SIMULATION OF DYNAMIC LOADS FROM DIFFERENT VEHICLE CONFIGURATIONS

This paper presents the findings of a two-year study funded through the Midwest Transportation Center and the Iowa Department of Transportation that focused on the determination of appropriate design standards for commercial highway networks. The research project developed a procedure for estimating the effects of heavy axle loads and alternative multiple trailer configurations on existing pavement designs. This paper summarizes the work dealing with the estimates of dynamic vehicle loads for two different truck types. Dynamic load coefficients are compared for different parameters such as pavement roughnesses, truck speeds, payload, and wheelbase.