Design and Development of a Portable Wireless Axle Load Measuring System for Preventing Road Damages

The longevity of road infrastructure is a crucial element of sustainable transportation. Although laws are present to prevent overweight vehicles damaging roads and highways which are not designed to withstand excessive loads, the authorities face practical difficulties in their enforcement given the lack of convenient vehicle weight measuring methods. A portable wireless axle load measuring system (PWALMS) is designed through structural analysis and is developed by employing strain gauges, which is capable of measuring 1 ton with a safety factor of 3.4. Four individual portable pads are kept on to which the vehicle is driven and each will measure the axle loads. A control unit then acquires the data which is wirelessly transmitted to a computer and is displayed through a GUI. An improved model is finally proposed to mitigate the transverse strain felt by strain gauges.

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