This investigation assessed the sensitivity of Mechanistic–Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) outcomes to normalized axle load spectra representing various loading conditions observed in the Specific Pavement Studies Transportation Pooled Fund Study of the Long-Term Pavement Performance program. The goal was to determine what vehicle classes and axle types with a wide range of axle loading conditions are likely to cause differences in pavement design outcomes when the MEPDG is used. Significant differences found in the MEPDG outcomes support the need for characterization of axle loading beyond a single default value for heavy trucks that dominate vehicle class distributions, especially for Class 9 trucks. The absence of differences for lightweight and under-represented trucks indicates that load spectra from various sites could be combined to develop a single default for some vehicle classes and axle types. The effect of bias in weigh-in-motion (WIM) axle weight measurements on the normalized axle load spectra estimates and the associated MEPDG outcomes was also investigated. It was found that drift in WIM system calibration leading to a more than 5% bias in mean error between true and WIM-measured axle weight could lead to significant differences in MEPDG design outcomes. These results were used to develop recommendations for creating axle loading defaults for the MEPDG.


    Access

    Download

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Impact of Various Trucks on Pavement Design and Analysis


    Subtitle :

    Mechanistic–Empirical Pavement Design Guide Sensitivity Study with Truck Weight Data


    Additional title:

    Transportation Research Record


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    2013-01-01




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English