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    Daniel Liaw
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    Strain Force

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Scarica in formato PDF o leggi online su Scribd
    Segnala contenuti inappropriati
    13 visualizzazioni6 pagine

    Strain Force

    Caricato da

    Daniel Liaw
    Strain Force

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Scarica in formato PDF o leggi online su Scribd
    Segnala contenuti inappropriati
    di 6
    ‘Strain and Force Measurement ‘The design of load bearing components for machines and structures are an essential task of the engineer. Proper design of these load carrying devices such as shafts, mounts, pressure Vessels, support structures etc. involves determining the total allowable forces for the unit and their associated allowable deflections. The basis for predicting these essential characteristics is through the application of the principles of mechanics of materials. Fundamentals of Strain Based Force Measurement Devices Strain based measurement devices allow for the measurement of stress on a part through the measurement of the local deformation of the part that is under load. The underlying principle behind this measurement system is Hooke’s Law. For example, consider a rod that is under pure uniaxial tension. If the rod has cross sectional area, A, the normal stress is defined as, E, == y Ceara oO The ratio of change in length of the rod due to the application of the load to the length of the unloaded rod is defined as, OL ent Q ‘The strain unit ¢ is a dimensionless unit that is normally recorded in units of 10° incb/inch or 10° m/m. The unit is often referred to as microstrain ( ps). ‘Stress-strain relationships are very important in understanding the behaviour of a material under load. For most engineering materials, as long as the applied load on the material is less than that required to permanently deform the material, the material will display a linear relationship between stress and strain . This region of linear behaviour between stress and strain is called the elastic region and the governing relationship is given by Hooke’s Law. o=Ee 8) The constant Eis called the modulus of elasticity or Young’s modulus and is a property of the material under stress. Hooke’s Law only applies to the range of applied stress where the relationship between stress and strain is linear. Beyond this linear region, materials behave in a variety of ways depending on whether the material is ductile or brittle. However, for the vast majority of engineering applications the stress levels are designed to be well below the elastic limit of the material. Strain can be measured by methods as simple as observing the change in the distance between two marks on the surface of the load carrying member to advanced photoelastic methods. The most common sensor for reading strain is the bonded resistance strain gauge. These types of transducers utilize materials that experience a change in electrical resistance when they are subjected to a strain. =e foe rove ‘The most common resistance strain gauge is a foil strain gauge. These bonded strain gauges must be fixed with a suitable adhesive to the surface which will strain when subjected to load. When the foil gauge is properly bonded, the electrical conductor is embedded in the bonding material so that not only does the tensile strain cause the strain gauge resistance to increase, but compressive strain causes it to decrease in exactly the same proportion. A conductor of uniform cross sectional area , A, length, L, and made from a material with resistivity, p, the resistance R, is given by, al Rae @ One can see that in order to achieve reasonable electrical resistance values one should use long thin wires. For example, a common strain gauge material is Constantan (55% copper with 45% nickel) which has a resistivity of p =49x10* ohm-meter. In order to produce a typical strain gauge resistance of 120 ohms, a 0.025 mm. diameter wire would have to be 12. cm in length. Hence, in order to produce strain gauges with a reasonable total resistance, yet still fit on a small area, the conductor is bent back and forth numerous times so that several lengths of wire are oriented along the axis of the strain gauge. A typical foil strain gauge is shown on the following figures. (pa = A typical foil gauge is made in a similar manner as printed circuit boards. The photo etched metal foil pattern is mounted on a plastic backing material. The gauge length is an important aspect in selecting an appropriate strain gauge for a particular application. Normally we want to measure the strain at the location where the stress is maximum, and the stress gradients are high. A strain gauge will average the measured strain over the gauge length. Since we normally want to measure the maximum strain, errors can result from improper selection of a gauge length. Therefore the smaller the foil gauge, the greater the accuracy, Gange Factor ‘The change in resistance for a strain gauge is usually expressed in terms of an experimentally derived value called the gauge factor, GF. This value relates the change in electrical resistance to the change in length of the gauge. GF =-——_ oO The actual change in resistance is due to two factors: the change in geometry of the wire as the length increases and the cross-section decreases (i.e. Poisson's ratio, v = lateral strain/axial strain) and the change in resistivity, p due to mechanical strain (this change is called piezoresistance), Since the Poisson ratio and piezoresistance are properties of the ‘material the GF values are calibrated for sets of strain gauges made from the same material. Normally the gauge factor has a value of between 2.0 and 2.2. Now the actual change in resistance is very small. For example , Let us select a 120 ohm Constantan strain gauge with a gauge factor of 2.1 and mount it on a steel bar which is then Ioaded to a stress of 260 MN/m* (Young’s modulus for bar is given as E = 200 N/m). We can determine the change in resistance of the gauge by performing the following calculations. SESS es strain ¢ = 20X11 310° mim (13008) strain 200 x10 now ARIR aR —— =GF +. =GFe =F -2ni3x10*) = dR = 0.3272 (0.27%) ‘Wheatstone Bridge In general, itis very difficult to directly measure resistance changes of this magnitude (less than 1%) using a standard ohmmeter. Therefore in order to compensate for these small