Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121467

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Construction and Building Materials

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Design and performance of waterborne epoxy-SBR asphalt emulsion

(WESE) slurry seal as under-seal coat in rigid pavement
Zhengqi Zhang a,⇑, Jianhua Yang a,⇑, Ying Fang a, Yaofei Luo b
a
Key Laboratory of Road Structure & Material Ministry of Transport, Chang’an University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710064, China
b
School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics, Zhengzhou, Henan 450046, China

h i g h l i g h t s

WESE slurry seal used as the under-seal coat for rigid pavement was designed.

Anti-erosion, bonding and isolation properties of WESE slurry seal were evaluated.

Fine-graded WESE slurry mixture with 13.5% WESE has a higher performance-cost ratio.

WESE slurry seal shows a superior anti-erosion property and bonding with semi-rigid base.

Fine-graded WESE slurry seal demonstrates a most excellent isolation effect.

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

Article history: Common slurry seal is poor at preventing pumping distress when used as the under-seal coat in rigid
Received 16 January 2020 pavement. In order to improve the water stability of common slurry seal and reduce the pumping distress
Received in revised form 7 August 2020 in rigid pavement, this paper adopts the method of compositely modified slurry seal using waterborne
Accepted 15 September 2020
epoxy resin (WER) and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) latex. First, waterborne epoxy-SBR asphalt emul-
Available online 9 November 2020
sion (WESE) was prepared and fine-graded WESE slurry seal was designed according to the performance
requirements for the under-seal coat in rigid pavement. Then, dynamic water erosion resistance, bonding
Keywords:
performance and isolation effect of the WESE slurry seal was analyzed and evaluated via a series of tests.
Rigid pavement
Under-seal coat
Results showed that the water content, the dosage of WER in the WESE, and the WESE content had an
Optimization design effect on the properties of the WESE slurry mixture. In terms of the fine-graded WESE slurry mixture,
Dynamic water erosion resistance the content of water and WESE is recommended to be 8.5% and 13.5%, respectively, by weight of aggre-
Bonding performance gate, and the dosage of WER is recommended to be 3% by weight of WESE. The WESE slurry mixture,
Isolation effect especially the fine-graded WESE slurry mixture, showed excellent resistance to dynamic water erosion.
Moreover, the bonding performance between the WESE slurry seal and the semi-rigid base was affected
by seal gradation, forming temperature and curing temperature. In order to guarantee a good bonding
performance, the WESE slurry seal should be designed as a fine-graded mineral aggregate, and it should
be formed at 20 °C and cured at no less than 10 °C. The WESE slurry seal showed the best isolation effect
compared to both the chip seal and the asphalt concrete seal.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Due to its good carrying capacity and durability, rigid pavement
is used in many sites such as heavy traffic highways, parking lots
and bus stops [1]. However, because of ambient temperature, traf-
fic load, and inherent expansion and shrinkage of cement concrete
itself, rigid pavement may suffer from several distresses such as
⇑ Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: z_zhengqi@126.com (Z. Zhang), jianhua_chd@126.com (J. Yang),
2934748339@qq.com (Y. Fang), hpulyf@163.com (Y. Luo).
pumping, corner fractures and slab cracks during service, which
reduces the traffic efficiency of the road and the driving safety of
vehicles [2–4].
Setting a slurry seal between the semi-rigid base and the rigid
pavement slab is one way to reduce the above-mentioned dis-
tresses in rigid pavement. An important function of the slurry seal
is to protect the semi-rigid base from water scouring (i.e. water-
proof function), thus reducing pumping distress. It is also used to
isolate the rigid pavement slab from the base to reduce the inter-
layer adhesion and friction generated when directly laying the
rigid pavement slab on the semi-rigid base (i.e. isolation function),

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.121467
0950-0618/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Z. Zhang, J. Yang, Y. Fang et al.
so as to facilitate the expansion and shrinkage of the rigid pave-
ment slab and thus to reduce slab cracks under the action of tem-
perature stress [5,6]. At present, common slurry seal is mainly used
as the under-seal coat of rigid pavement in China, and scholars
have conducted some research to guide its use and have achieved
meaningful results. For instance, Ren et al. [7], Yao et al. [8] and Wu
et al. [9] designed a common slurry seal according to the method in
Technical Guidelines for Micro-Surfacing and Slurry Seal (JTG/T F40-
02-2005) of China (hereinafter referred to as JTG/T F40-02-2005),
and evaluated its anti-erosion performance and isolation effect.
Their studies concluded that the common slurry seal was poor in
the anti-erosion performance, thus showing a poor ability to miti-
gating pumping, despite a good isolation effect. Yao et al. [10] also
concluded that the water erosion resistance of common slurry seal
is inferior to that of geotextile. From these researches, it can be
acquired that the water stability of the common slurry seal is infe-
rior that it is not enough to achieve the goal of waterproofing. The
inferior water stability is largely associated with the poor adhesion
of neat asphalt emulsion to aggregate; thus, modifying the neat
asphalt emulsion and further preparing the modified slurry seal
is a potential way to improve the water stability. The styrene-
butadiene rubber (SBR) latex is a commonly used modifier for neat
asphalt emulsion at present. However, the SBR modified asphalt
emulsion (SBRE) still does not perform well in terms of adhesion
to the aggregate, thus the SBRE slurry seal cannot withstand a per-
sistent water scouring as verified in some practical applications,
which is still not ideal to prevent the pumping distress [11–13].
Thus, it is necessary to develop a slurry seal with good water sta-
bility as the under-seal coat of rigid pavement.
Good adhesive binder and optimized slurry seal mixture design
are the guarantee of good water stability of slurry seal. In terms of
the asphalt emulsion binder, previous studies have shown that
waterborne epoxy resin (WER) can also be utilized to modified
asphalt emulsion and endow the asphalt emulsion with good adhe-
sion to different substrates, which is very meaningful to enhance
the water stability of slurry seal [14,15]. Meanwhile, the WER itself
is brittle after curing, thus it is a new research trend that WER and
SBR are compounded to prepare the WER and SBR compositely
modified asphalt emulsion (WESE); some research has been con-
ducted on the performance evaluation of the WESE and its evapo-
rated residue, and revealed that the WESE shows better adhesion
than the neat asphalt emulsion and the asphalt emulsion modified
only by SBR latex [16–18]. These provide a valuable idea for the
selection of binder to improve the water stability of slurry seal.
With regard to the WESE application, the relevant research is very
limited. In one previous study, Zhang et al. [19] used the WESE bin-
der as tack coat, and evaluated its interlayer bonding performance.
However, there were few studies on using the WESE as the binder
for slurry seal that serves as under-seal coat in rigid pavement.
Besides, in previous studies the under-seal coat for rigid pavement
is usually designed according to the method in the JTG/T F40-02-
2005 [7–10]. But in fact, this method is mainly adapted for the
design of upper seal rather than under-seal coat; the under-seal
coat of rigid pavement should be designed and evaluated according
to this method combined with its practical performance require-
ments during service because of the different working environ-
ment from the upper seal. However, few studies have designed
the under-seal coat for rigid pavement following this principle.
As the under-seal coat of rigid pavement, it is required to have
good dynamic water erosion resistance and bonding performance
with semi-rigid base. In addition, it is required to have good isola-
tion effect. The objective of this research is to design a slurry seal
with good dynamic water erosion and bonding performance to
serve as the under-seal coat of rigid pavement, and to comprehen-
sively evaluate its performance. To achieve this objective, the
WESE was prepared as the binder of the slurry seal, and the com-
2
Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121467
position of the WESE slurry seal was first determined in accordance
to its actual performance requirements. Then, the dynamic water
erosion resistance, the bonding performance, and the isolation
effect of the WESE slurry seal were analyzed and estimated. These
research results can offer a theoretical basis for the popularization
and application of WESE slurry seal as under-coat in rigid
pavement.
2. Materials
2.1. Raw materials
2.1.1. Waterborne epoxy resin (WER) and curing agent
Commercial BH-653 WER and BH-532 curing agent were pur-
chased from China Dongguan Guangtong Chemical Products Co.,
Ltd. Their physical properties are shown in Table 1.
2.1.2. Neat asphalt emulsion (NE) and SBR modified asphalt emulsion
(SBRE)
NE, and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) modified asphalt emul-
sion (SBRE) with 3% SBR latex of the weight of the SBRE were pre-
pared via emulsifying Donghai-90 neat asphalt (80/100
penetration grade) in the laboratory. The general properties of
the NE and SBRE were measured according to the Standard Test
Methods of Bitumen and Bituminous Mixtures for Highway Engineer-
ing (JTG E20-2011) of China (hereinafter referred to as JTG E20-
2011). The results are recorded in Table 2.
2.1.3. WER modified asphalt emulsion (WERE)
WERE was prepared by modifying NE with WER. WER is usually
used in conjunction with a curing agent. The amount of WER and
curing agent was both 3% by weight of the WERE. In order to pre-
pare the WERE, 500 g of pre-prepared NE, the WER, and the curing
agent were each added in turn into a beaker, then the blend ini-
tially mixed using a glass rod and finally stirred at 300 rpm with
a propeller impeller for 30 min. After this preparation, the techni-
cal properties of the WERE were tested and are recorded in Table 2.
As can be seen from Table 2, the 5 d storage stability of the WERE
does not meet the technical requirement, so it cannot be stored for
more than 5 days.
2.1.4. Aggregates
Coarse limestone aggregate, fine limestone aggregate, and lime-
stone mineral powder were used to prepare the slurry seal mixture
and the cement-stabilized macadam mixture. The particle size of
coarse aggregate used in the two mixtures was 2.36 ~ 9.5 mm
and 4.75 ~ 19 mm, respectively. Coarse limestone aggregate with
the particle size of 4.75 ~ 19 mm was also used in the concrete
mixture. The aggregates and mineral powder used satisfy the
requirements of Technical Specification for Construction of Highway
Asphalt Pavements (JTG F40-2004) of China (hereinafter referred to
as JTG F40-2004). Natural river sand was used as the fine aggregate
in the cement concrete mixture.
2.1.5. Cement and water
Ordinary Portland cement with a strength grade of 42.5 and
clean water were used in the study.
2.2. Preparation of waterborne epoxy-SBR asphalt emulsion (WESE)
The WESE was prepared according to the following procedure
[20]. Firstly, 500 g of SBRE was poured into a container, then
WER and the curing agent were added to the container, respec-
tively. Secondly, their blend was preliminarily mixed using a glass
rod, and subsequently the WESE was obtained by further stirring
Z. Zhang, J. Yang, Y. Fang et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121467

