A new strategy to estimate static loads for the dynamic weighing in motion of railway vehicles

The present paper focuses on the numerical modeling of a weigh-in-motion system developed with the purpose of assessing the static loads imposed by the train onto the track infrastructure. Weigh-in-motion systems would be useful in overcoming the disadvantages typical of the conventional static weighing such as costs and traffic management. However, contrary to the conventional static weighing, weigh-in-motion systems do not allow a direct measurement of the static load since the train–track dynamic interaction gives rise to dynamic loads that are added to the static ones. This study investigates how train speed and track unevenness affect the loads assessed by the weigh-in-motion system. In order to achieve that goal, a comprehensive statistical study was performed based on an extensive amount of calculations. Finally, based on the conclusions and trend identified through the comprehensive parametric study, an approach is proposed to correct the direct result given by the weigh-in-motion system in order to obtain an estimation of the static load.