Abstract
Moisture presence in asphalt concrete (AC) pavement is a major cause of damage to the pavement. In recent decades, an increasing need exists for non-destructive detection and monitoring of the moisture content in AC pavement. This paper provides a simulated approach to quantify the effect of internal moisture content on AC pavement dielectric properties using ground-penetrating radar (GPR). A heterogeneous numerical model was developed to simulate AC pavement with internal moisture at various saturation levels. The numerical model was validated using GPR surveys on cold-in-place recycling treated pavements. An empirical formula was derived from the simulation to correlate the dielectric constant with the moisture content for non-dry AC pavement. The results validated the proposed model and, hence, demonstrated the ability of GPR to monitor moisture variation in AC pavements.
Highlights
Illinois Center for Transportation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Rantoul, IL 61866, USA; Citation: Cao, Q.; Al-Qadi, I.L
The developed simulation hasused a great potential for analyzing compacted pavement the nonuniformly distributed moisture content
A database of available aggregate can be generated analyzed by implementing a numerical approach
Summary
One of the most influential factors contributing to the deterioration of asphalt concrete (AC) pavements is moisture within the pavement structure [1,2]. Two methods—coring and nuclear gauge—are traditionally used to measure the moisture content of pavement [6,7]. The measurement accuracy of the moisture content by the nuclear gauge was affected by the asphalt content of the pavement [1]; it has not been commonly used for this application. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR), on the other hand, has a potential for such application It is a non-destructive testing method based on the propagation and reflection of electromagnetic (EM) waves. A relatively small increase in moisture content ture content could alter the bulk dielectric constant of AC materials.
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