resistance changes, a bridge circuit (commonly referred to as a Wheatstone Bridge) is employed. The circuit compares the small difference in voltages between the two arms of the circuit which contain two resistors in series. In the bridge circuit, if one of the resistors is the active strain gauge itself, Ra, and the other resistors Rp Re and_Rp are equal to the unstained resistance of R, then the voltage drops across each arm is identical and there is no voltage difference Ep between each arm (referred to as balanced). If the strain gauge resistance is changed due to applied strain then the resistance of each arm is different and there will be a voltage difference between the two arms (unbalanced system). This voltage reading is normally in the order of a few millivolts so it must be measured using an accurate voltmeter. A simple method to measure the resistance ofthe gauge Rito balance the bridge by varying the resistance of one of the resistors on the other arm in order to produce no voltage difference between the arms. In this case we change a variable resistor Ry until the bridge is balanced. When the bridge is balanced, the strain gauge resistance is given by, R, Rea Rx © R If, instead of having Rp being equal to R, we have R, ten times as great as Rp we can increase the accuracy of measuring Ra since Rx will need to be ten times as great as Ra therefore providing better resolution. ‘Temperature Compensation Now since the resistance of the strain gauge is changing only slightly (less than 1%), we must take into consideration any changes in temperature of the gauge which would produce a false reading of strain. Temperature would effect the internal resistance of the strain gauge, produce an expansion or contraction of the metal used to make the strain ‘gauge and/or produce an expansion or contraction of the specimen itself. In order to compensate for any temperature changes of the strain gauge, we introduce an identical strain gauge with approximately the same resistance mounted on the same material as the active strain gauge. This “dummy gauge” R,, will be effected by the identical temperature effects as the active gauge R, and therefore will cancel out temperature variations (the effect of temperature is the same for both sides of equation (6)). This type of temperature compensated circuit is often called a half bridge. Since itis best to mount the “dummy” gauge directly on the specimen in order to cancel out any temperature effects, it may as well be mounted in such a way as to also measure the strain of the specimen. This is normally done by bonding the second gauge to the specimen in an orientation opposite the first gauge. For example, if we mount one gauge R,, on one side of a specimen subjected to pure bending while mounting the second gauge R,, on the other side, then one gauge is in tension while the other is in compression. This would translate into an increase in resistance for one gauge R,, and a decrease in resistance for the other gauge R,. From Equation (6) one can see that orientating R, and R, in this manner is identical to doubling the resistance change for R, only. This mounting is often referred to as a twin active gauge bridge. “= ‘Taking this principle one step further, one can mount all four gauges on a specimen in order to obtain the maximum in sensitivity and immunity to temperature Variation. The orientation would be arranged so that one pair of gauges, namely R,, and R act together in tension or compression while the other pair, R, and R,, acts in the opposite manner. This will have the effect of producing four times the output compared to a single active gauge. This mounting is often referred to as a full bridge or all active gauge bridge. Sources of Error in Strain Gauge Signals ‘There are sources of error that the engineer must take into account when dealing with strain gauge readings. These errors include: 1. Bonding Faults. This as the most common error associated with strain gauges. In order for the gauge to accurately measure the strain of the specimen, it is imperative that the {gauge not move relative to the specimen. 2. Cross-sensitivity. Since the strain gauge has width as well as length a strain in a direction perpendicular to the principle axis of the gauge may alter the overall resistance of the gauge. 3. Hysteresis. If the strain gauge installation is loaded to a high value and then unloaded, ihe resistance values may not follow the same line increasing and decreasing. 4, Moisture. Strain gauges are very sensitive to moisture. Moisture absorption can cause dimensional changes to the gauge which will effect the readings. 5. Temperature. Even though one introduces temperature compensation to the bridge Circuit, the Gauge Factors themselves are a function of temperature. This requires proper selection of the strain gauge type to match the application. An example figure is reproduced illustrating the effect of temperature on the gauge factor. Also itis important to allow the temperature of the gauges to stabilize once the circuit is turned on since the gauges may warm up due to their own internal resistance. ft pt fe tg > ‘Load Cells A load cell is a transducer that converts a load acting on it into an analog electrical signal. Most commercial load cells are simply high precision beams with strain gauges accurately mounted on the beam and wired in the Wheatstone Bridge configuration. ‘Weight applied to the load cell in either compression or tension produces strain which translates into a voltage output from the bridge circuit. Nearly all commercial cells are designed with all the strain gauges mounted in the unit in order to produce an all active bridge circuit. Load cells vary from tiny miniature units which can measure forces in ounces to units large enough to be used to measure the weight of trucks at commercial truck stops. Load cells are normally designed so the strain gauges measure either pure bending or pure shear. Load cells are usually designed to measure a force in only one principle direction and have near zero sensitivity to forces in any other direction. Strain guage based load cells can be used to accurately measure static and dynamic forces. Load cells can also be designed to measure torque. These units have strain gauges oriented in order to measure the principle shear stresses generated on a precision shaft whenever a torque is applied to the unit. a ap

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