Table 1
Physical properties of WER and curing agent (Provided by the manufacturer).

Item Type Appearance Viscosity at 25 °C (mPas) Resin content (%) Epoxy equivalent (g/mol) Amine value PH value
(mg KOH/g)
WER Chemically modified liquid Milky white 900 ~ 2,000 60 ± 2 180 ~ 230 – 3.5 ± 1
Curing agent Epoxy-amine adduct liquid Light yellow ＜10,000 45 ± 2 – 220 ~ 280 9.5 ± 0.5

Table 2
General properties of NE, SBRE and WERE.

Item NE SBRE and WERE Test method

Measured value Technical requirement Measured value Technical requirement
SBRE WERE
Emulsion
Particle polarity Positive – Positive Positive – T 0653
Binder content (%) 60.5 55 61.7 61.5 60 T 0651
1 d storage stability (%) 0.2 1 0.7 0.8 1 T 0655
5 d storage stability (%) 3.1 5 4.2 8.3 5
Standard viscosityCt. 3 (s) 10 °C 18 10 ~ 60 29 23 12 ~ 60 T 0621
20 °C 14 22 19
30 °C 14 18 16
40 °C 16 20 22
Residual asphalt
Penetration at 25 °C (0.1 mm) 84 45 ~ 150 66 51 40 ~ 100 T 0604
Softening point (°C) 47.5 45 55.0 68 53 T 0606
Ductility at 5 °C (cm) – – ＞100 – 20 T 0605

Note: the standard viscosity of NE, SBRE and WERE was measured when they were just prepared.

the blend at 300 rpm with a propeller impeller for 30 min. The
WER was added at 0%, 1%, 2%, 3% and 4%, by weight of WESE.
The weight ratio of the WER and the curing agent was 1:1.
2.3. Design of mixtures
To assess the bonding performance between the slurry seal and
the semi-rigid cement-stabilized macadam base as well as the iso-
lation effect of the slurry seal, a cylindrical sandwich sample was
used to represent the typical structure of rigid pavement in China.
This sample consisted of a cement-stabilized macadam base, a
slurry seal (sandwiched layer) and a cement concrete surface layer.
The design results of the three mixtures, namely the cement-
stabilized macadam mixture, the WESE slurry mixture, and the
cement concrete mixture are discussed in the following sections.
2.3.1. Cement-stabilized macadam mixture
The aggregate gradation of the cement-stabilized macadam
mixture was designed according to the C-B-2 gradation in Technical
Guidelines for Construction of Highway Roadbases (JTG/T F20-2015) of
China. The design result is presented in Table 3.
The amount of cement in the cement-stabilized macadam mix-
ture was 5% by weight of mineral aggregate. According to the com-
paction test method (T0804-1994) in Test Methods of Materials
Stabilized with Inorganic Binders for Highway Engineering (JTG E51-
2009) of China, the amount of each component in 1000 cm3 of
the mixture was determined to be 2209.2 g of mineral aggregate,
110.4 g of cement and 120.7 g of water.
2.3.2. WESE slurry mixture
Three gradations of ES-2 slurry mixture were used in the exper-
iment following the JTG/T F40-02-2005 and International Slurry Seal
Association (ISSA) standards: the upper limit (fine gradation), mid-
dle value (middle gradation) and lower limit (coarse gradation), as
shown in Table 4.
The water content, the amount of WER in the WESE, and the
content of the WESE binder are presented in Section 4.1 (Design
of WESE slurry seal).

Table 3
Aggregate gradation for cement-stabilized macadam mixture.

Square sieve size (mm) 19 16 13.2 9.5 4.75 2.36 1.18 0.6 0.3 0.15 0.075
Lower-upper limit (%) 100 88–93 76–86 59–72 35–45 22–31 13–22 8–15 5–10 3–7 2–5
Percentage passing (%) 100 90.5 81 65.5 40 26.5 17.5 11.5 7.5 5 3.5

Table 4
Aggregate gradation for WESE slurry mixture.

