Climate zoning of asphalt pavement based on spatial interpolation and Fuzzy C-Means algorithm

ABSTRACT

Natural conditions tend to affect the performance of the asphalt pavement. Climatic factors must be taken into account in the structural design of the asphalt pavement. Thus it is important to classify asphalt scientifically and reasonably based on the local climatic conditions. Based on 56-year meteorological data from 747 representative meteorological stations in China, temperature and precipitation were divided into eight meteorological indices. Three spatial interpolation methods are used for interpolation, namely Inverse Distance Weight, Ordinary Kriging and Collaborative Kriging considering Digital Elevation Model (DEM). After the comparison, the Collaborative Kriging considering DEM interpolation results of temperature and the Inverse Distance Weight interpolation results of precipitation were used to establish the standard climate zoning system in China. The classification of asphalt pavement is introduced on the basis of performance grading. According to the pavement high and low temperature design formula obtained by comparison, climatic suitability zoning of road asphalt is performed, and the classification table with performance grading of road asphalt in China is presented. The research results provide a theoretical basis for the selection of road asphalt and provide guidance for scientific and reasonable design of asphalt pavement.

KEYWORDS:

• Asphalt pavement
• spatial interpolation
• climate zoning
• road asphalt
• performance grade

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by Construction of Science and Technology Projects by the Ministry of Transport of China (2018-MS2-042), the Programme of the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (20JCQNJC01320), and 03 special and 5G projects in Jiangxi Province (20212ABC03A19).

Author contributions

Conceptualization, H.C. and N.F.; methodology, N.F. and S.H.; formal analysis, H.L. and H.C.; investigation, N.F. and H.C.; resources, H.L.; data curation, N.F. and H.L.; writing—original draft preparation, N.F. and H.C.; writing—review and editing, N.F., H.C., H.L., Q.M. and S.H.; visualization, N.F., H.C., H.L., Q.M. and S.H.; supervision, H.C.; funding acquisition, H.C.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by Construction of Science and Technology Projects by the Ministry of Transport of China (2018-MS2-042), the Programme of the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (20JCQNJC01320), and 03 special and 5G projects in Jiangxi Province (20212ABC03A19).