about 14000 MPa. f ¼ f 0 xn ð12Þ
Pc——porosity, 1  P c  V CH .
where:
If asphalt is considered to be inserted into the cement slurry as
a low modulus solid, the cement-asphalt paste can be simplified f ——Compressive strength of cement stone,
into a composite material model composed of asphalt and cement f0——Cement stone strength when the capillary is zero (i.e.
paste (Fig. 5, Model 1). The cement-asphalt paste modulus x = 1),
EB should satisfy the formula (Eq. (10)): n——constant, generally 2.6 ~ 3.0,
x——gel-space ratio.
1=EB ¼ 1=Ec þ 1=EA ð10Þ
According to the research result of the G.J.Verbeck If the asphalt is a low modulus or viscous solid, CA mortar is a
3 typical viscoelastic material [25], then the Kelvin model [26] (Eq.
Ec ¼ E0 ð1  P c Þ (Eq. (9)), another mathematical expression (Eq.
(13)) was suitable for viscoelastic solids, and it can be used as its
(11)) of the CA mortar elastic modulus ECA can be obtained:
matrix model. The elastomer in the model was considered to be
EA  E0 ð1  Pc Þ3 EA  E0 ðV CH Þ3 the hardened cement paste in CA mortar, and the viscous body
ECA  EB ¼ 3
¼ ð11Þ was considered as the asphalt phase.
EA þ E0 ð1  Pc Þ EA þ E0 ðV CH Þ3

4
X. Zeng, H. Zhu, X. Lan et al. Construction and Building Materials 274 (2021) 121836

Table 7
Calculated volume fraction of CA rmortar and its mechanical properties based on testing results.

No. a V CH V cw V ap x r (MPa) E (MPa)

1 0.97 0.3434 0.27658 0.342572 0.356786 1.75 391

2 0.97 0.3760 0.235674 0.347395 0.392033 3.53 525
3 0.97 0.3851 0.241391 0.331562 0.40196 2.67 450
4 0.97 0.3760 0.235674 0.347395 0.392033 2.59 419
5 0.97 0.3659 0.229336 0.364944 0.381053 2.3 364
6 0.97 0.4403 0.197395 0.314358 0.462467 4.48 788
7 0.97 0.4265 0.191208 0.33585 0.447264 4.29 717
8 0.97 0.4135 0.185396 0.356036 0.433029 3.5 621
9 0.97 0.4030 0.180689 0.372386 0.42153 3.05 466
10 0.97 0.3914 0.175491 0.390442 0.408862 2.53 461
11 0.97 0.4403 0.197395 0.314358 0.462467 4.4 767
12 0.97 0.4265 0.191208 0.33585 0.447264 3.44 624
13 0.97 0.4135 0.185396 0.356036 0.433029 3.19 586
14 0.97 0.4030 0.180689 0.372386 0.42153 2.65 496
15 0.97 0.3914 0.175491 0.390442 0.408862 2.7 415
16 0.97 0.3805 0.170583 0.407488 0.396934 2.27 393

Note: a—cement hydration degree, V CH —Volume fraction of cement hydrates (including gel pores) in hardened paste, V ;cw —Volume fraction of capillary water (capillary pore),
V ap —Volume fraction of asphalt; x—gel-space ratio; r —Compressive strength of CA mortar; E—Tangent modulus.

Fig. 2. BSE of CA mortar without dissolution treatment.

Fig. 3. SEM of CA mortar with dissolution treatment.

5
X. Zeng, H. Zhu, X. Lan et al. Construction and Building Materials 274 (2021) 121836

800

E=13467V3CH
700 R2=0.8245

600 Experimental value

E(MPa)
500

400

300
0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45
VCH

Fig. 6. Relationship between elastic modulus E of cement mortar and volume

fraction V CH of cement hydrates (asphalt is regarded as air pore).

Fig. 4. Composite ball model.

800

E = 5.89 8338 V3CH (5.89+8338 V3CH)

700 R2=0.8215

600 Experimental value

E(MPa)

500

400

300
0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45
VCH

Fig. 7. Relationship between elastic modulus E of cement mortar and volume

fraction V CH of cement hydrates (asphalt is regarded as low modulus solid).

5
Experimental value
Fig. 5. Stress diagram of asphalt cement paste-sand composite system.
4

r ¼ Ee þ gh ð13Þ
3
where: r—Stress; E—Elastic modulus; e—Strain; g—CA mortar vis-
Pa

cosity coefficient; h—Strain rate。

As shown in Fig. 9, there is a significant power function relation- 2
f

ship between the compressive strength f of CA mortar and the vol-

ume fraction of cement hydrates V CH .The study showed that the f=40.416x2.93
compressive strength of hardened cement paste has a power func- 1 R2=0.739
tion relationship with (1-P) [27] (Eq. (14)). Their studies [25]
showed that the viscosity coefficient g of CRTSII CA mortar and
0
CRTSI CA mortar at normal strain rate is 1000 MPa∙s and 300 MPa∙s, 0.3 0.4 0.5
respectively. It can be considered that the viscosity coefficient g of
x
different proportion of CA mortar changes in the interval
(300 ~ 1000 MPa∙s). CA mortar compressive strength was carried Fig. 8. Relationship between compressive strength f of CA mortar and gel-space
out with specific loading rate of about 0.5 mm/min, and the strain ratio x (asphalt is considered as air pore).

