Gaussian Copula Simulation Model For Pavement Fatigue Cracking Prediction Based On Cumulative Damage Using Miner's Law

Abstract

This article offers a new model for characterizing fatigue cracking distribution under mixed traffic loading. Using Gaussian copula, the researcher modelled the joint distribution of the allowable load repetitions and the cumulative mixed traffic loading, in order to estimate the percentage of fatigue cracking. The results of the simulation study using the proposed copula-based model is compared to the popular fatigue cracking models, and the results revealed that copula approach is quite appropriate for predicting the fatigue cracking. The proposed model is considering long-range traffic loading as renewal operation and using the fatigue equation to characterize the distribution of allowable number of traffic load repetitions.