Construction and Building Materials 409 (2023) 134062

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Construction and Building Materials

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Variations in strength and stiffness of cement-stabilized reclaimed asphalt

pavement and marginal lateritic soil blends in tropical climate
J. Suebsuk a, A. Kampala b, *, P. Waiyakorn c, C. Suksiripattanapong d, P. Chindaprasirt e
a
Transportation Geotechnics and Infrastructure Laboratory, Faculty of Railway Systems and Transportation, Rajamangala University of Technology Isan, Nakhon
Ratchasima 30000, Thailand
b
Faculty of Railway Systems and Transportation, Rajamangala University of Technology Isan, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand
c
Bureau of Materials Analysis and Inspection, Department of Highways, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
d
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Rajamangala University of Technology Isan, Nakhon Ratchasima 30000, Thailand
e
Sustainable Infrastructure Research and Development Center, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, KhonKaen University, Khon Kaen 40002,
Thailand; and Academy of Science, Royal Society of Thailand, Bangkok 10300, Thailand

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This article investigated the effects of temperature on the variations in strength and stiffness of cement-stabilized
Reclaimed asphalt pavement reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) and marginal lateritic soil (MLS) as a sustainable bound base course of
Lateritic soil flexible pavement. A site investigation to assess the temperature profile of highway pavement in the northeast of
Cement stabilization
Thailand was conducted to find the temperature variation of pavement structure in tropical country. Laboratory
Base course
tests including unconfined compressive strength (UCS), modulus of elasticity (E50), and indirect tensile strength
Temperature effect
Tropical climate (ITS) tests were conducted on cement-stabilized RAP and MLS blends at varying mix proportions and temper­
atures. It is evident that the temperature significantly affects the strength and stiffness of specimens containing
RAP due to the presence of bitumen covering the RAP aggregate. The additional MLS and cement can reduce the
viscoelasticity of RAP aggregate. The strength reduction due to the temperature is characteristic of the RAP
mixtures with MLS and cement. The normalized relationships of UCS and temperature and the empirical cor­
relations between E50 and ITS versus UCS were presented. This set of relationships is a valuable tool for the mix
design of cement-stabilized RAP and MLS blends as a bound base course in tropical countries.

1. Introduction valuable aggregate component in base and subbase courses. As a result,

Due to its relatively low initial construction cost, flexible pavement
has been preferred worldwide [1]. Pavement rehabilitation generates a
vast amount of demolition waste, commonly known as reclaimed
asphalt pavement (RAP) [2]. RAP comprises high-quality, well-graded
aggregates coated with aged bituminous binder [3–4]. With increased
demand and limited natural aggregate, the RAP is now being used as a
there has been renewed interest in increasing the amount of RAP used in
the pavement structure. However, RAP does not meet the minimum
requirement of crushed rock base course due to the low California
bearing ratio (CBR) value and a low load-carrying capacity. It is thus
necessary to improve the mechanical strength of RAP for utilization as
base course material [5]. Several materials such as cement, lime, fly ash,
fly ash geopolymer [6–13] have been applied to stabilize RAP. Portland

Abbreviations: a, First material parameter for the relationship between normalized unconfined compressive strength and temperature; A*, First material parameter
for general strength relation of cement-stabilized reclaimed asphalt pavement and marginal lateritic soil; AS, Bitumen content; b, Second material parameter for the
relationship between normalized unconfined compressive strength and temperature; B*, Second material parameter for general strength relation of cement-stabilized
reclaimed asphalt pavement and marginal lateritic soil; C, Cement content; CBR, California bearing ratio; D, Specimen diameter; DOH, Department of Highway,
Thailand; E50, Modulus of elasticity; H, Specimen height; ITS, Indirect tensile strength; k, Degradation parameter; LS, Lateritic soil; LS100, Sample ID indicated that
the specimen was composed of 100% MLS; MLS, Marginal lateritic soil; Pmax, Maximum load; qu, Unconfined compressive strength tested at TC; qu,25◦ C, Unconfined
compressive strength tested at 25◦ C; RAP, Reclaimed asphalt pavement; R**LS♣♣, Sample ID indicated that **% reclaimed asphalt pavement mixed with ♣♣%
marginal lateritic soil; SR, Strength reduction ratio; T, Test temperature; UCS, Unconfined compressive strength; w/C, Water-to-cement ratio.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: jirayut.su@rmuti.ac.th (J. Suebsuk), apichit.ku@rmuti.ac.th (A. Kampala), cherdsak.su@rmuti.ac.th (C. Suksiripattanapong), prinya@kku.ac.th
(P. Chindaprasirt).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.134062
Received 20 April 2023; Received in revised form 19 September 2023; Accepted 1 November 2023
Available online 15 November 2023
0950-0618/© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Suebsuk et al. Construction and Building Materials 409 (2023) 134062