Square sieve size (mm) Percentage passing (%)

9.5 4.75 2.36 1.18 0.6 0.3 0.15 0.075 Mineral powder Cement
Upper limit (%) 100 100 90 70 50 30 21 15 14 1
Middle value (%) 100 97.5 77.5 57.5 40 24 15.5 10 9 1
Lower limit (%) 100 95 65 45 30 18 10 5 4 1

3
Z. Zhang, J. Yang, Y. Fang et al.
Table 5
Aggregate gradation for cement concrete mixture.
Square mesh sieve (mm) Coarse aggregate
19 16 9.5
Lower-upper limit (%) 100 90–100 40–60
Percentage passing (%) 100 95 45
2.3.3. Cement concrete mixture
Following the Technical Guidelines for Construction of Highway
Cement Concrete Pavements (JTG/T F30-2014) of China, the aggre-
gate gradation of the cement concrete mixture was designed as
shown in Table 5.
The water-binder ratio and the water quantity per unit volume
were 0.4 and 130 kg/m3, respectively. According to the volumtric
method, the quantity of each constituent in one cubic meter of
the cement concrete mixture was determined to be 341 kg of
cement, 137 kg of water, 685 kg of fine aggregate, 1330 kg of coarse
aggregate and 0.682 kg of polycarboxylic acid water reducing
agent, respectively.
3. Test methods
3.1. Mixing test for slurry mixture
Enabling construction is the prerequisite for the application of
slurry mixture. The mixing test for slurry mixture was used to ana-
lyze its workability, and thus to determine the quantity of water in
the slurry mixture. The mixing test followed the test method
T0659-1993 in JTG E20-2011. First, the appropriate amount of WESE
was determined according to the empirical Eq. (1).
P ¼ 0:06A þ 0:12B þ 0:2C
in which P is the mass ratio of the emulsion to the dry aggregate
(cement included) (%), A is the weight percentage of the aggregate
with a particle size larger than 2.36 mm (%), B is the weight per-
centage of the aggregate with a particle size between 2.36 mm
and 0.075 mm (%), and C is the weight percentage of the aggregate
with a particle size less than 0.075 mm (%).
The mixing process was as follows. First, 200 g of aggregate was
added to a mixing cup, and first water and then the WESE binder
were poured into the mixing cup using a beaker. Then, their blend
was stirred using a glass rod at a speed of 60 rpm, and using a stop-
watch, the time from the beginning of the stirring to the beginning
of demulsification was recorded as the mixing time of the slurry
mixture. In addition, the consistency of the slurry mixture was
visually observed while stirring the slurry mixture. The quantity
of water in the slurry mixture was determined in terms of the mix-
ing time and the consistency measured as described above.
3.2. Wet track abrasion and loaded wheel tests
Although the slurry seal is used as the under-seal coat of rigid
pavement, it, like the upper seal, will be exposed the external envi-
ronment and subjected to precipitation and construction vehicle
load before the rigid pavement slab is constructed. Therefore,
referring to the design method of upper seal, the wet track abra-
sion test (WTAT) is conducted to analyze the static water stability
and thus determining the minimum amount of asphalt emulsion;
the loaded wheel test (LWT) is also conducted to analyze the
high-temperature performance and thus determining the maxi-
mum amount of asphalt emulsion.
The WTAT and the LWT were consistent with the test methods
in JTG E20-2011. For the WTAT, a disk-shaped sample was first
formed and weighed. Then, the sample was kept in water of
Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121467
Fine aggregate
4.75 2.36 1.18 0.6 0.3 0.15
0–15 75–100 50–90 30–60 8–30 0–10
0 87.5 60 35 12 0
25 °C for 60 min, and then abraded for 300 s using a wet wheel
abrasion tester in the same temperature water. After the abrasion,
the sample was taken off the tester and washed, dried and
weighed. The abrasion value per unit wear area was calculated as
the evaluation index of the sample’s resistance to peeling in the
water bath according to the Eq. (2). Meanwhile, the abrasion value
was used as a design index of the slurry mixture to determine the
minimum amount of emulsion.
ma  mb
AV ¼ ð2Þ
AW
where AV is the abrasion value per unit wear area of the sample (g/
m2), ma is the dry mass of the sample before abrading (g), mb is the
dry mass of the sample after abrading (g), AW is the abrasion area
(0.031 m2).
For the LWT, a rectangular sample was first prepared, and then
rolled 1000 times at a test temperature of 25 °C using a load wheel
device. After rolling, the sample was taken off the device and
washed, dried and weighed, and then the sample was reinstalled
on the device and covered with 300 g of hot sand with a tempera-
ture of 82 °C. Once the sample was covered with hot sand, it was
immediately rolled 100 times. After the process, the sample was
taken off the load wheel device, cleaned and weighed again, and
the amount of sand that adhered to the sample per unit rolling area
ð1Þ was calculated and used to determine the maximum amount of
emulsion in the slurry mixture. The amount of sand adhered to
the sample was calculated via the Eq. (3).
m2  m1
SA ¼ ð3Þ
AL
where SA is the amount of sand adhered to the sample per unit roll-
ing area (g/m2), m1 is the dry mass of the sample after 1000 times of
rolling (g), m2 is the mass of the cleaned sample after 100 times of
rolling (g), AL is the rolling area of the load wheel (0.0099 m2).
3.3. Dynamic water scouring test
As the under-seal coat of rigid pavement, the slurry seal will be
scoured and even failed by dynamic water under the action of vehi-
cle load during its service, when the water enters along the joints
of rigid pavement, thus losing its waterproof function. Therefore,
the dynamic water scouring test was carried out to analyze the
dynamic water scouring resistance of the slurry seal.
The dynamic water scouring test was carried out in three steps.
First, a slurry mixture block with the dimensions of
30 cm  30 cm  1 cm was formed and cut into four small
same-sized samples (15 cm  15 cm  1 cm), and each sample
was weighed. Second, the four samples were arranged in a straight
line and scoured back and forth using a dynamic water scouring
device, with a scouring pressure of approximately 0.7 MPa and a
water temperature of 40 °C. Lastly, each sample was dried and
weighed, and the mass loss rate of each sample was computed
by Eq. (4). In addition, images of the samples’ surface were taken
using a digital camera, and the images were separately imported
into the Image Pro-Plus (IPP) software to calculate the peeling area
of the aggregate on the surfaces of the samples. Thus, the average
mass loss rate and peeling area of the four samples were calculated
4
Z. Zhang, J. Yang, Y. Fang et al.
as the evaluation indexes of the dynamic water erosion resistance
of the slurry mixture. Fig. 1 shows the dynamic water scouring
device and photo frame.
mAi  mBi
MLRi ¼  100% ð4Þ
mAi
where MLRi is the mass loss rate of the i-th sample (%), mAi is the
dry mass of the i-th sample before scouring (g), mBi is the dry mass
of the i-th sample after scouring (g).
3.4. Direct shear test
As the under-seal in the rigid pavement structure, the slurry
seal is paved and attached to the semi-rigid base; in this process,
firm bonding is required between the two layers. A firm bonding
with the semi-rigid base is conducive to the stress state of rigid
pavement, and can avoid the slip failure of slurry seal during the
construction of rigid pavement slab [21,22]. Thus, it is necessary
to analyze and evaluate the bonding performance between the
slurry seal and the semi-rigid base.
A direct shear test was conducted to analyze the interlayer
bonding performance [23]. Its specific process is described as
below. First, a cylindrical sandwich sample was prepared consist-
ing of a 5 cm thick semi-rigid base, a 1 cm thick WESE slurry seal
and a 4 cm thick cement concrete layer. The sample was fabricated
as follows: (1) a semi-rigid base plate with the dimensions of
30 cm  30 cm  5 cm was prepared using a wheel rolling
machine; (2) a 1 cm thick WESE slurry seal was paved on this base.
Thereinto, the paving of seal comprised the mixing, rolling and cur-
ing of the slurry mixture, and the mixing and rolling were the
forming process of the slurry seal; (3) after the slurry seal was
paved, a 4 cm thick cement concrete layer was poured and hard-
