A gradient based optimization procedure for finding axle weights in probabilistic bridge weigh-in-motion method

Author(s):  
Matheus Silva Gonçalves ◽  
Felipe Carraro ◽  
Rafael Holdorf Lopez

Bridge weight in motion (BWIM) consists in the use of sensors on bridges to assess the loads of passing vehicles. Probabilistic Bridge Weight in Motion (pBWIM) is an approach for solving the inverse problem of finding vehicle axle weights based on deformation information. The pBWIM approach uses a probabilistic influence line and seeks the most probable axle weights, given in-situ measurements. To compute such weights, the original pBWIM employed a grid search, which may lead to computational complexity, specially when applied to vehicles with high number of axles. Hence, this note presents an improved version of pBWIM, modifying how the most probable weights are sough. Here, a gradient based optimization procedure is proposed for replacing the computationally expensive grid-search of the original algorithm. The required gradients are fully derived and validated in numerical examples. The proposed modification is shown to highly decrease the computational complexity of the problem.

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 11-22
Author(s):  
Sergio Lobo Aguilar ◽  
Richard E. Christenson

Bridge Weigh-In-Motion (BWIM) has been demonstrated to be reliable for obtaining critical information about the characteristics of trucks that travel over the highways. Continued improvements provides greater opportunity for increased use of BWIM. Traditional BWIM systems based on measuring the bending strain of the bridge have various challenges which has led to a class of BWIM methodologies that employ the use of shear strain in determining the gross vehicle weight (GVW) of crossing trucks. However, the known techniques of these shear-strain BWIM methods assume or measure the shear influence line for the calculation of the GVW. In this paper, an alternative shear-strain based BWIM technique is proposed. The method presented here is independent of the influence line, does not require a measurement of the speed of the truck, and is based on the difference in magnitude observed at the discontinuity of the shear strain record as a truck crosses over the sensor location on the bridge. A series of field tests is presented that demonstrate this shear-strain based BWIM method has error levels consistent with other more complex BWIM methods and as such has great potential to be used for determining the GVWs of trucks that travel on simple or multispan bridges in a consistent and reliable manner.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 667-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene J. OBrien ◽  
Longwei Zhang ◽  
Hua Zhao ◽  
Donya Hajializadeh

Conventional bridge weigh-in-motion (BWIM) uses a bridge influence line to find the axle weights of passing vehicles that minimize the sum of squares of differences between theoretical and measured responses. An alternative approach, probabilistic bridge weigh-in-motion (pBWIM), is proposed here. The pBWIM approach uses a probabilistic influence line and seeks to find the most probable axle weights, given the measurements. The inferred axle weights are those with the greatest probability amongst all possible combinations of values. The measurement sensors used in pBWIM are similar to BWIM, containing free-of-axle detector sensors to calculate axle spacings and vehicle speed and weighing sensors to record deformations of the bridge. The pBWIM concept is tested here using a numerical model and a bridge in Slovenia. In a simulation, 200 randomly generated 2-axle trucks pass over a 6 m long simply supported beam. The bending moment at mid-span is used to find the axle weights. In the field tests, 77 pre-weighed trucks traveled over an integral slab bridge and the strain response in the soffit at mid-span was recorded. Results show that pBWIM has good potential to improve the accuracy of BWIM.


Author(s):  
Kouichi Takeya ◽  
Junji Yoshida ◽  
Junki Mori

<p>In this study, an influence line of girder deflection of the bridge was calculated for the initial calibration of Bridge Weigh-in-Motion (B-WIM). The deflection responses were obtained from the proposed integration process using the baseline correction. Optical flow analysis was applied using a video camera to adapt to the variable vehicle speed and precisely measure the location of vehicles on a bridge. A foreground mask using the Gaussian mixture model and a Kalman filter was then applied to identify the vehicles. A calibration process of B-WIM was proposed using the iteration process to optimize the influence line of deflection using local buses in regular traffic. Finally, the axle weights of a weight-known test truck were analyzed by monitoring with the video camera and acceleration sensor. Compared with conventional B-WIM methods, the proposed method has demonstrated higher adaptability in variable vehicle speed.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (9) ◽  
pp. 2196-2203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mara Crisan ◽  
Gheorghe Maria

