Brucite powder: a potential additive to improve the road performance of recycled base materials

Recycled base materials are of great significance in road construction, and brucite powder, as a potential additive, has a significant impact on its road performance that cannot be ignored.

1. Positive role in mechanical properties

Unconfined compressive strength

By increasing the amount of brucite powder, the unconfined compressive strength of the recycled base material can be significantly improved. This means that recycled base materials containing brucite powder are less likely to be crushed when the road is put under pressure and can better support the road structure.

Flexural tensile strength

The addition of brucite powder can enhance the flexural and tensile strength of the material. Especially when the dosage is less than 4%, this growth trend is more obvious. During road use, the increase in bending and tensile strength helps prevent damage such as bending cracks on the road surface.

Splitting strength

Similar to the flexural and tensile strength, the splitting strength also increases with the increase of brucite powder content. This improvement effect is significant at low content. This suggests that brucite powder can make recycled base materials more resistant to splitting forces.

2. Effective improvement of shrinkage performance

Drying shrinkage performance

Brucite powder is incorporated into the recycled base material to help reduce drying shrinkage and deformation. In a dry environment, this can effectively prevent the recycled base material from excessive shrinkage due to water loss, thereby avoiding problems such as cracks in the road surface.

Thermal shrinkage performance

Regarding the temperature shrinkage properties, brucite powder also shows good improvement effects. It can reduce the shrinkage stress of materials caused by temperature changes, making recycled base materials more stable in different temperature environments and reducing the damage to roads caused by temperature changes.

3. Other performance impacts

Anti-freeze properties

Although the current search results do not directly indicate the impact of brucite powder on the frost resistance of recycled base materials, we know that the addition of fibers can usually improve the frost resistance of materials because fibers can limit crack propagation. While brucite powder improves other properties, it may also have a potential positive impact on the frost resistance of the material.

Wear resistance

The addition of brucite powder may indirectly improve the wear resistance of recycled base materials, but its specific impact requires further in-depth study. But this potential improvement also provides more research value for the application of brucite powder in recycled base materials.

The incorporation of brucite powder has a positive impact on the mechanical properties and shrinkage properties of recycled base materials, and has great potential to be used as an effective additive to improve the road performance of recycled base materials.