ened, thus the plate sandwich sample was fabricated. Second, the
plate sandwich sample was drilled to obtain a cylindrical sandwich
sample with a diameter and height of 10 cm. The forming process
is shown in Fig. 2.
After the cylindrical sandwich sample was obtained, it was
sheared by a direct shear tester to measure the shear strength
between the WESE slurry seal and semi-rigid base. The schematic
diagram of its shearing principle is shown in Fig. 3. The shearing
was performed according to the following procedure. First, a verti-
cal load of 0.7 MPa was applied to the cylindrical sandwich sample,
and then it was sheared horizontally along the interface of the
slurry seal and the semi-rigid base at a shear rate of 10 mm/min
(the test temperature was a room temperature of 25 °C). The max-
imum shear force was recorded during the shear process and the
shear strength s was calculated according to Eq. (5). The shear
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of dynamic water scouring device and photo frame.
5
Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121467
strength s was used as the evaluation index of the bonding perfor-
mance between the slurry seal and the semi-rigid base.
F
s¼ ð5Þ
A
where s is the shear strength (MPa), F is the maximum shear force
(N), and A is the shear area (1  104 mm2).
The isolation effect of slurry seal is closely related to the occur-
rence of slab cracks in the rigid pavement. A good isolation effect is
expected to effectively reduce the slab cracks under the action of
temperature stress. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the isola-
tion effect of the slurry seal.
The direct shear test was also carried out to evaluate the isola-
tion effect of the slurry seal. First, a cylindrical sandwich sample
similar to that used to analyze the bonding performance of the
WESE slurry seal, consisting of a 4 cm thick semi-rigid base, a
1 cm thick WESE slurry seal and a 5 cm thick cement concrete
layer, was first prepared. Then, it was sheared by the direct shear
tester along the interface of the seal and the cement concrete layer,
thus the maximum shear force was obtained. Following Eq. (5), the
shear strength was calculated as the evaluation index of the isola-
tion effect of the WESE slurry seal.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Design of WESE slurry seal
As earlier stated, an under-seal coat in rigid pavement should
have good resistance to water erosion and firm bonding with the
semi-rigid base. In this study, the WESE slurry seal was designed
according to the method in JTG/T F40-02-2005 of China, meanwhile
the two performance requirements of the under-seal coat used for
rigid pavement were also taken into account. In this part of the
experiment, fine-graded WESE slurry seal was chosen as represen-
tative and designed in terms of relevant evaluation indicators. The
medium- and coarse-graded WESE slurry seals were designed
according to the same design process.
4.1.1. Determination of water consumption
The WESE, in which the content of WER modifier was 3% of the
mass of WESE, was first prepared, and then the WESE content to be
used in the slurry mixture was calculated using Eq. (1). On this
basis, WESE slurry mixtures containing different amounts of water
were mixed and subjected to the mixing test, thus their mixing
time and consistency were measured, as shown in Table 6. The
results are the average of three repeated trials.
Z. Zhang, J. Yang, Y. Fang et al.
Fig. 2. Forming process of cylindrical sandwich sample.
Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of shearing principle.
Table 6 shows that with the increase of the water content, the
mixing time evidently increased and the consistency of the sam-
ples first became better and then worse. When the water content
reached 9% and 9.5%, the samples showed different degrees of flow
and segregation, meaning that the water content cannot exceed 9%.
When the water content was 8.5%, the mixing time and consis-
tency of the sample met the requirements specified in JTG F40-
2004 (the mixing time is more than 120 s and the consistency is
moderate). Accordingly, the water consumption for mixing the
fine-graded WESE slurry mixture was determined to be 8.5% of
the aggregate by weight, and thus the total water content in the
slurry mixture was calculated to be 13.4%. Moreover, it was veri-
fied and found that at the same water consumption of 8.5%, when
the WESE binder with the other content of WER was applied in the
fine-graded WESE slurry mixture, the mixing time and consistency
also met the specification requirements.
4.1.2. Determination of WER content
Several WESE binders that contained 0%, 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% WER
were prepared beforehand. For each WESE binder, fine-graded
WESE slurry mixture was prepared with 12.5% WESE and 8.5%
water, and the different samples for the experiments were fabri-
cated according to the method mentioned above. After that, the
samples were subjected to WTAT, LWT, dynamic water scouring
test, and direct shear test used for the analysis of bonding perfor-
mance. Fig. 4 shows the results of each test. The results are the
mean of three repeated tests.
Table 6
Mixing time and consistency of each sample.
Water content (%) Aggregate mass (g) WESE content (%)
7.5 200 12.5
8.0
8.5
9.0
9.5
Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121467
Fig. 4 shows that with the increase of WER, both the abrasion
value and the mass loss rate of the WESE slurry mixture decreased.
When the dosage of WER reached 3%, the abrasion value and mass
loss rate of the corresponding sample decreased by 43.5% and
87.6% (compared to the sample without WER), respectively. More-
over, when the dosage of WER increased beyond 3%, the rate of
change in the amount of adhered sand, the mass loss rate and
the shear strength tended to decrease. Therefore, the dosage of
WER in the WESE is determined to be 3% of the WESE by weight.
At this proportion, the fine-graded WESE slurry seal showed well
in countering both wet track abrasion and dynamic water scouring,
and it showed a good bonding performance with the semi-rigid
base. In addition, the amount of adhered sand decreased on a para-
bolic trend as the WER dosage increased. This means that the
incorporation of the WER reduced the softening effect of the hot
sand on the sample, thereby endowing the sample with excellent
thermal stability.
4.1.3. Determination of WESE content
With the total water content of 13.4% by weight of the mineral
aggregate unchanged, fine-graded WESE slurry mixtures contain-
ing different amounts of WESE binder were prepared, and then dif-
ferent types of test samples were fabricated and subjected to
WTAT, LWT, dynamic water scouring test, and direct shear test
used for the analysis of bonding performance. The test results are
shown in Fig. 5, and the results are the average of three repeated
trials.
According to the specification of JTG F40-2004, the abrasion
value and the amount of adhered sand should not exceed the stan-
dard values of 800 g/cm2 and 540 g/cm2, and meanwhile the con-
tent of emulsion corresponding to the standard values are taken as
the lower limit and upper limit of the emulsion dosage, respec-
tively. Fig. 5 shows that the abrasion value and the amount of
adhered sand of each sample met the requirements of JTG F40-
2004. Furthermore, with the increase of the WESE content, the
abrasion value gradually decreased and the amount of adhered
sand tended to increase, which agrees well with the results
obtained by Ji [24]. With the increasing WESE content, the mass
loss rate after the dynamic water erosion decreased and the shear
strength increased. This shows that the increasing amount of WESE
improved both the dynamic water scouring resistance of the WESE
slurry seal itself and its bonding performance with the semi-rigid
base. In addition, as shown in Fig. 5, when the dosage of WESE
exceeded 13.5%, the improvement range of the WESE was gradu-
Solid content of WESE (%) Bitumen-aggregate ratio (%) Mixing time (s) Consistency
60.8 7.6 67 dry
104 Slightly dry
＞120 Moderate consistency
＞120 Thin consistency
＞120 Very thin consistency
6
Z. Zhang, J. Yang, Y. Fang et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121467

