Top-Down Cracking under Beta Testing

The integration of the NCHRP 1-52 top-down cracking model into PMED has been completed, along with the alpha testing and verifying the computational methodology. This feature/enhancement has been a high priority of the AASHTOWare PMED Task Force for years, and it will come to fruition shortly. Dr. Robert L. Lytton, with the Texas Transportation Institute, was the Principal Investigator for NCHPR 1-52. The beta testing will be completed by the end of February, and version 2.6 will be released in early March. We want to thank those that have volunteered to be beta testers. Others that wish to participate in the beta testing should contact Chad Becker or Wouter Brink in the ARA Champaign office.

“For those users concerned about the need to recalibrate the bottom-up fatigue cracking transfer function associated with this enhancement, analyses of the TDC module suggests that recalibration of the bottom-up fatigue cracking transfer function is NOT required. However, it is good practice to verify calibration settings, especially if an agency completed a local calibration of the bottom-up cracking module and roadway segments included in the bottom-up cracking dataset were found to exhibit top-down cracking..