Table 1 quality LS is difficult to obtain locally because of the source limita­

Specification of material properties for cement-bound base course.
Specification of Material Properties
Liquid limit
Plastic index
Percent passing the 2.00 mm sieve
Percent passing the 0.075 mm sieve
Los Angeles abrasion (%)
CBR (%)
tion, and the transportation of LS to the construction site adds up to the
Soil cement base (DH-S 204/2021) construction cost [21]. Over the past decade, the Department of High­
ways, Thailand, has investigated the use of locally available marginal LS
Max. 40
Max. 15 (MLS) for soil–cement base course. However, this MLS cannot be used
Max. 70 due to its liquid limit, plastic index, and fine particle were over the limit
Max. 25 specified by the DS-H 204 Standard [22] for a soil–cement base course as
Max. 60 shown in Table 1. The stabilization of MLS by adding crushed aggregates
Not specified
or demolition material, especially RAP is applied and acceptable locally
by the DS-H 213 standard [23]. Suebsuk et al. [16] reported the benefit
of MLS blended with RAP. The cement-stabilized MLS and RAP have
provided excellent performance as soil–cement base material. Recently,
Suebsuk et al. [17] presented the use of MLS to improve the gradation of
RAP before being stabilized by cement. It was evident that the MLS
replacement improved the compatibility and reduced the bitumen
content, enhancing the strength development of cement-stabilized RAP.
They also proposed the general strength equation of cement-stabilized
RAP and MLS blends with the effect of bituminous binder and water-
to-cement ratio as follows:

A*
qu,25◦ C = B*
(1)
(w/C[1 − kAS] )

where qu,25◦ C is the unconfined compressive strength tested at 25 ◦ C, w/C

is the water-to-cement ratio, AS is the bitumen content, A* and B* are
material parameters, and k is the degradation parameter.
Using RAP and local aggregate blends to construct the base and
subbase courses was an economically and technically feasible alterna­
tive to traditional raw aggregate used in tropical and subtropical
Fig. 1. Comparison of the air and pavement surface temperatures.
countries.
In tropical countries like Thailand, the temperature during hot sea­
son often rises over 40 ◦ C [24]. The temperature in the pavement
cement is most widely used due to its cost-effectiveness and practicality
structure varies depending on the air temperature and depth from the
[14]. However, the cement-stabilized RAP exhibits low strength and
pavement surface. Generally, the RAP used as bound pavement base
durability. Mixing RAP with other virgin or recycled aggregates can
material in Thailand is designed based on a standard temperature of
improve the compressive strength of cement-stabilized RAP [15–19].
25 ◦ C. However, the bituminous binder performs differently under
A considerable volume of lateritic soil (LS) throughout the country
different temperature conditions due to its viscoelasticity. A number of
was used extensively for road construction in Thailand [20]. High-
research have thus been conducted to evaluate the potential effects of

Fig. 2. Variation in temperature versus time of pavement structure.

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J. Suebsuk et al. Construction and Building Materials 409 (2023) 134062

Fig. 3. Maximum temperature of pavement structure observed at the ten stations during April 2016.