composing the consistent measurement matrix Rk. The calculation

formula of r(k) ij is shown in Eq. (6). In Eq. (6), the critical value u
(k) i0j0 of the objectives is {u(1) i0j0, u(2) i0j0, u(3) i0j0, u(4) i0j0, u(5)
i0j0} = {477, 495, 3, 0, 15}.
8 ðkÞ ðkÞ
>
>
ui uij
n o
>
>
0 j0
ði;j ¼ f1;2; 3; 4;5g; k ¼ f1;2; 3; 5gÞ
>
< uðkÞ min min
ðkÞ
uij
i j
k ðkÞ 0 0 i j
R ¼ ðrij Þ ¼
>
>
ðkÞ ðkÞ
uij ui j
>
> n 0o 0
ði;j ¼ f1;2; 3; 4;5g; k ¼ 4Þ
>
: max max uðkÞ uðkÞ
i j ij i0 j0

ð6Þ
k
By standardizing the objective sample value u(k) ij, the R was
established as follows.
Fig. 4. Change of abrasion value, amount of adhered sand, mass loss rate and shear
2 3
strength with WER dosage. 0:0011 0:3368 0:4458 0:8943 1
6 7
6 1 0:8360 0:4589 0:3625 0:0012 7
6 7
¼6 1 7
k ðkÞ
R ¼ ðr ij Þ 6 0:2222 0:3889 0:6667 0:9444 7
6 7
4 0:8023 0:8953 0:9651 0:9884 1 5
1 0:7736 0:5471 0:3205 0:0939
(3) The establishment of comprehensive measurement matrix R
and the evaluation of schemes
When establishing the R, the weight xi of each objective needs
to be determined first. Since there was no clear information for the
weight xi, it was established according to the entropy weight
method introduced in the previous literature [27]. The i-th objec-
tive entropy Hi and the weight xi were calculated according to
Eqs. (7) and (8), and the R was calculated according to Eq. (9).
( )
1 X 5 X5 X5
Hi ¼  ðrij = r ij Þ  lnðr ij = r ij Þ i
Fig. 5. Variation of abrasion value, amount of adhered sand, mass loss rate and ln5 j¼1 j¼1 j¼1
shear strength with WESE content.
¼ f1; 2; 3; 4; 5g ð7Þ

ally reduced in both the dynamic water scouring resistance and the X
5
bonding performance. xi ¼ ð1  Hi Þ=ð5  Hi Þ i ¼ f1; 2; 3; 4; 5g ð8Þ
In determining the WESE content, the service performance and i¼1

