Weighing-in-motion devices are used to capture and record axle weight and overall vehicle weight as a vehicle drives over a weighbridge.WIM devices do not require a vehicle to be stationary in order to take its weight. They do the weighing while the vehicle is in motion.
This kind of weighing is more efficient for commercial vehicles that have not reached the weight limit to skirt around the fixed scales or inspection. Should you be in need of weighing-in-motion devices, you can get information from sites like Accuonboard Inmotion weighing and others which deal with all manner of weighing devices and services.
APPLICATIONS
Weighing-in-motion devices are used in:
- Road applications
- Rail applications
- Air applications
Road applications
Heavy vehicles like trucks have to be weighed to ascertain that they do not exceed the recommended weight. Gross and axle weight is important because of the following:
- The design, monitoring and research of the pavement
- The design,monitoring and research of the bridge
- Requirements for weight and size.
- Legislation and regulation
- Planning
- Administration
Weighing-in-motion proportions are necessary for size and weight enforcement. The systems are applicable in age-old roadside inspection stations as well as virtual ones.
The system basics for road application include sensors,charge amplifiers, inductive loops, measurement systems, communications and data archiving.
The system basics for road application include sensors,charge amplifiers, inductive loops, measurement systems, communications and data archiving.
Rail applications
These include:
- Protection of assets from imbalances caused by overloading
- Asset management
- Laws that govern weights on trucks
- Administration
- Planning
- Maintenance
The two sections of the measurement are:
- The trackside component which holds communication hardware, computation, power and data acquisition
- The rail-mounted component which has the sensors and cabling
The sensor principles which are known include:
- The strain gauges –They measure the strain in the core of the rail.
- The fibre optical sensors –They measure the change of light intensity that is caused when the rail bends.
- The load cells –These ones measure the change of strain in the load cell instead of directly on the rail.
- The laser-based systems – They measure the displacement of the rail.
How do they weigh trains?
They weigh trains either on the mainline or at the yards. WIM systems on the main line measure the weight distribution of the engines as they ramble by at the recommended speed. Railcars are coupled for the weighing and uncoupled when it is completed.Railcars are coupled for the weighing and uncoupled when it is completed.
Air applications
Various airports weigh aircraft by having the planes taxi across the scale bed to have their weight measured. The weight is important because it used together with the pilot’s entry log to determine if the craft has enough fuel with enough edge for safety. This system has been used effectively for quite a while to conserve fuel.
The one major discrepancy in these systems isthe scales that are used to check the weight.
Checking all these vehicles while in motion is important because it gives a more accurate reading. You can get more information on this from Accuonboard Inmotion weighing and other sites that have information on weighbridges and weigh-in-motion devices.