Table 2 Table 4
Summary of the on-site maximum temperature during April 2016. Chemical composition of cement and aggregates.
Value Average maximum temperature (◦ C) Chemical Composition (%) Cement RAP MLS

Air Pavement Base Base course Subbase SiO2 24.1 53.2 56.2
(Elev. surface (Elev. course (Bottom) course Al2O3 4.7 13.0 25.2
+1.0 m) +0.0 m) (Top) (Elev. − 0.3 (Elev. Fe2O3 3.6 14.4 13.3
(Elev. m) − 0.45 m) CaO 58.9 7.8 2.9
− 0.1 m) SO3 5.5 3.9 N.D.
K2O 0.5 1.0 N.D.
x 42.9 61.6 48.6 43.4 42.9
MgO 1.9 4.9 N.D.
Max 43.8 63.6 51.1 45.3 44.7
LOI 0.8 1.8 2.4
Min 41.5 59.4 46.2 40.3 39.8
SD 0.83 1.14 1.39 1.55 1.55 Remarks: N.D. Not detected.

of the bituminous binder are prone to change with temperature. Previ­

Table 3 ous research has mainly focused on cold regions, where temperature,
Geotechnical properties of materials. humidity, and solar radiation vary in a different way compared to
Properties Standard method RAP MLS
tropical areas. The literature only mentioned maximum temperatures
ranging from 25 to 40 ◦ C. However, there have not been enough studies
Liquid limit (%) BS 1377 23.0
evaluating the effect of temperature in tropical climates.
–
Plastic index (%) BS 1377 – 18.0
Gravel (%) (>4.75 mm) ASTM 54.1 4.0 This article investigates the effect of high temperature on the
Sand (%) (0.075–4.75 mm) ASTM 45.4 68.5 strength and stiffness properties of cement-stabilized RAP aggregate and
Silt and Clay (%) (<0.075 mm) ASTM 0.55 27.5 MLS blends. A site investigation has been conducted to investigate the
Soil classification USCS GW SC
temperature profile of the flexible pavement on the cement-stabilized
AASHTO A-1-a A-2-6
Coefficient of uniformity, Cu ASTM D2487 4.46 860
base course materials in Thailand. After 28 days of curing, the uncon­
Coefficient of curvature, Cc ASTM D2487 1.56 10.9 fined compressive strength (UCS), modulus of elasticity (E50), and in­
D50 (mm) – 5.18 0.48 direct tensile strength (ITS) of samples from various depths were tested
Optimum moisture content (%) ASTM D1557 6.4 7.4 to verify the variations in strength and stiffness. The findings could
Maximum dry density (g/cm3) ASTM D1557 1.79 2.17
provide critical information for using cement-stabilized RAP and MLS
Bulk specific gravity ASTM D854 2.66 2.68
Specific gravity without bitumen ASTM D854 2.82 – blends as a base course of flexible pavement in tropical countries.
Bitumen content (%) ASTM D2172 6.72 –
Los Angeles abrasion (%) ASTM C131 15.5 52.9 2. Site investigations
California bearing ratio (%) AASHTO T 193 35 –
Unconfined compressive stregnth (kPa) ASTM D5102 68 190
Cohesion (kPa) ASTM D3080 12 82
2.1. Data collection
Internal friction angle (◦ ) ASTM D3080 49 31
The temperature profile of flexible pavement in Thailand was
investigated in this study. Thailand locates in a tropical zone, 15 degrees
temperature on RAP aggregate [25–34]. The findings indicated that above the equator, and sits in the center of Southeast Asia. Thailand
temperature has a significant impact on the strength and stiffness experiences warm temperatures throughout the year, but its weather is
characteristics of pavement containing RAP. The mechanical properties characterized by two monsoon seasons. Consequently, Thailand’s

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J. Suebsuk et al. Construction and Building Materials 409 (2023) 134062

Fig. 4. Particle size distribution of RAP and MLS blends.

Fig. 5. Compaction curves of RAP and MLS blends.

weather is defined by three seasons: the wet season (May to October),
the cool season (November to February), and the hot season (March to
May). The research site is on highway No. 24 of the Nang Rong – Prakon
Chai (km.73 – km.98) segment located in Buriram Province, northeast of
Thailand. The measurements of ten stations along the research site were
taken during April 2016, the hottest month of the year. The distance
between the stations was 2 km. For each station, the air temperature and
the temperatures of pavement structure at various depths were recorded
using thermocouple type K with a data logger. The temperatures of
pavement structure were observed at the depths of 0, 0.1, 0.3, and 0.45
m corresponding to the pavement surface, base course (top), base course
(bottom), and subbase course, respectively. The flexible pavement
consisted of wearing and binder courses using asphalt bituminous
AC60/70, cement-stabilized crushed rock base, and granular subbase.
The measurement was conducted on a sunny day during the daytime
(8.00 to 18.00) to reduce the influence of climate factors such as
humidity.
2.2. Temperature profile of flexible pavement structure
The Nang Rong station’s temperature increased to 43.0 ◦ C on April
12, 2016. Similarly, the maximum air temperature at the research site of

