Weighing in motion and characterization of the railroad traffic with using the B-WIM technique

Abstract

The knowledge on the active moving load of a bridge is crucial for the achievement of the information on the behavior of the structure, and thus foresee maintenance, repairs and better definition of the logistics of its active vehicles. This paper presents the development of the algorithms for the application of the Bridge-Weigh In Motion (B-WIM) method created by Moses for the weighing of trains during motion and also for the characterization of the rail traffic, allowing the obtainment of information like passage's train velocity and number and spacing of axles, eliminating the dynamic effect. There were implemented algorithms for the determination of the data referring to the geometry of the train and its loads, which were evaluated using a theoretical example, in which it was simulated the passage of the train over a bridge and the loads of its axles were determined with one hundred percent of precision. In addition, it was made a numerical example in finite elements of a reinforced concrete viaduct from the Carajás' Railroad, in which the developed system reached great results on the characterization and weighing of the locomotive when the constitutive equation of the Brazilian Standards was substituted by the one proposed by Collins and Mitchell.