Assessment of moisture distribution in a pre-cracked asphalt concrete pavement based on finite element method

Abstract

This present study assesses the moisture distribution in a pre-cracked asphalt concrete pavement during a short-term rain event based on finite element method. The asphalt concrete pavements whose three different moisture diffusion coefficients for the base layers were evaluated. Based on the findings, it was concluded that as the period of the rain event increased, moisture diffused more in the pre-crack and was suffused in a larger area. Also, the moisture saturation in the pre-crack increased as the moisture diffusion coefficient increased. This study proposed a model that can estimate effectively the moisture distribution in a pre-cracked asphalt concrete pavement. In the future, further research should be carried out to observe the moisture distribution in a pre-cracked asphalt concrete pavement under various conditions such as temperature, freeze/thaw cycle, and traffic load.