Load Cells & its application in Textiles

What is a Load Cell ?

Introduction

The heart of any weighing system is the load cell. Load cells are highly accurate transducers.

A load cell is a transducer that converts a load acting on it into an analog electrical signal. This conversion is achieved by deformation of strain gauges which are bonded to the load cell beam and wired into a Wheatstone Bridge configuration.
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Types of Load Cell

Mechanical & Strain Gauge

In order to get maximum benefit from this device, we need to have a better understanding of the different principles used by this device. We will take a quick look at the different type of Load Cell -

Load Cell
Mechanical Strain Gauge

Hydraulic

Pneumatic

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Strain Gauge Load Cell

Principle

The principle of operation of the device is based on the fact that resistance of an electrical conductor changes with a ratio R/R, if a stress is applied such that its length changes by L/L. Where R is the change in resistance from the unstressed value L is the change in length from original unstressed length

L Strain = L

R/R = Ks.
Where Ks is Gauge Factor

Gauge Factor Ks =
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R / R L / L
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Strain Gauge Load Cell

Structure - Look inside the cell

The most commonly used Strain gauge load cells comprises of foil type strain gauge. It has metal foil photo-etched in a grid pattern on the electric insulator of the thin resin and gauge leads attached. This arrangement is safely mounted on a backing material using some high quality adhesive. Foil is normally made of Copper Nickel alloy.

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Strain Gauge Load Cell

How to measure strain Wheatstone Bridge

Strain-initiated resistance change is extremely small. Thus, for strain measurement a Wheatstone bridge is formed to convert the resistance change to a voltage change. The output voltage eo (V) is obtained with the following equation:

Suppose the resistance R1 is a strain gage and it changes by R due to strain. Then, the output voltage is,

If R1 = R2 = R3 = R4 = R,

Since R may be regarded extremely larger than R,

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Strain Gauge Load Cell

Types of Strain Gauge Load Cell

invented in 1938 by Edward E. Simmons and Arthur Ruge Strain gauge load cells can be classified in two ways Tension Load Cell Area of application Compression Load Cell Bending Load Cell

Shear Load Cell

Quarter Bridge Type of Wiring Used Half Bridge Full Bridge

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Strain Gauge Load Cell

Quarter Bridge Circuit

In a quarter bridge circuit, a strain gauge is connected to a side of the bridge and a fixed resistor is inserted into each of the other 3 sides. Let, the nominal resistance of the strain gauge is designated as RG, then the strain-induced change in

resistance, R, can be expressed as R = RGKs. Assuming that R1 = R2 and R3 = RG, the bridge equation above can be rewritten to express V0 /VEX as a function of strain,

V0 1 1 K s . . VEX 4 (1 K s . ) 2

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Strain Gauge Load Cell

Half Bridge Circuit

In a half bridge circuit, two active strain gauges are connected, one in the direction of axial strain, and the other perpendicular to the principal axis of strain (Poisson Gauge). V0 /VEX can be expressed as,

V0 1 K s . VEX 2

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Strain Gauge Load Cell

Full Bridge Circuit

In a full bridge circuit, four active strain gauges are connected, two gauges for compression and two for tension.

V0 /VEX can be expressed as,

V0 K s . VEX

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Strain Gauge Load Cell

Errors & how to compensate

In a quarter bridge circuit, the main disadvantage is the effect of temperature. In such cases,

Where

= Thermally induced strain

R K s .( M T ) R

Dummy gauges connected perpendicular to the strain gauge measuring the strain, can nullify the effect the temperature. The strain has little effect on the second gauge, called the dummy gauge. However, any changes in temperature will affect both gauges in the same way. Because the temperature changes are identical in the two gauges, the ratio of their resistance does not change, the voltage VO does not change, and the effects of the temperature change are minimized.

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Strain Gauge Load Cell

Application in Textiles ......

The Tensile Testing Instrument -

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Strain Gauge Load Cell

Application in Textiles contd......

Warp Tension Control on Weaving M/C -

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Strain Gauge Load Cell

Operating range

$
2-4% max

Measurable Strain Thermal Output 20-160 C 160-180 C Nominal Resistance Nominal Resistance Tolerance Gauge Factor Fatigue life Foil material

+- 2/C +- 5/C
120 +-0.5% 2.0 approx >10,000,000 cycles at +-1500 Copper nickel alloy

Price varies from $4.9 - $14.9 per strain gauge element

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Strain Gauge Load Cell

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages :Low cost Can be used for both expansion and compression Highly accurate for small scale applications, Accuracy Rating 0.07% e.g. Weighing Balance, Tensile Testers

Disadvantages :Strain Gauge load cells can not be used for pressure measurement of the highly reactive or corrosive materials, which can damage the gauge material. Amplification is required for output display because the signal produced by the

gauge is in the order of milivolts.