the cost of the slurry mixture should be taken into account. In

order to determine the optimal WESE content, a multi-objective R ¼ ðr ij Þ ¼ x  Rk ð9Þ
entropy weight grey target decision-making method was used.
After completing the calculations, the comprehensive measure-
The decision-making method can determine the optimal scheme
ment matrix R was established as R = (rij) = [0.5630 0.5975 0.5017
in consideration of the cost objectives, moderate objectives and
0.6099 0.4891]. It can be seen that all the rij are greater than 0,
benefit objectives [25,26]. In this analysis, the data set with five
which means that all the schemes hit the grey target. That is, the
WESE proportions (schemes) and five decision-making objectives
five schemes are reasonable and feasible. However, the fourth
was constructed first, as shown in Table 7. Next, objective sample
scheme exhibits the largest comprehensive measurement value
matrix Uk, consistent measurement matrix Rk and comprehensive
(0.6099). This indicates that the fourth scheme is the optimal
measurement matrix R were established. The element in matrix
one, namely that the WESE slurry mixture containing 13.5% WESE
R was taken as the evaluation index of the schemes; a higher ele-
binder achieves a higher performance-cost ratio. Therefore, the
ment value means a better scheme (i.e. a better WESE proportion).
content of WESE binder in the fine-graded WESE slurry mixture
(1) The establishment of objective sample matrix Uk
is determined to be 13.5%.
According to the data set shown in Table 7, the Uk was estab-
lished as shown below.
4.2. Evaluation of dynamic water scouring resistance of WESE slurry
2 3 seal
476:8 415:2 395:2 312:9 293:5
6 7
6 165:1 219:2 343:6 375:4 494:6 7 The dynamic water scouring test was conducted to evaluate the
6 7
U ¼ ðuij Þ ¼ 6 1:2 7
k ðkÞ
6 2:6 2:3 1:8 1:3 7 dynamic water scouring resistance of the WESE slurry seal. Three
6 7 gradations of WESE (the dosage of WER was 3%) slurry mixture
4 0:69 0:77 0:83 0:85 0:86 5
samples with a size of (15 cm  15 cm  1 cm) were first formed
10:560 11:565 12:571 13:577 14:583
as study group according to the dynamic water scouring test.
(2) The establishment of consistent measurement matrix Rk When forming the samples, following the design method in Sec-
(The standardization of Uk) tion 4.1 the water consumption of the medium- and coarse-
Since the different objectives have different meanings and graded slurry mixtures was 6.5% and 5.0%, respectively, and their
dimensions, often they cannot be directly compared. In order to WESE content was 12.5% and 11.5%, respectively. Then, the fine-
obtain comparable values, the objective sample value u(k) ij needs graded NE, SBRE and WERE slurry mixture samples with a size of
to be converted into the consistent measurement value r(k) ij, thus (15 cm  15 cm  1 cm) were fabricated as control group, in which
7
Z. Zhang, J. Yang, Y. Fang et al.
Table 7
Objective data for decision-making.
Performance index (Objective k) Unit Objective type
Abrasion value (k = 1) g/m2 Cost
Amount of adhered sand (k = 2) g/m2 Cost
Mass loss rate (k = 3) % Cost
Shear strength (k = 4) MPa Benefit
Cost (k = 5) yuan/m2 Cost
Note 1: the thickness of the slurry seal was 1 cm, and the amount of aggregate in the slurry seal was 21 kg/m2 (cement included).
Note 2: the cost of WESE was 4.789 yuan/kg.
Note 3: the cost objective means its value is expected to be small, and the benefit objective means its value is expected to be large.
for the comparison of dynamic water scouring resistance, the mix
proportions of these three kinds of slurry mixtures were all the
same as that of the WESE fine-graded slurry mixture. Thus, six
kinds of samples were obtained. After obtaining the samples, for
one kind of sample, it was subjected to dynamic water scouring
for 30 min, 60 min, 90 min, and 120 min according to the dynamic
water scouring test. After one scouring, the surface image of sam-
ples was obtained. There were four images of the samples after one
scouring. Fig. 6 shows the surface images of the different kinds of
samples scoured for 120 min (for one kind of sample, one of the
typical images was selected). In Fig. 6, the green irregular circles
selected by the IPP software represent the peeling areas. Also,
the average mass loss rate and peeling area of samples were calcu-
lated after one scouring, as shown in Fig. 7. Since the NE slurry seal
was scattered after it was scoured for 120 min, its surface image,
mass loss rate and peeling area were not obtained at the end of
the 120 min scouring test.
Fig. 6 shows that after dynamic water erosion of 120 min, a large
area of particles dropped from the surface of the SBRE slurry seal,
while fewer particles fell from the surface of the WERE slurry seal.
In comparison, there was almost no particle loss on the surface of
the WESE slurry seal. This shows that the WESE slurry seal had excel-
lent resistance to dynamic water erosion. In addition, it can be seen
from Fig. 7 that the WESE slurry seal shows a smaller mass loss rate
and peeling area under the various scouring times, compared to the
other slurry seals. After dynamic water scouring of 120 min, the
mass loss rate of the fine-graded WESE slurry seal was only 1.3%.
By contrast, after the same scouring time, the mass loss rate of the
SBRE slurry seal reached 24.5%, and the NE slurry seal was scattered.
Furthermore, the mass loss rate and peeling area of the WESE slurry
seal are clearly less sensitive to the scouring time, which further con-
firms that it possesses excellent resistance to dynamic water scour-
ing. In addition, after the same erosion time, the fine-graded WESE
slurry seal showed a smaller mass loss rate and a smaller peeling
area than the medium- and coarse-graded slurry seals. This indi-
cates that the fine-graded WESE slurry seal showed the best
dynamic water scouring resistance.
4.3. Analysis of bonding performance between WESE slurry seal and
semi-rigid base
As described in Section 3.4, the slurry seal served as under-seal
coat for rigid pavement should have a firm bonding with the semi-
rigid base. In this part of the experiments, the direct shear test was
employed to analyze the influence of several factors related to the
WESE slurry seal on the bonding performance between the two
layers, for recommending appropriate measures for the seal design
and construction.
4.3.1. Effect of seal gradation on bonding performance
Three aggregate gradations were selected for the direct shear
test, namely fine-, medium- and coarse-graded gradations. For
8
Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121467
WESE proportion (Scheme)
10.5 (1) 11.5 (2) 12.5 (3) 13.5 (4) 14.5 (5)
476.8 415.2 395.2 312.9 293.5
165.1 219.2 343.6 375.4 494.6
2.6 2.3 1.8 1.3 1.2
0.69 0.77 0.83 0.85 0.86
10.560 11.565 12.571 13.577 14.583
each, slurry mixtures containing either NE, SBRE, WERE or WESE
binder were prepared; for the comparison of bonding performance,
the mix proportions of NE, SBRE and WERE slurry seal mixtures
were all the same as that of the WESE slurry seal mixture of the
corresponding gradation. Then, according to the direct shear test,
the cylindrical sandwich sample was formed and subjected to hor-
izontal shear. With regard to the preparation of the samples, the
curing temperature and the forming temperature were 40 °C and
20 °C, respectively, and the curing time was 48 h in the paving of
the slurry seal. Fig. 8 shows the results of the direct shear test.
Fig. 8 shows that among the slurry seals with the same aggre-
gate gradation, the maximum shear strength was attained between
the WESE slurry seal and the semi-rigid base, indicating that the
WESE slurry seal showed optimal bonding performance with the
semi-rigid base. This is mainly attributable to the good adhesion
of WER to other materials [19,28,29]. Moreover, among the slurry
seals with the same binder, the shear strengths between the slurry
seals and the semi-rigid base were ranked as fine-graded
seal>medium-graded seal>coarse-graded seal. This indicates that
compared to the medium- and coarse-graded seals, the fine-
graded seal had the best bonding performance with the semi-
rigid base; the reason may be the optimal consistency of the
fine-graded slurry mixture, which enables the slurry to more easily
enter the voids on the surface of the semi-rigid base while con-
structing, thus forming a greater anchoring force with the semi-
rigid base.
4.3.2. Effect of forming temperature on bonding performance
The fine-graded slurry seal was chosen for this part of the direct
shear test. First, cylindrical sandwich samples were fabricated, in
which the slurry seals were formed at different temperatures
(10 °C, 20 °C, 30 °C, 40 °C), and cured for 48 h at 40 °C. After that,
the samples were subjected to the direct shear test. The test results
are shown in Fig. 9.
As shown in Fig. 9, at all forming temperatures an obviously lar-
ger shear strength appeared between the WESE slurry seal and the
semi-rigid base. That is, the WESE slurry seal showed the best
bonding performance with the semi-rigid base at different forming
temperatures. Meanwhile, for all slurry seals the shear strength
first increased and then decreased with the increasing forming
temperature, and the maximum shear strength all occurred at
the forming temperature of 20 °C. The variation of shear strength
can be explained as follows. At lower forming temperature, the
emulsion showed a relatively larger viscosity and thus it might
not completely spread on the surface of the semi-rigid base when
rolling the slurry mixture (the standard viscosity of just-prepared
NE, SBRE and WERE at different temperatures is listed in Table 2.
The standard viscosity of just-prepared WESE at 10 °C, 20 °C,
30 °C and 40 °C was measured to be 31 s, 25 s, 19 s and 26 s,
respectively). As a result, the actual bonding contact area was
reduced, which thus reduced the bonding strength between the
slurry seal and the semi-rigid base [30]. However, the higher form-
Z. Zhang, J. Yang, Y. Fang et al.
Fig. 6. Surface images of different types of samples scoured for 120 min.
ing temperatures accelerated the breaking of the emulsion. This
means that the amount of asphalt emulsion bonding material
was reduced, and the reduction negatively affected the bonding
performance between the two layers. Since the WESE slurry seal
formed at 20 °C showed the best bonding performance with the
semi-rigid base, it is suggested that its forming temperature should
be 20 °C.
9
Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121467
4.3.3. Effect of curing temperature on bonding performance
The fine-graded slurry seal was selected to analyze the influ-
ence of the curing temperature on the bonding performance, to
determine the appropriate curing temperature. Following the
direct shear test, the cylindrical sandwich samples were first pre-
pared. The slurry seals were formed at 20 °C, cured at 5 °C, 10 °C,
20 °C, 30 °C and 40 °C for 48 h. After that, the samples were
Z. Zhang, J. Yang, Y. Fang et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121467

Fig. 7. Changes of mass loss rate and peeling area with different scouring time.

Fig. 8. Shear strengths between slurry seals with different gradations and the semi-
rigid base.
subjected to the direct shear test. Fig. 10 shows the shear strengths
between fine-graded slurry seals cured at different temperatures
and the semi-rigid base.
As shown in Fig. 10, at all curing temperatures the maximum
shear strength occurred between the WESE slurry seal and the
semi-rigid base, indicating that the WESE slurry seal showed the
optimal bonding performance. When the curing temperature was
less than 10 °C, the shear strength between the WESE slurry seal
and the semi-rigid base was lower than that at the other tempera-
tures. Also, the shear strength between the WERE slurry seal and
the semi-rigid base showed a similar pattern. These may be
because the lower temperature was against the curing of WER,
and thus hindered the formation of the interlayer bonding perfor-
mance. Besides, in the temperature range from 10 °C to 40 °C, the
range of shear strengths between NE, SBRE, WERE, WESE and the
semi-rigid base was 0.03, 0.02, 0.02 and 0.02, respectively. This
indicates that when the curing temperature exceeded 10 °C, it
had little effect on the interlayer bonding performance. In sum-
mary, when the curing temperature of the WESE slurry seal was
lower than 10 °C, it had an adverse influence on the bonding per-
formance between the WESE slurry seal and the semi-rigid base.

