Axle Load Spectra Characterization by Mixed Distribution Modeling
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VIEW THE REPLYPublication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 131, Issue 2
Abstract
Traffic comprises a primary input to any pavement design methodology. As pavement design evolves from traditional empirically based methods toward mechanistic-empirical (M-E), there will be a greater emphasis placed on accurate characterization of the distributions of axle loads, because they are entered directly into pavement response models. Known as load spectra, these distributions of axle weight are often complex and not well represented by individual theoretical statistical distributions. This research proposes a mixed distribution model of two or more theoretical distributions to accurately characterize axle load spectra. This paper details the model development and demonstrates its predictive capability using weigh-in-motion data from 13 sites in Alabama. The data show the predictive capability of the mixed distribution model through high values, exceeding 0.96 in all cases. The typical axle load distribution in Alabama is comprised of a combination of lognormal and normal distributions.
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Acknowledgments
The writers wish to acknowledge the Alabama Department of Transportation and the Auburn University Highway Research Center for their cooperation and support of this research.
References
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 131 • Issue 2 • February 2005
Pages: 83 - 88
Copyright
© 2005 ASCE.
History
Received: Jul 1, 2003
Accepted: Feb 24, 2004
Published online: Feb 1, 2005
Published in print: Feb 2005
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