6
X. Zeng, H. Zhu, X. Lan et al.
5 mortar has obvious strain rate sensitivity, and its dynamic
Experimental value
4 has an important influence on the viscoelastic behavior exhibited
3
f(MPa)
2
f=68.887VCH3.44+0.156
1 R2=0.7549
0 follows.
0.3 0.4 0.5
VCH
Fig. 9. Relationship between compressive strength f of CA mortar and volume
fraction V CH of cement hydrates (Asphalt is regarded as low modulus phase).
rate is 1.7  10-4S-1. Therefore, the range of g
h in (Formula 13) is
0.051 ~ 0.17 MPa, which can be considered as the contribution of
the viscous body (asphalt) to the strength f of the CA mortar,
because its value is much smaller than the compressive strength
of CA mortar f, it is simply considered as a constant term c
(0.051 ~ 0.17 MPa).
rc ¼ r0 ð1  PÞn ð14Þ
where,rc —The compressive strength of hardened cement paste;
r0 —The compressive strength of hardened cement paste when
porosity P is zero; P—porosity, 1  P  V CH ; n—constant.
Therefore, (Eq. (13)) can be simplified to (Eq. (15)). It can be
seen from Fig. 9 that the formula can be used to characterize the
relationship between the compressive strength f of the CA mortar
and the volume fraction V CH of the cement hydrate.
r ¼ r0 ðV CH Þn þ c ð15Þ
where, r0 —The compressive strength of hardened cement paste
when porosity P is zero, 235 MPa[13]; V CH —The volume fraction
of cement hydrate; c—The constant.
If the asphalt in the CA mortar is regarded as a pore, the gel-
space ratio model f = f0xn can be used to characterize the relation-
ship between the compressive strength f of the CA mortar and the
gel-space ratio x (Fig. 8). The model of cement stone elastic modu-
lus E and porosity Pc E ¼ E0 ð1  Pc Þ3 can also be used to characterize
the relationship between CA mortar elastic modulus ECA and
cement hydrates phase volume fraction V CH (Fig. 6). When the
CA mortar is subjected to static load, the asphalt with low modulus
only fills the gel skeleton, and its static performance mainly
depends on the cement hydrate gel phase with high modulus.
According to the relationship between static mechanical properties
(compressive strength f and elastic modulusECA ) of CA mortar and
composition parameters, and combining with the results of BSE
(Figs. 2 and 3). Therefore, cement hydrates in the CA mortar is still
the continuous phase and constitutes the composite gel skeleton,
the asphalt interspersed among them, and the contribution of the
asphalt to the CA mortar strength and elastic modulus is very lim-
ited, the asphalt can be considered as pore [20].
However, the asphalt as a viscoelastic material, its temperature
sensitivity, speed sensitivity and other properties cannot be
ignored. Kong et al [8] showed that the elastic modulus and com-
pressive strength of CA mortar decreased with increasing temper-
ature and increasing asphalt content. Fu et al. [28] showed that CA
7
Construction and Building Materials 274 (2021) 121836
compressive strength, elastic modulus and strain at peak stress
increase with the increase of strain rate. Therefore, the asphalt
by CA mortar. The contribution of asphalt cannot be ignored when
studying the dynamic mechanical properties of CA mortar.
4. Conclusions
According to the gel-space ratio theory and the Hashin’s com-
posite ball model, and regard asphalt as a pore or low modulus
component. The relationship between the elastic modulus ECA of
CA mortar, the compressive strength f and the composition param-
eters of the hardened slurry was analyzed. Conclusions are as
(1) BSE and SEM analysis results of the CA mortar after the
asphalt dissolution treatment showed that there are a large
number of spherical voids with a diameter of about 5 lm on
the surface of the cement hydration product, indicating that
the emulsified asphalt particles are adsorbed on the surface
of the cement hydrates and form a composite cement-
asphalt gel and sand is wrapped in it.
(2) The relationship between the static compressive strength f
of CA mortar and the gel-space ratio x can be characterized
by the classical Powers equationf = f0xn, the relationship
between the static elastic modulus ECA of CA mortar and
the volume fraction V CH of cement hydrate can be character-
ized by the equation E ¼ E0 V CH 3 . When asphalt is considered
as a pore, the test data also conforms to the above relation-
ship, indicating that the asphalt has a limited contribution to
the static compressive strengthf and elastic modulus ECA of
the CA mortar.
(3) For low modulus CA mortars, mechanical model analysis
shows that the volume fraction V CH of the cement hydrate
phase is an important parameter affecting the elastic modu-
lus ECA and compressive strength f of the CA mortar. The
cement hydrate is a continuous phase and forms a compos-
ite gel skeleton, and asphalt interspersed among them.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Xiaohui Zeng: Data curation, Writing - original draft. Hua-
sheng Zhu: Writing - review & editing. Xuli Lan: Data curation,
Writing - original draft. H.A. Umar: Conceptualization, Methodol-
ogy, Software. Youjun Xie: Visualization, Investigation, Supervi-
sion. Guangcheng Long: Software, Validation.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by National Natural Science Founda-
tion of China [grant numbers 52078490, 11790283].
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