Not suitable to measure very high loads.
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Hydraulic Load Cell

Principle

This type of load cell works on the force balance principle . FORCE BALANCE PRINCIPLE :The inertial force produced by a seismic ground motion shifts the mass from its original equilibrium position, and the change in position or velocity of the mass is then interpreted into an electric signal. This principle is for low range load cells.

For long range load cells the inertial force is balanced with an electrically generated force so that the mass moves as low as possible.

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Hydraulic Load Cell

How it works a look inside the load cell

Hydraulic load cell consists of a fluid which act as a force transfering medium. When the pressure or weight by the vessel or column is applied on the diaphragm of the load cell it sense that force and then transfers this force to the fluid which is filled in the casing of this load cell. Then this force is transferred to the piezoelectric crystal by the fluid by Pascals law.

So when the force is transferred by the fluid it disturbs the internal structure of the piezoelectric crystal and due to this change in the structure of the piezoelectric crystal a potential difference is generated across the piezoelectric crystal. This potential difference is detected by the electric detector and electric signal is transferred to the display unit to display the magnitude of the applied force, weight or pressure.
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Hydraulic Load Cell

Typical Example Weigh Bridges

Different Components :
Typical capacities range from 30 to 100 tonnes, in lengths of 9, 15 and 18 metres. Usually four (4) to ten (10) hydrostatic load cells located underneath the load receiving element (weigh bridge), depending upon weigh bridge length and capacity. Each hydrostatic load cell is connected to the Summing Totalizer with high pressure copper or stainless steel tubing. The hydrostatic load cell output, measured in pounds per square inch (PSI) is transmitted to a Summing Totalizer. The function load cell and the sum of digitized and
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of the Summing Totalizer is to sum the pressure inputs from each convert the sum to a Millivolt (mV) signal, directly proportional to the hydrostatic load cell outputs. The mV output is captured, displayed on a digital weight indicator.
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Hydraulic Load Cell

Weigh Bridges The Hydrostatic Load Cell

A small amount of fluid is required (less than one (1) pint of fluid used in a 70 foot truck scale). Each hydrostatic load cell type is designed with an exact "acting area" - a known value in units of square inches. For example, when a known weight is applied to a hydrostatic load cell with a known "acting area", the output in PSI is predictable. A 50,000 lb. weight applied to an "acting area" of 50 square inches will have an output of 1,000 PSI.

Weight Output Pr essure ( PSI ) ActingArea( In )

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Hydraulic Load Cell

Weigh Bridges The Summing Totalizer

The Summing Totalizer converts the output pressure of each hydrostatic load to a force, sums the forces and converts the sum of the forces to a millivolt output signal. The Summing Totalizer is comprised of a series of hydrostatic receiver cells, each accepting the PSI from its assigned hydrostatic load cell. The PSI input is converted to a vertical force measured in pounds and summed in the Summing Totalizer.

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Hydraulic Load Cell

The Cost Factor .....

33,950.00 29,200.00 26,310.00 22,810.00 19,560.00 18,670.00 16,480.00

32.3 metre by 3 metre 120 tonne Weighbridge 28.3 metre by 3 metre 120 tonne Weighbridge 24.3 metre by 3 metre 120 tonne Weighbridge 21.3 metre by 3 metre 100 tonne Weighbridge 18.3 metre by 3 metre 80 tonne Weighbridge 16.3 metre by 3 metre 60 tonne Weighbridge 15.3 metre by 3 metre 50 tonne Weighbridge

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Hydraulic Load Cell

Operating range

Reference : environmental systems & services, Australia, www.geosystems.com.au

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Hydraulic Load Cell

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages :Linear output and independent of amount of fluid or temperature Can be used in any environment and for all type of materials Highly accurate for large scale applications, Accuracy = Rating 0.25%

Disadvantages :The diaphragm has a limitation of Max. 1000psi Expensive and complex to use

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Capacitive Load Cell

Principle

The capacitance C of an ideal parallel plate capacitor is given by, Where = Electric permittivity of the dielectric material A = Area of the plate d = Distance between the plates

A
d

When load is applied the distance between the capacitor place changes, resulting in a change in capacitance. This change is converted into suitable output to measure the applied load by using following equation,

C
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A[1 2
d (1

]
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Capacitive Load Cell

The Device

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Silicon based Capacitive Load Cell for Tensile Load Measurement, Y.Kim, H.Kim, J.Lee, DTIP 2009, April

References

www.engineering-resource.com www.revretransducers.com Application Note 078 Strain Gauge Measurement, National instruments, 1998 Data Pack E, 1997, 232 -595, RS components www.tecsis.de, Hydraulic Load Cell www.weightron.com Kim.Y, Kim.H, Lee.J ,Silicon based Capacitive Load Cell for Tensile Load Measurement, DTIP 2009, April

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Load Cells & its application in Textiles