Calibration of Distress Models from the Mechanistic–Empirical Pavement Design Guide for Rigid Pavement Design in Argentina

This paper presents the main results of a calibration of distress models from the Mechanistic–Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) to local conditions in Argentina to be used in rigid pavement structural design. Test sections with rigid pavements were selected to cover a wide range of climatic conditions in the central region of the country. Local road agencies provided information about pavement structure, traffic volume, and load spectra. Field distress data and international roughness index (IRI) values were collected and processed with MEPDG software; calibration factors were determined for the different distress models of rigid pavements. The accuracy of distress prediction was significantly improved if calibration factors that considered additional influence of climatic conditions, soil and base type, slab length, and pavement age were incorporated into the transverse joint-faulting and transverse-cracking models. Through the use of calibrated factors instead of default values provided in MEPDG models, the errors in distress predictions were reduced by more than one-half in all cases. Construction procedures seemed to influence the IRI roughness prediction. Better calibration results were obtained if different after-construction IRI values were considered for pavements constructed before and after the 1990s to reflect the difference between older and newer constructive techniques.