Development of local calibration factors and design criteria values for mechanistic-empirical pavement design.

PDFTech ReportFHWA/VCTIR 16-R1105200Mechanistic-empirical pavement designMix designAsphalt pavementsReinforced concrete pavementsCalibrationPavement management systemsPavement performancePavement distressVirginiaVirginia Center for Transportation Innovation and ResearchSmith, BryanNair, HarikrishnanVirginia Center for Transportation Innovation and ResearchUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationVirginia. Dept. of TransportationUS Transportation CollectionA mechanistic-empirical (ME) pavement design procedure allows for analyzing and selecting pavement structures basedon predicted distress progression resulting from stresses and strains within the pavement over its design life. The VirginiaDepartment of Transportation (VDOT) has been working toward implementing ME design by characterizing traffic and materialsinputs, training with the models and design software, and analyzing current pavement designs in AASHTOware Pavement MEDesign software.This study compared the measured performance of asphalt and continuously reinforced concrete pavements (CRCP)from VDOT\ue2\u20ac\u2122s Pavement Management System (PMS) records to the predicted performance in AASHTOware Pavement MEDesign. Model coefficients in the software were adjusted to match the predicted asphalt pavement permanent deformation,asphalt bottom-up fatigue cracking, and CRCP punchout outputs to the measured values from PMS records. Values for reliability,design life inputs, and distress limits were identified as a starting point for VDOT to consider when using AASHTOwarePavement ME Design through consideration of national guidelines, existing VDOT standards, PMS rating formulas, typicalpavement performance at time of overlay, and the data used for local calibration.The model calibration coefficients and design requirement values recommended in this study can be used by VDOT withAASHTOware Pavement ME Design as a starting point to implement the software for design, which should allow for moreoptimized pavement structures and improve the long-term performance of pavements in Virginia