An Erosion Test to Evaluate Moisture Damage of Cement-Treated Base under Dynamic Water Pressure

Abstract

Abstract Different kinds of testing methods were used in recent studies to evaluate the moisture damage of a cement-treated base. However, these methods were based on the condition of static water, without considering the effect of dynamic water pressure and stress conditions in the pavement, which could not truly reflect the moisture damage process of the pavement base. This study presents details of a new method of evaluating the moisture damage of a cement-treated macadam under dynamic water pressure. Specimens with different curing times (7 d, 14 d, and 28 d) were scoured by means of a self-designed dynamic water scouring system, and the compressive strength was tested after scouring. The results show that most of the damage caused by scouring occurs in the early stage (less than 10 min), which accounts for more than 80 % of the total damage. Although the scouring damage continues in the later period (10∼40 min), the damage process is relatively slow. The results of the compressive test show that both the strength loss and strength loss rate of specimens at 28 d are much smaller than that of 14 d and 7 d. Results reveal that the curing time of the specimens has an essential influence on the scouring resistance.