4
J. Suebsuk et al.
Fig. 6. Variation in stress versus strain of cement-stabilized RAP-MLS blends under different temperatures: (a) 1% cement; (b) 3% cement; (c) 5% cement; (d)
7% cement.
43.8 ◦ C was observed at midday on April 12, 2016. The temperature of
the pavement structure is affected by two significant factors, air tem­
perature and solar radiation. Fig. 1 shows the relationship between the
air and pavement surface temperatures. The daytime temperature was
generally between 30.2 ◦ C and 43.5 ◦ C. The patterns of pavement sur­
face temperature and air temperature change are similar in shape. The
average maximum temperature in the hot season is around 10 ◦ C higher
than those in the other seasons. Interestingly, the pavement surface
temperature was higher than the air temperature, and the difference was
18.4 ◦ C. This arises from solar reflectance, which is important regarding
how pavement surfaces interact thermally with the environment when
exposed to sunlight. Thermal emittance, thermal conductivity, and
specific heat capacity of the pavement surface materials are second-
order factors [35]. The internal temperature of the pavement structure
is mainly affected by changes in the upper air temperature. The specific
heat, thermal conductivity, and density of the pavement materials have
played a part in the temperature regularity to be different [36]. The
change in temperature of the pavement structure during the daytime is
illustrated in Fig. 2. The pavement surface temperature was lower than
the base and subbase layers earlier in the day. This implies that the heat
was transferred from the pavement surface to the upper cooler air during
nighttime. Due to solar radiation in the daytime, the pavement surface
continuously absorbed heat. The measured results showed that the
pavement surface temperature increased to the maximum value at
midday and gradually decreased related to the upper air temperature.
Although the pavement surface temperature fluctuated between 38.7 ◦ C
and 61.9 ◦ C, the observation showed that the fluctuation decreased with
depth. The effect of the layer thickness generated transfer time that led
to the temperature of the lower structure layer lagging behind that of the
upper structure. When the depth range reached the bottom of the base
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Construction and Building Materials 409 (2023) 134062
layer (− 0.3 m), the fluctuation was slight because the influence of
temperature transfer to the deep structure layer was relatively small.
Fig. 3 illustrates the maximum internal temperature of pavement
structure recorded from ten stations at the research site during April
2016. The internal temperature curve is relatively coherent without the
mutation point. Table 2 shows the on-site recording maximum midday
temperature. An average maximum temperature of 61.6 ◦ C was
observed at the pavement surface. This value is in accordance with the
hot mix asphalt pavement requirement with solar reflectance of
0.15–0.20 as reported by EPA [37]. Typical solar reflectance ranges
from 0.04 to 0.16 for asphalt pavements [38]. Furthermore, the pave­
ment solar reflectance changes with time, with that of asphalt pavement
increases as they age [39]. The average maximum temperatures of the
top and bottom base courses were 48.6 ◦ C and 43.4 ◦ C, respectively. The
subbase course temperature was less variable, with an average
maximum temperature of 42.9 ◦ C. Although the pavement temperature
reached a maximum value of 61.6 ◦ C during site investigation, an upper
limit of 75 ◦ C was chosen for the experiments to simulate extreme
temperatures as it was reported that the extreme temperature could be
higher than 70 ◦ C [40].
3. Laboratory tests
3.1. Materials
The RAP was obtained by milling the surface layer (thickness 100
mm) of 7-year-old pavement. The geotechnical properties of RAP are
summarized in Table 3. It consisted of crushed basalt and 6.72 %
bitumen binder. More than 54.1 % RAP was retained on the No. 4 sieve
(>4.75 mm) and thus could be classified as well-graded gravel (GW) and
J. Suebsuk et al.
Fig. 7. Variation in stress versus strain of cement-stabilized MLS under different temperatures: (a) 1% cement; (b) 3% cement; (c) 5% cement; (d) 7% cement.
A-1-a according to USCS and AASHTO systems, respectively. The bulk
specific gravity was 2.66. The CBR value of RAP of 35 % was relatively
low and did not pass the minimum requirement of the crushed rock base
course (CBR must be higher than 80 % at 95 % of the maximum unit
weight) specified by DH-S 201 standard [41].
The MLS used for this research was a disturbed sample obtained from
a borrow pit at Sikhio, Nakhon Ratchasima, in northeast Thailand at 2.0