Fig. 9. Shear strengths between slurry seals formed at different temperatures and Fig. 10. Shear strengths between slurry seals cured at different temperatures and
the semi-rigid base. the semi-rigid base.

10
Z. Zhang, J. Yang, Y. Fang et al. Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121467

Therefore, the curing temperature of the WESE slurry seal should 4.4. Evaluation of isolation effect of WESE slurry seal
not be lower than 10 °C.
The dynamic water scouring resistance and bonding perfor-
mance of the WESE slurry seal were analyzed and evaluated in
4.3.4. Analysis of variance test the above tests. In addition to water stability and bonding perfor-
For a better understanding of the influence of the above factors mance, the under-seal coat of rigid pavement should also have a
on the bonding performance, a one-way analysis of variance (one- good isolation effect as mentioned above, namely it should effec-
way ANOVA) was implemented to make statistical comparison. tively reduce the interlayer adhesion and friction caused by
The one-way ANOVA test can determine whether one factor has directly laying the rigid pavement slab on the semi-rigid base to
a significant effect on the test results [31,32]. In this test, the seal facilitate the expansion and shrinkage of rigid pavement slab under
gradation, forming temperature and curing temperature were the the action of temperature stress. Hence, the isolation effect of the
independent variables, and the shear strength was the dependent under-seal coat should be evaluated.
variable. SPSS software was employed to perform the one-way In order to assess the isolation effect of the WESE slurry seal,
ANOVA test, and the significance level was 95% (i.e. a = 0.05). other under-seal coats used in rigid pavement such as chip seal
Table 8 presents the one-way ANOVA results. and asphalt mixture seal were also chosen and evaluated at the
According to the principle of one-way ANOVA, when the F- same condition for comparison. The isolation effect of the WESE
statistic is higher than or equal to the F-critical value, or the p- slurry seal was assessed according to the direct shear test. First,
value is less than or equal to 0.05, the factor has a notable impact cylindrical sandwich samples with 1 cm thick WESE slurry seal (in-
on the test results [33]. As can be seen in Table 8, the seal gradation cluding the three aggregate gradations) and 1 cm thick chip seal as
and the forming temperature had remarkable effects on the bond- the sandwiched layer were prepared. Also, cylindrical samples con-
ing performance between each type of seal and the semi-rigid base, sisting of a 5 cm thick semi-rigid base and a 5 cm thick cement
and the curing temperature had a striking impact on the bonding concrete layer as well as cylindrical samples consisting of a 5 cm
performance of the WERE and WESE slurry seals to the semi- asphalt concrete seal and a 5 cm thick cement concrete layer were
rigid base. fabricated. Then, the direct shear test was conducted on these sam-
In order to further analyze the influence of the different levels of ples to determine the shear strength between the seals and the
each factor on the interlayer bonding performance, Bonferroni cement concrete layer. Fig. 11 shows the shear strengths between
multiple comparison was performed on the mean data of the shear different types of seals and cement concrete layer.
strength. Bonferroni comparison is a post-ANOVA analysis method A smaller shear strength between the seal and the cement con-
that can determine whether there are differences between the test crete layer means the seal has a better isolation effect. Fig. 11
results corresponding to different levels of one factor. It is worth shows that compared to the shear strength between the semi-
noting that it only makes sense to conduct this Bonferroni compar- rigid base and the cement concrete layer, there is a smaller shear
ison on test data that have a significant difference from the one- strength between the WESE slurry seal, the asphalt concrete seal
way ANOVA [31,34]. For the WESE slurry seal, SPSS software was and the cement concrete layers. This indicates that both the WESE
employed to make the Bonferroni comparison at the 95% signifi-
cance level. The results indicate that there was a statistical differ-
ence in the shear strength between the WESE slurry seal with
different types of aggregate gradations and the semi-rigid base.
That is, the change of seal gradation will bring about a change in
the interlayer bonding performance. Moreover, when comparing
the shear strength between the forming temperature of 20 °C
and other forming temperatures, the differences were statistically
different, which means that the bonding performance of the WESE
slurry seal formed at 20 °C is notably different from that of the
WESE slurry seals formed at other temperatures. In addition, when
comparing the shear strength at the curing temperatures of 10 °C,
20 °C, 30 °C and 40 °C, there was no statistical difference among
them. Namely, when the curing temperature is higher than 10 °C,
increasing it will not cause a significant variation of the interlam-
inar bonding performance. This means that when the WESE slurry
seal is prepared, it can be cured at any of these four temperatures.
In summary, the seal gradation, the forming temperature and
the curing temperature had a marked impact on the bonding per-
formance between the WESE slurry seal and the semi-rigid base. In
order to optimize the bonding performance between the layers, it
is recommended to use the fine-graded aggregate for the design of
WESE slurry seal. Moreover, it is suggested that the WESE slurry Fig. 11. Shear strengths between different types of seals and the cement concrete
seal should be formed at 20 °C and cured at no lower than 10 °C. layer.

Table 8
One-way ANOVA results of shear strengths between slurry seals and the semi-rigid base.

Independent variable NE slurry seal SBRE slurry seal WERE slurry seal WESE slurry seal F-critical
F-statistic p-value F-statistic p-value F-statistic p-value F-statistic p-value
Seal gradation 65.154 0.000 223.000 0.000 165.941 0.000 213.909 0.000 5.14
Forming temperature 12.267 0.002 27.000 0.000 86.000 0.000 90.278 0.000 4.07
Curing temperature 2.071 0.160 1.676 0.231 41.184 0.000 69.600 0.000 3.48

