Use of bending beam rheometer test for rheological analysis of asphalt emulsion-cement mastics in cold in-place recycling.

• The lack of standardized procedures for analyzing thin semisolid films of AEC mastics was assessed. • The introduction of glass microspheres, acting as "inert solid skeleton", in the production of beam specimens was suggested. • A consistent unconventional BBR testing protocol for AEC mastics was proposed. • A feasibility study for validating the new BBR modified experimental setup was presented. This paper focused on exploiting the potential of the bending beam rheometer (BBR) test for analyzing asphalt emulsion-cement (AEC) mastics tailored for cold in-place recycling applications in the first weeks of curing, i.e. phase which implies the coexistence of viscoelastic and brittle materials. A consistent modified BBR testing protocol, which includes the experimental solutions devised for the practical execution of these unconventional rheometric measurements (sample preparation and test procedure), was proposed. The authors suggested to introduce glass microspheres, acting as "inert solid skeleton", in the production of AEC mastics for BBR prismatic beams, to study the interaction between asphalt emulsion and cement in thin film and to limit the specimens' shrinkage and warpage during the curing period. Finally, a feasibility study for validating the new modified experimental setup was presented, highlighting, with an explanatory overview of the types of results that can be expected, the macroscopic behaviors of some AEC mastics as a function of different parameters (asphalt binder to cement ratio, curing time and temperature). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]