The detrimental impact of the intrusion of moisture into base and subgrade layers of pavements is well quantified based on the laboratory tests. This impact is also documented in a number of field studies. However, due to the construction variability and limitations of the instrumentation and test devices, the field trends contain some scatter. A series of well-controlled tests were carried out on small-scale specimens (1 m in diameter) to quantify the impact of moisture on one base and two types of subgrade. To achieve this goal, a new test set up was designed and used. To determine how realistic the outcome from these experiments was, the results were compared with those from two full-scale test sections made from the same materials. The results from the small-scale and full-scale tests were compared with those from a number of numerical models. Based on this study, the small-scale tests can lead to similar outcomes much faster and with enormously less cost in comparison to field tests. The trends from the numerical models are somewhat similar to the experimental results; however, a transfer function is needed to match the two.
Abstract