11
Z. Zhang, J. Yang, Y. Fang et al.
slurry seal and the asphalt concrete seal exhibited the isolation
effect. However, the shear strength between the chip seal and
the cement concrete layer was far larger than that between the
semi-rigid base and the cement concrete layer, so the chip seal
did not have the isolation function. This may result from the fact
that the chip seal was composed of a single size of aggregate par-
ticles and the aggregate particles became part of the cement con-
crete layer, thus resulting in higher shear strength between the
chip seal and the cement concrete layer.
In addition, compared to the shear strength between the semi-
rigid base and the cement concrete layer, the shear strength
between the fine-graded WESE seal, the medium-graded WESE seal,
the coarse-graded WESE seal, the asphalt concrete seal and the
cement concrete layer decreased by 47.1%, 38.6%, 32.1% and 16.4%,
respectively. This shows that the WESE slurry seal had an excellent
isolation effect, especially the fine-graded WESE slurry seal. The
fine-graded WESE slurry seal reduced the shear strength between
the semi-rigid base and the cement concrete layer by nearly 50%.
The reason for the minimum shear strength between the fine-
graded WESE slurry seal and the cement concrete layer can be
explained as follows. According to the theory of Mohr-Coulomb,
the direct shear strength is determined by the adhesion provided
by the adhesive material and the interlayer friction resistance [35].
Because the fine-graded WESE slurry seal showed a smaller surface
texture, there would be less interlayer friction resistance when
sheared after the fresh cement concrete was poured and hardened.
Thus, the minimum shear strength occurred between them.
4.5. Cost benefit analysis of WESE slurry seal
Pavement performance and cost benefit of materials are the key
factors that should be considered in the pavement construction.
According to above analysis, the fine-graded WESE slurry seal
exhibited excellent dynamic water erosion resistance, bonding
performance and isolation effect. In this part, the cost benefit of
the fine-graded WESE slurry seal was analyzed to provide a refer-
ence for the builders or decision-makers. To analyze the cost of the
fine-graded WESE slurry seal, the fine-graded NE, SBRE and WERE
slurry seals were selected for comparison. At present, the market
prices of the main raw materials of neat asphalt, SBR latex modi-
fier, WER modifier, and the curing agent are 3500, 16,500,
21,000, 21,000 yuan/t, respectively. Thus, at the optimal content
mentioned earlier of each modifier, the costs for the NE, SBRE,
WERE and WESE with the materials costs and electricity expenses
taken into account were calculated to be 3181, 3676, 4322 and
4789 yuan/t, respectively, when prepared in the laboratory. Fur-
ther, the production costs of these four fine-graded slurry seals
were calculated. Table 9 shows the production cost of fine-
graded WESE slurry seal per square meter.
According to Table 9, the cost of fine-graded WESE slurry seal
per square meter is 17.309 yuan. Following the same calculation
method, the production costs of fine-graded NE, SBRE and WERE
slurry seals per square meter was calculated to be 12.750, 14.153
and 15.985 yuan, respectively. Thus, the production cost of fine-
graded WESE slurry seal reaches 129,817.5 yuan when it is paved
a two-lane road for one kilometer (each lane is 3.75 m wide),
which will increase by 34,192.5 yuan compared to fine-graded
Table 9
Production cost of fine-graded WESE slurry seal per square meter.
Component material Dosage (kg/m2)
WESE 2.835
Aggregate 20.790
Cement 0.210
Added water 1.785
Construction and Building Materials 270 (2021) 121467
NE slurry seal, 23,670 yuan compared to fine-graded SBRE slurry
seal, and 9930 yuan compared to fine-graded WERE slurry seal.
However, considering the life cycle performance, the economic
benefit of WESE slurry seal should be optimistic. Firstly, compared
to the conventional slurry seal, WESE slurry seal exhibited afore-
mentioned excellent pavement performance, which can effectively
reduce the pumping, corner fractures and slab cracks distresses,
thereby saving the cost of daily maintenance and rehabilitation
of rigid pavement, and prolonging the service life of rigid pave-
ment. Secondly, the application of WESE slurry seal can be effective
in improving the operation condition of rigid pavement and ensur-
ing the driving safety of vehicles due to the reduction of distresses,
which demonstrates a good social benefit.
Therefore, the production cost of WESE slurry seal is relatively
higher than the conventional slurry seal in the early stage, but in
the long term, it should show considerable intangible economic
and social benefits.
5. Summary and conclusions
The work done in this paper aims to design a WESE slurry seal
according to its practical performance requirements as under-seal
coat of rigid pavement, and to comprehensively evaluate its
dynamic water erosion resistance, bonding performance with
semi-rigid base and isolation effect. From this study the main con-
clusions are generalized as follows.
(1) The water consumption of the fine-graded WESE slurry mix-
ture was determined through the mixing test. It was found
that 8.5% of water consumption (by weight of mineral aggre-
gate) makes this graded slurry mixture meet construction
demands.
(2) The optimal content of WER modifier in the WESE binder
was determined via a series of tests. Results show that the
use of WER modifier enhances the service performance of
the slurry seal as it decreased the mass loss rate and
increased the shear strength, and that 3% of WER (by weight
of WESE binder) exhibits a higher performance-content
ratio.
(3) The optimal content of WESE binder in the fine-graded
WESE slurry mixture was also determined via performing
the same tests coupled with multi-objective optimization
algorithm. Results indicate that 13.5% of WESE content (by
weight of mineral aggregate) enables this graded slurry mix-
ture to achieve higher service performance and lower cost.
(4) The dynamic water erosion resistance of the WESE slurry
seal was evaluated by the dynamic water scouring test. It
was found that the WESE slurry seal shows the best dynamic
water scouring resistance as indicated by minimum mass
loss rate compared to the NE, SBRE and WERE slurry seals.
Moreover, the fine-graded WESE slurry seal was found to
show the dynamic water stability superior to those of the
medium- and coarse-graded slurry seals.
(5) The bonding performance and isolation effect of the WESE
slurry seal were estimated by the direct shear test. The
WESE slurry seal was found to have the best bonding perfor-
Unit price (yuan/t) Cost (yuan/m2) Total cost (yuan/m2)
4789 13.577 17.309
170 3.534
900 0.189
5 0.009
12
Z. Zhang, J. Yang, Y. Fang et al.
mance (i.e. maximum shear strength) with the semi-rigid
base under all test conditions compared to the NE, SBRE
and WERE slurry seals. The bonding performance is remark-
ably affected by seal gradation, forming temperature and
curing temperature; the fine-graded WESE slurry seal that
is formed at 20 °C and cured at no lower than 10 °C shows
the best bonding performance. With regard to the isolation
effect, the WESE slurry seal, especially the fine-graded WESE
slurry seal, was found to have the better isolation effect
compared to the asphalt concrete seal, because there exists
the lower shear strength between the WESE slurry seal
and the cement concrete layer.
From this study, through the laboratory test it has been success-
fully corroborated that the WESE slurry seal shows the best service
performance of dynamic water erosion resistance, bonding perfor-
mance and isolation effect, compared to the conventional slurry
seal. Thus, it can be used as the under-seal coat of rigid pavement
to effectively reduce pumping, corner fractures and slab cracks.
Further research should be undertaken to verify the service perfor-
mance of the WESE slurry seal via developing sound numerical
model, conducting full-scale tests or paving test roads. In addition,
the WER itself is brittle after curing, thus the application of WESE
slurry seal in low temperature regions may be limited. The low-
temperature performance of WESE slurry seal should also be inves-
tigated to enlarge its application range in the future studies.
6. Recommendation for practitioners
As stated above, the fine-graded WESE slurry seal shows the
best dynamic water erosion performance, bonding performance
with semi-rigid base and isolation effect. Therefore, it is recom-
mended as the under-seal coat of rigid pavement in practical engi-
neering construction. In addition, the fine-graded WESE slurry seal
should be constructed at the mixing and paving temperature of
20 °C, and at the curing temperature of no lower than 10 °C, to
guarantee a good bonding performance.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Zhengqi Zhang: Funding acquisition, Writing - review &
editing. Jianhua Yang: Data curation, Methodology, Formal analy-
sis, Software, Writing - original draft. Ying Fang: Investigation,
Supervision. Yaofei Luo: Investigation, Supervision.
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 research has been funded by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (Grant No. 211021180360) and the Research
Project of Shaanxi Provincial Department of Transportation (Grant
No. 214021150104). The authors gratefully acknowledge this
financial support and thank AiMi Academic Services (www.aimied-
itor.com.cn) for English language editing and review services.
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