Innovative -I In Experimental Methods

1.Introduction
2.Types 3.Peizo

resistive type 4.Peizo electric type 5.Summary 6.Reference

A semi-conductor may be defined as an electrical conductor that has a conductivity intermediate between that of an insulator and that of a conductor. The conductivity of semiconductor materials can be changed radically by small changes in physical condition. Semi conductors are prepared by diffusing impurities to pure silicon or germanium crystals.

 Very

high conductor sensitivities are possible Negative gauge factors are possible in semiconductor gauges which permits large electrical output from Wheatstone bridege circuit.

 The

semi-conductor gauges are of two types

1. PEIZO RESISTIVE GAUGES 2. PEIZO ELECTRIC GAUGES

 Peizo

resistive effect is the phenomenon in which the change in resistance of a semi conducting material accompanies deformation.
was first demonstrated by Mr.Smith in 1954 on Silicon and Germenium. This type of strain gauges are useful for static strain measurments.

It

 They

are produced from single crystal silicon or germanium. Boron is used as trace impurity for producing p-type conductor. Arsenic is used to produce the N-type The resistivity od p-type silicon is in the order of 500 . This very high sensitivity is reason why they are used in measuring extremely small strains .eg.in tranducers

 Semi

conductor filaments of even smaller cross sections can be constructed by condensation of silicon vapour on the cool walls of a quartz tube.

The

lead material for the semi-conductor filament is generally doped with a small amount of antimony. P-type gauges are used in tensile fields and N-type gauges are used in compressive fields.

Semi conductor strain gauges can be classified with respect to following characteristics.
Filament material (p or n type) Gauge factor Gauge length Gauge resistance Temp compensation Backing Bonding techniques. Lead Geometry.

 Sensitivity

The strain sensitivity or gauge factor , F=( R/R) /( L/L) = 1+2v+m Where m= ( p/p)/( L/L) v= poissons ratio The factor m accounts for piezoresistive effect and (1+2v ) is dimensional effect. Usually its value ranges from 50-175.

 Linearity

They depend strongly on strain levels and are distinctly non-linear.Increase amount of impurity may improve the linearity. Temperature Effect Environmental temperature changes affect the resistance and the sensitivity of semiconductor which depends on the level of doping.

 Current

carrying Capacity The maximum permissible current for a bonded semi conductor strain gauge depends upon the mechanism of heat dissipation, mainly conduction to test structure. Breaking Strength It depends mainly on filament cross section For filament cut from from Gauge crystals ,the breaking strength is 3x10 3 N/m2 Hysteresis and creep Semi conductor filament is not responsible for any hysteresis or creep errors experienced in practical gauge installation.

 Fatigue

Fatigue life of semi-conductor gauge is higher than that of wire and foil gauge. Humidity semi-conductor gauges are not that much affected by moisture. Temperature compensation Temperature compensation of semiconductor gauges can be achieved in two ways 1. self compensation 2. Circuit compensation

Introduction

Certain crystals when mechanically strained in particular directions will become electrically polarised. The change can be measured by applying electrodes to the surfaces and measuring the potential difference between them. Substances which possess this property are called peizoelectric.

 In

single piezoelectric plates,five operation modes are there 1. Thickness expansion mode 2. Length expansion mode 3. volume expansion mode 4. Thickness shear mode 5. Face shear Mode For strain gauge applications we use Length-expander mode of operations. Peizoelectric crystals can be stacked and it can be connected in parallel(higher output) or in series(lower output).

 A. B.

The peizoelectric materilas are of two type Naturally occuring type . Synthetic Materialls. Eg: A type 1.Quartz(SiO2) 2.Rochelle salt(NaKC4 O6.4H2o) B type 1.Barium titanate(Ba Ti O3) 2.Lead zirconate titanate

 If

a thin slab of peizoelectric material is cemented to a structure under stress, the strain in the structure is transmitted to the slab and a charge is generated across the crystal. Out put voltage ,V=ht h= h-coefficient =absolute dielectric constant t=thickness of crystal

The crystals are cheap Light weight Highly sensitive to small stains

 The

high sensitivity of semi-conductor gauges make them very useful in steam turbine blades. Semi-conductor strain gauges of permits the design of wide range of subminiature transducers which have high natural frequency and high output signal.

JAMES.W.DALLY AND WILLIAM F.RILEY Experimental stress analysis, Mc GRAW-HILL BOOK Company , second edition 1987, pp 204-215. Dr. Sadhu singh , Experimental Stress Analysis , Khanna Publishers,4th edition 2004, pp 245-280.

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