to 3.0 m below the ground surface. The MLS samples were sealed in the
bags before being transported to the laboratory. As shown in Table 3, the
soil composed of 4.0 % gravel, 68.5 % sand, and 27.5 % fine and was
classified as clayey sand (SC) and A-2–6 according to USCS and AASHTO
systems, respectively. The fine particle of MLS of 27.5 % was over the
maximum fine particle of 25 % for bound granular material specified by
DH-S 204 standard [22]. Therefore, this LS was classified as marginal
soil. The bulk specific gravity of MLS was 2.68, while the liquid limit and
plastic index of fine particles were 23 % and 18 %, respectively.
The chemical composition of the RAP, MLS, and Portland cement are
summarized in Table 4. The main chemical compositions of RAP
analyzed by X-ray fluorescence test were 53.2 % SiO2, 14.4 % Fe2O3, and
13.0 % Al2O3. The aggregate in RAP was crushed basalt. The MLS was
composed of silica (56.2 % SiO2), iron (13.3 % Fe2O3), alumina (13.3 %
Al2O3), and calcium oxide (2.9 % CaO). The sesquioxide ratio defined
according to SiO2/[Fe2O3 + Al2O3], was used to categorize the lateritic
soil. The sesquioxide ratio of 1.45 indicated that the soil was a lateritic
soil [42].
The MLS and cement were used to modify and improve the
geotechnical properties of RAP aggregate. The calcium oxide (CaO)
content of both the MLS and RAP was lower than that of the cement, and
the particle diameter of the aggregates was greater than that of the
cement. Therefore, MLS and RAP were considered unreactive
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Construction and Building Materials 409 (2023) 134062
aggregates, and the resulting hydration product mainly came from the
cement [43–44]. The RAP was blended with MLS to develop the
gradation of the blend before the cement stabilization. The gradations of
RAP and MLS blends as shown in Fig. 4 met the grading requirement of
the bound base course as shown in Table 1. The packing density of the
blended materials under modified Proctor compaction increased with
the MLS content up to 50 % as shown in Fig. 5. The effect of MLS
replacement on the compaction behavior of RAP and MLS blends has
been explained in past research by Suebsuk et al. [17].
3.2. Samples preparation and testing program
The collected RAP and MLS were air-dried for 3 days at ambient
temperature and then oven-dried at 50 ◦ C for 48 h to complete the
drying process. The samples were prepared with MLS contents of 0, 30,
50, 70 and 100 %. The RAP-MLS blend was mixed with water at the
optimum moisture content and stored in a plastic bag for 24 h. After­
ward, the cement was added, and the mixing was done until the mixture
was uniform. The cylindrical specimen 50 mm in diameter and 100 mm
in height was used to compact the sample at the maximum dry density.
The maximum dry density and optimum moisture content for all mixes
are listed in Fig. 5. The cement content (C) was varied as 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7
% by weight of dry RAP and MLS. All specimens were wrapped with
plastic film and cured in a 25 ◦ C controlled chamber for 28 days.
The UCS and ITS tests were conducted according to ASTM D5102-09
[45] and ASTM D6931-12 [46] standards, respectively. The specimens
were cured at 25, 45, 60, and 75 ◦ C. Before the tests, the specimens were
exposed to controlled temperatures for 2 h to simulate on-site temper­
ature. The simulated temperature was kept constant during the test. The
E50 was measured from the slope of the stress–strain curve of the UCS
J. Suebsuk et al.
Fig. 8. Comparison of the stress–strain relations of cement-stabilized RAP-MLS
blends under different cement contents and temperatures: (a) 30% MLS; (b)
70% MLS.
test at 50 % of the ultimate load. The ITS was determined by the formula:
ITS = 2Pmax / πHD, where D and H were the diameter and height of the
cylindrical specimen. At least five samples were tested under the mix­
tures and tested conditions to verify the consistency of the test with a
standard deviation of less than 10 %. This research analyzed and pre­
sented the average UCS, E50, and ITS along with the standard deviation.
4. Test results and discussions
4.1. Stress-Strain behavior and unconfined compressive strength
The effect of temperature on the stress–strain curve of cement-
stabilized 30 % RAP and 70 % MLS blends at different cement con­
tents is presented in Fig. 6. Generally, the UCS and stiffness increased
with increasing cement content [17]. The stiffness defined by the slope
of the stress–strain curve decreased significantly with increasing tem­
perature. The same trend was observed for cement-stabilized RAP and
MLS blends under different cement contents. In contrast, the stress–­