Novel coupled enzymatic systems reported important applications in the industrial bio-catalysis. Multi-enzymatic reactions can successfully replace complex chemical syntheses, using milder reaction conditions, and generating less waste. For such systems acting simultaneously, the model-based engineering calculations (design, reactor operation optimization) are difficult tasks, because they must account for interacting reactions, differences in enzymes optimal activity domains and deactivation kinetics. The determination of the optimal operating mode (enzyme ratios, enzyme feeding policy, temperature, pH) often turns into a difficult multi-objective optimization problem with multiple constraints to be solved for every particular system. The paper focuses on applying a modular screening procedure that can identify the optimal operating policy of an enzymatic reactor, which minimizes the enzyme consumption, given the process kinetic model, and an imposed production capacity. Following an optimization procedure, the process effectiveness is evaluated in a systematic approach, by including simple batch reactor (BR), batch with intermittent addition of the key-enzyme following certain optimal policies (BRP). Exemplification is made for the case of the enzymatic reduction of D-fructose to mannitol by using suspended MDH (mannitol dehydrogenase) and NADH (Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) cofactor, with the in-situ continuous regeneration of the cofactor by the expense of formate degradation in the presence of suspended FDH (Formate dehydrogenase).


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 745
Author(s):  
Sylwia Stawska ◽  
Jacek Chmielewski ◽  
Magdalena Bacharz ◽  
Kamil Bacharz ◽  
Andrzej Nowak

Roads and bridges are designed to meet the transportation demands for traffic volume and loading. Knowledge of the actual traffic is needed for a rational management of highway infrastructure. There are various procedures and equipment for measuring truck weight, including static and in weigh-in-motion techniques. This paper aims to compare four systems: portable scale, stationary truck weigh station, pavement weigh-in-motion system (WIM), and bridge weigh-in-motion system (B-WIM). The first two are reliable, but they have limitations as they can measure only a small fraction of the highway traffic. Weigh-in-motion (WIM) measurements allow for a continuous recording of vehicles. The presented study database was obtained at a location that allowed for recording the same traffic using all four measurement systems. For individual vehicles captured on a portable scale, the results were directly compared with the three other systems’ measurements. The conclusion is that all four systems produce the results that are within the required and expected accuracy. The recommendation for an application depends on other constraints such as continuous measurement, installation and operation costs, and traffic obstruction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 102440
Author(s):  
Sravanthi Alamandala ◽  
R.L.N. Sai Prasad ◽  
Rathish Kumar Pancharathi ◽  
V.D.R. Pavan ◽  
P. Kishore

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 610-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Longwei Zhang ◽  
Hua Zhao ◽  
Eugene J OBrien ◽  
Xudong Shao

This article outlines a Virtual Monitoring approach for fatigue life assessment of orthotropic steel deck bridges. Bridge weigh-in-motion was used to calculate traffic loads which were then used to calculate “virtual” strains. Some of these strains were checked through long-term monitoring of dynamic strain data. Field tests, incorporating calibration with pre-weighed trucks and monitoring the response to regular traffic, were conducted at Fochen Bridge, which has an orthotropic steel deck and is located in Foshan City, China. In the calibration tests, a 45-t 3-axle truck ran repeatedly across Lane 2, the middle lane in a 3-lane carriageway. The results show that using an influence surface to weigh vehicles can improve the accuracy of the weights and, by inference, of remaining service life calculations. The most fatigue-prone position was found to be at the cutout in the diaphragms. Results show that many vehicles are overweight—the maximum gross vehicle weight recorded was 148 t, nearly 3.6 times heavier than the fatigue design truck.


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