Bridge influence surface identification using a deep multilayer perceptron and computer vision techniques

The identification of influence surfaces (ISs) for bridge structures offers an efficient tool for understanding traffic loads and assessing structural conditions. In general, ISs of a real bridge can be identified through calibration tests using calibration vehicles with known weights moving across the bridge. However, the existing methods face difficulties in considering comprehensive factors, such as the lateral movement, speed variation, and track width of the calibration vehicle, as well as bridge dynamic effects. These factors inevitably introduce inaccuracies into the task of identification. To comprehensively consider these factors, this study proposes a deep learning-based method that combines deep multilayer perceptrons (MLPs) and computer vision (CV), with deep MLP adopted to identify bridge ISs and CV employed to obtain the position coordinates of the calibration vehicle’s wheels. A series of numerical simulations and field experiments on an in-service bridge were carried out to validate the proposed framework and compare it against a broadly established method to such an end—Quilligan’s method. The results show the accuracy, robustness, and practicability of the proposed framework.