Tube Suction Test to Measure Moisture Susceptibility of Australian Pavements

Abstract

Moisture ingress is a primary catalyst for pavement damage and plays a key role in the performance of pavement materials in service. Moisture intrusion eventuates to early development of deficiencies (potholes) due to “pumping” effects and reduced effective strength of the pavement. Cement stabilisation is one of the preventive measures that are applied to minimise moisture ingress into pavements. This study utilises the Tube Suction Test (TST), developed by Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), to assess its robustness as an engineering tool to measure moisture ingress and to determine the relationship between water ingress and cement content. The TST is a non-destructive testing method that measures the dielectric value (DV) of materials which is a measure of the moisture content. Mixes ranging from 1% to 6% cement content by mass are tested. The results allow the determination of a DV tangent which potentially characterises the moisture susceptibility of stabilised material. Results also show that a marked improvement in moisture susceptibility is achieved with 3% cement content. Preliminary results obtained from this study shows that TST may have the potential for industrial application but will require further investigations.