The discrete element method (DEM) is one of the most popular methods used to study the performance of pavement materials. However, few studies use the DEM to evaluation the damage performance of asphalt overlays on cement pavements. This paper focuses on the establishment of discrete element models to simulate the reflective crack development of asphalt overlays on cement pavement. Three contact models are selected to realise the pavement structure layer. The results show that under flexural tensile loading and shear loading, the development of reflective cracks can be inhibited with increasing asphalt overlay thickness, while the influence of the interlayer bond strength on the crack development is not obvious. In addition, the flexural tensile load can promote the development of cracks more than shear load. Under the action of thermal fatigue stress, the opening degree of crack displacement increases with the fatigue stress ratio, while the increase in interlayer bond strength can slow down the development and expansion of cracks. Moreover, thermal fatigue stress causes reflective cracks in the overlay to develop earlier and faster.

The inefficient regeneration of epoxy asphalt is an increasingly serious problem that has greatly restricted its application and development. To alleviate this severe difficulty, recyclable epoxy asphalt has been designed on the basis of the reversibility of dynamic covalent bonds, taking into consideration its nonrenewable characteristics. The synthesis strategy and basic validation of recyclable epoxy asphalt were therefore preliminarily implemented in this study. According to the screening of reversible covalent bond-forming reactions (Diels–Alder reaction), the design scheme of recyclable epoxy asphalt was first proposed. Then the preparation and regeneration processes of recyclable epoxy asphalt were designed and adjusted to give a series of optimal solutions. Finally, samples of recyclable epoxy asphalt and conventional epoxy asphalt were analyzed and tested microscopically before and after regeneration. In comparison with conventional epoxy asphalt, recyclable epoxy asphalt exhibited outstanding sustainability and damping characteristics. Moreover, the damping characteristics of recyclable epoxy asphalt after regeneration were still better than those of conventional epoxy asphalt, which indicated that recyclable epoxy asphalt displayed promising performance. According to the regeneration efficiency, it can be concluded that recyclable epoxy asphalt was successfully prepared. However, mechanical properties of recyclable epoxy asphalt still need to be optimized from the perspective of the proportions of materials.