Applications

One immediate application of this new technology is rail weighing, using the rails as load cells. The advantages of this application include the ability to measure the weight of the train wheel by wheel, and thus to detect loading imbalances on the wagons, which is a considerable safety advantage. In this way, we can quantify the weight per wheel, per axle and then for the whole train by adding them together. In addition, the simplicity of implementation avoids the need for civil engineering work (figures 12 and 13 ).