Moving force identification based on the frequency-time domain method

This paper addresses the problem on the identification of moving vehicle axle loads based on measured bridge responses using a frequency-time domain method. The focus is on the evaluation of two solutions to the overdetermined set of equations established as part of the identification method. The two solutions are (i) direct calculation of the pseudo-inverse and (ii) calculation of the pseudo-inverse via the singular value decomposition (SVD) technique. For this purpose, a bridge-vehicle system model was fabricated in the laboratory and the bending moment responses of bridge model were measured as a two-axle vehicle model moved across the bridge deck. The moving axle loads are then calculated from the measured responses via the two solutions to the over-determined set of equations. The effects of changes in the bridge-vehicle system, measurement and algorithm parameters on the two solutions are evaluated. Case studies show that the moving force identification is more feasible and its accuracy acceptable with the use of the SVD technique. This technique can effectively enhance the identification method and improve the identification accuracy over that of the direct pseudo-inverse solution. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.