Components of Mechanistic-Empirical Design Method

The following figure illustrates the M-E simulation process, which essentially takes climate, material, structure, and traffic inputs and predicts the how various distresses accumulates over time.

The figure suggests several critical components of a mechanistic-empirical simulation process:

•Response models: predict pavement responses based on converts climate, material, structure and traffic inputs

•Damage models: predict damage accumulations based on pavement responses inputs

•Transfer functions: predicts pavement distress accumulations based on damage inputs

These components will be explained further in the following subsections.