Modeling of Moisture Loss in Cementitiously Stabilized Pavement Materials

Abstract

The paper presents a theoretical and experimental approach for the modeling of moisture loss during the drying of cementitiously stabilized pavement materials containing varying contents of fine-grained soil. The process of moisture loss was characterized by the isotropic nonlinear diffusion theory. Laboratory tests were undertaken using general purpose Portland cement and two binders comprising industrial waste products. Measurement of material characteristics included the coefficient of moisture diffusivity and the humidity isotherm. Locally available basaltic crushed rocks and clay were respectively used as the host pavement material and fine-grained soil. Independent laboratory tests were undertaken to validate the adopted theoretical approach, which showed close agreement between the experimental and predicted results. The laboratory results indicated that moisture loss decreased with the inclusion of clay soil within the mix. As the drying progressed, the rate of moisture loss became slower, which can be explained by the reduction in the coefficient of moisture diffusivity with the decrease of moisture content.