strain curve of MLS without RAP was independent of the temperature
effect as shown in Fig. 7. This result indicated that the MLS did not
adversely affect the bond strength and stiffness of cement-stabilized RAP
and MLS blends at high temperatures. The bituminous binder coating of
the RAP aggregate is a temperature-sensitive material, resulting in
stiffness change related to the temperature. For the bitumen used in road
construction, the softening point value should be higher than the
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Construction and Building Materials 409 (2023) 134062
pavement temperature; otherwise, bitumen in the layer gets softened
and comes out. Generally, the softening point of asphalt bituminous
AC60/70 is between 45 ◦ C and 55 ◦ C [47]. The basic and rheological
properties of bituminous in RAP were changed with age. This phe­
nomenon produced an increase in the softening point [32–34]. How­
ever, the viscoelasticity of material is affected by heating, which causes
the degradation of asphalt pavement due to temperature cycling. In the
tests at temperatures of 60 ◦ C and 75 ◦ C, the bituminous binder was
softened, and the bonding between the cementation product and
aggregate was weak. This reduced the strength and stiffness of cement-
stabilized RAP aggregate at high temperatures.
Based on the test result, the strength reduction due to the high
temperature showed a relationship with that of a reference specimen
tested at 25 ◦ C. For instance, the UCS of the specimen tested at 75 ◦ C is
half that of the specimen tested at 25 ◦ C. Hence the ratio between the
UCS of the specimen tested at 75 ◦ C and that of the specimen tested at
25 ◦ C was 0.5. This ratio was designated as the strength reduction (SR)
ratio. Fig. 8 shows the effect of temperature on the stress–strain curve
specimen under 30 % and 70 % MLS content. The same trend of the SR
ratio was observed for RAP stabilized with 30 % and 70 % MLS. The UCS
of the specimen with 30 % and 70 % MLS tested at 45 ◦ C and 60 ◦ C also
gave constant SR ratios under different cement contents. The SR ratio
was the identity of the mixture at the same MLS and cement contents and
decreased with the increase in temperature. The UCS of all specimens
with the focus on the variations of UCS versus MLS and cement contents
under different temperatures is illustrated in Fig. 9. In practice, the
cement stabilization is used to improve the RAP strength to meet the
minimum 7 days curing strength requirement of 1,724 kPa for the
cement-bound base course. Suebsuk et al. [17] showed that according to
the 7d-UCS requirement, the RAP stabilized with at least 5 % cement
was needed for a low MLS content mixture (Fig. 9a), while only 3 %
cement was required for a high MLS content mixture (Fig. 9b, 9c).
However, the 28d-UCS of the RAP specimens were related to tempera­
ture, MLS content, and cement content. The results showed that the 28d-
UCS of the RAP specimen with 5 % cement and 30 % MLS subjected to a
temperature of 60 ◦ C was higher than the 7d-UCS. This confirms that the
pavement base course’s factor of safety is not less than the initial value
at the construction state (7 days) in accordance with the requirement of
the Department of Highways’ standard. Increasing the MLS content
resulted in a higher UCS at the same cement content. The same trend was
observed for the different temperatures.
Based on the unique character of the SR ratio, the relationship be­
tween the normalized UCS and temperatures was obtained as shown in
Fig. 10. The variation in the strength of cement-stabilized RAP and MLS
blends under different temperatures was normalized into a unique linear
relation. The following equation presents the normalized relationship
between UCS and temperature:
qu
= a − bT (2)
qu,25◦ C
where qu is the UCS of the specimen tested at T◦ C, T is a test temperature
(◦ C), a and b are viscoelactic material paremeters. Although the cement
content varied, the bituminous binder in the sample with the same MLS
content remained constant. As a result, the viscoelastic properties of the
specimen with the same MLS content were identical. This facilitates the
normalization of the UCS at different temperatures to the UCS at 25 ◦ C
for the same MLS content.
From the investigation, intercept a and slope b from the linear
regression are 1.272 and 0.0115 for 30 % MLS content, 1.238 and
0.0104 for 50 % MLS content, and 1.222 and 0.0084 for 70 % MLS
content, respectively. The values a and b slightly decreased with
increasing the MLS content and confirmed that the increase in MLS
content reduced the viscoelasticity of cement-stabilized RAP.
J. Suebsuk et al. Construction and Building Materials 409 (2023) 134062

