A fiber-optic weigh-in-motion sensor using fiber Bragg gratings

In this weigh-in-motion (WIM) research, we introduce a novel design of WIM system based-on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) technologies. The novel design comes from the idea using in-service bridge as the weigh scale. While vehicles traveling over the bridge, the weights can be recorded by the strain gauges installed on the bridge abutments. In this system, the bridge beam is replaced by a piece of steel plate which supports the weight of the traveling vehicle. Four steel tubes are attached firmly at the corners of the plate serving as the bridge abutments. All weights will be finally transferred into the tubes where four FBGs are attached and can record the weight-induced strains by shifting their Bragg wavelengths. Compared with other designs of fiber-optic WIM systems, this design is easy and reliable. Especially it's suitable for heavy vehicles because of its large capacity, such as military vehicles, trucks and trailers. Over 40-ton load has been applied on the system and the experimental results show a good repeatability and linearity under such a large load. The system resolution has been achieved as low as 10 kg.

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