Moving force identification from bending moment responses of bridge

Moving force identification is a very important inverse problem in structural dynamics. Most of the identification methods are eventually converted to a linear algebraic equation set. Different ways to solve the equation set may lead to solutions with completely different levels of accuracy. Based on the measured bending moment responses of the bridge made in laboratory, this paper presented the time domain method (TDM) and frequency-time domain method (FFDM) for identifying the two moving wheel loads of a vehicle moving across a bridge. Directly calculating pseudo-inverse (PI) matrix and using the singular value decomposition (SVD) technique are adopted as means for solving the over-determined system equation in the TDM and FTDM. The effects of bridge and vehicle parameters on the TDM and FTDM are also investigated. Assessment results show that the SVD technique can effectively improve identification accuracy when using the TDM and FTDM, particularly in the case of the FTDM. This improved accuracy makes the TDM and FTDM more feasible and acceptable as methods for moving force identification.