Fig. 9. Variation of UCS versus cement content under different temperatures: (a) UCS at 30% MLS; (b) UCS at 50% MLS; (c) UCS at 70% MLS.

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J. Suebsuk et al. Construction and Building Materials 409 (2023) 134062

Fig. 10. Relationship between normalized UCS and temperature: (a) at 30% MLS; (b) at 50% MLS; (c) at 70% MLS.

9
J. Suebsuk et al. Construction and Building Materials 409 (2023) 134062

Fig. 11. Variation of E50 versus cement content under different temperatures: (a) E50 at 30% MLS; (b) E50 at 50% MLS; (c) E50 at 70% MLS.

10
J. Suebsuk et al.
Fig. 12. Correlation between UCS and E50 under different cement contents, RAP contents, and temperatures.
4.2. Modulus of elasticity
The results of E50 with temperatures, MLS content, and cement
content are shown in Fig. 11. The temperature played a significant role
in the variation in stiffness development of material containing the
bituminous binder. Even though cement stabilization was adopted, E50
representing material stiffness dropped significantly with increasing
temperature. Furthermore, the trend of stiffness reduction due to the
temperature was similar to the strength reduction. Although the tem­
perature was raised to 60 ◦ C, the E50 values of the RAP specimen with 5
% cement content and 30 % MLS content were over 100 MPa. For the
same cement content and temperature, the use of higher MLS content
resulted in a greater E50. In practice, the E50 is usually estimated based
on the UCS. Fig. 12 shows the exponential relationship between UCS and
E50 for all mixtures and temperatures. The difference in MLS content,
cement content, and temperature had little effect on the relationship.
The fitted equation for the data gave a high regression coefficient of
0.937, using the following power function equation:
E50 = 4.491(qu )1.37 (3)
The relationship obtained in this study is consistent with the previous
studies by Mengue et al. [48] and Al-Jabban et al. [49]. It has, however,
the advantage of this proposed trend in the case of cement-stabilized
RAP and MLS blends at any mix proportions and temperatures.
4.3. Indirect tensile strength
Fig. 13 describes the variation of ITS versus MLS and cement con­
tents under different test temperatures. The ITS showed a trend similar
to that of UCS and E50. The ITS reduction was significant for the speci­
mens with 3 % to 7 % cement contents. The ITS at 25 ◦ C was used as a
reference strength for calculating the ITS reduction. The reduction in ITS
with increasing temperature was in accordance with the concept of the
SR ratio presented earlier. Fig. 14 shows the correlation between ITS and
UCS. The obtained relationship is in exponential relations, which fits
well with a simple power equation as follows:
ITS = 0.001(qu )1.5148 (4)
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Construction and Building Materials 409 (2023) 134062
The relationship in this study shows a trend consistent with those in the
previous work by Mengue et al. [48] performed with cement-stabilized
lateritic soil for use in road construction. However, the obtained equa­
tion gave lower ITS because of the effects of bituminous binder and
temperature. There was thus an indication that the ITS was more sen­
sitive to the increase in temperature than the UCS.
4.4. Design recommendations
This investigation reveals that the strength and stiffness of cement-
stabilized RAP and MLS blends vary with the temperature increment
under the tropical climate. The site investigation showed that the tem­
perature in pavement structures increased to 61.6 ◦ C, 48.6 ◦ C, and
42.9 ◦ C for pavement surface, base course, and subbase course, respec­
tively. The high temperature in the hot season should be considered for
the design process of the cement-bound base course using RAP aggregate
as a major component in tropical countries. The mechanism of RAP
stabilized by MLS and cement is mainly as follows (vide Fig. 15). (1) The
replacement of RAP aggregate with MLS enhances the packing density
and bonding between aggregates and cement, promoting the develop­
ment of strength and stiffness. (2) The heating due to the increasing
pavement temperature affects the mechanical properties of cement-
stabilized RAP and MLS blends, leading to strength and stiffness re­
ductions of pavement structure exposed to high temperature. It is rec­
ommended that the use of RAP as a base course should include the
temperature effect in the mix design. Eq. (1) proposed by Suebsuk et al.
[17] should be modified to incorporate the effect of temperature ac­
cording to Equations (2) to (4).
5. Conclusions
This study investigates the possibility of using recycled asphalt
pavement (RAP) aggregate-marginal lateritic soil (MLS) blend stabilized
with cement as a sustainable bound base coarse structure in a tropical
climate. The temperature profile of flexible pavement structures in hot
weather varies with the depth and times of the day. The temperatures of
42.9 ◦ C to 61.6 ◦ C at the pavement structure were observed between
8:00–18:00, which are over the room temperature in the laboratory tests
J. Suebsuk et al. Construction and Building Materials 409 (2023) 134062

Fig. 13. Variation of ITS versus cement content under different temperatures: (a) ITS at 30% MLS; (b) ITS at 50% MLS; (c) ITS at 70% MLS.

12
J. Suebsuk et al. Construction and Building Materials 409 (2023) 134062

Fig. 14. Correlation between UCS and ITS under different cement contents, RAP contents, and temperatures.

Fig. 15. Sketch for cement-stabilized RAP and MLS blends, including the temperature effect.

of the base course materials. The on-site measured temperatures were
used to simulate the temperature that affected the RAP behavior in the
laboratory. A series of laboratory tests including the UCS, E50, and ITS
tests were conducted on the cement-stabilized RAP and MLS blends at
temperatures of 25 ◦ C to 75 ◦ C covering the high temperatures of the
pavement structure. The temperature significantly influences the
strength and stiffness of cement-stabilized RAP and MLS blends. The
bitumen in RAP is a material that exhibits both viscous and elastic
properties. It is responsible for the decrease in strength and stiffness of
the blended material as the temperature increases. At least 30 % MLS
and 5 % cement contents are recommended for the stabilization to
obtain the 28d-UCS of the RAP specimen at 60 ◦ C to be over its 7d-UCS at

13
J. Suebsuk et al.
25 ◦ C to ensure that the factor of safety is greater than 1.0. The SR ratio
showed a linear relationship with the temperature. The normalized
relationship of UCS and temperature with the empirical correlations
between UCS versus E50 and UCS versus ITS were presented and are
valuable tools for developing a guideline design for RAP material.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
J. Suebsuk: Methodology, Funding acquisition, Data curation,
Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Validation, Visuali­
zation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. A. Kampala:
Methodology, Formal analysis, Validation, Writing – original draft,
Writing – review & editing. P. Waiyakorn: Data curation. C. Suksir­
ipattanapong: Validation, Writing – review & editing. P. Chindapra­
sirt: Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
No data was used for the research described in the article.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the
Rajamangala University of Technology Isan (RMUTI). The authors
would also like to thank the Department of Highways, Thailand, for
additional funding, facilities, materials, and support during the project
work. Special thanks are given to RMUTI students: Aniroot Suksan,
Panupong Panpipat, and Agakaradate Siriphan for their assistance with
this research.
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