Pressure and Force Measurement

Instructional Objectives
The reader, after going through the lesson would be able to
1. Name different methods for pressure measurement using elastic transducers.
2. Explain the construction and principle of operation of a Bourdon tube pressure gage.
3. Define gage factor of a strain gage
4. Name different strain gage materials and state their gage factors.
5. Will be able to draw the connection diagram of an unbalanced bridge with four strain gages so as to
obtain maximum sensitivity and perfect temperature compensation.
6. Name different methods for force measurement with strain gages.
1. Introduction
In this lesson, we will discuss different methods for measurement of pressure and force. Elastic elements,
namely diaphragms and Bourdon tubes are mainly used for pressure measurement. On the other hand, strain
gages are commonly used for measurement of force. The constructions and principles of operation of different
elastic elements for pressure measurement have been discussed in the next section. This is followed by
principle of strain gage and measurement of force using strain gages.
2. Pressure Measurement
Measurement of pressure inside a pipeline or a container in an industrial environment is a challenging task,
keeping in mind that pressure may be very high, or very low (vacuum); the medium may be liquid, or gaseous.
We will not discuss the vacuum pressure measuring techniques; rather try to concentrate on measurement
techniques of pressure higher than the atmospheric. They are mainly carried out by using elastic elements:
diaphragms, bellows and Bourdon tubes. These elastic elements change their shape with applied pressure and
the change of shape can be measured using suitable deflection transducers. Their basic constructions and
principle of operation are explained below.
2.1 Diaphragms
Diaphragms may be of three types: Thin plate, Membrane and Corrugated diaphragm. This classification is
based on the applied pressure and the corresponding displacements. Thin plate (fig. 1(a)) is made by machining
a solid block and making a circular cross-sectional area with smaller thickness in the middle. It is used for
measurement of relatively higher pressure. In a membrane the sensing section is glued in between two solid
blocks as shown in fig. 1(b). The thickness is smaller; as a result, when pressure is applied on one side, the
displacement is larger. The sensitivity can be further enhanced in a corrugated diaphragm (fig. 1(c)), and a
large deflection can be obtained for a small change in pressure; however at the cost of linearity. The materials
used are Bronze, Brass, and Stainless steel. In recent times, Silicon has been extensively used the diaphragm
material in MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) pressure sensor. Further, the natural frequency of a
diaphragm can be expressed as:

where meq = equivalent mass, and k= elastic constant of the diaphragm. The operating frequency of the
pressure to be measured must be less than the natural frequency of the diaphragm.
 For a
corrugated diaphragm, it is difficult to give any definite mathematical relationship between p and y0 ;the
relationship is also highly nonlinear. As the diaphragm deflates, strains of different magnitudes and signs are
generated at different locations of the diaphragm. These strains can also be measured by effectively placing
four strain gages on the diaphragm. The principle of strain gage will be discussed in the next section.
2.2 Bellows
Bellows (fig. 3) are made with a number of convolutions from a soft material and one end of it is fixed,
wherein air can go through a port. The other end of the bellows is free to move. The displacement of the free
end increases with the number of convolutions used. Number of convolutions varies between 5 to 20. Often
an external spring is used opposing the movement of the bellows; as a result a linear relationship can be
obtained from the equation:
pA=kx (5)
where, A is the area of the bellows, k is the spring constant and x is the displacement of the bellows.
Phosphor Bronze, Brass, Beryllium Copper, Stainless Steel are normally used as the materials for bellows.
Bellows are manufactured either by (i) turning from a solid block of metal, or (ii) soldering or welding stamped
annular rings, or (iii) rolling (pressing) a tube.
2.3 Bourdon Tube
Bourdon tube pressure gages are extensively used for local indication. This type of pressure gages were first
developed by E. Bourdon in 1849. Bourdon tube pressure gages can be used to measure over a wide range of
pressure: form vacuum to pressure as high as few thousand psi. It is basically consisted of a C-shaped hollow
tube, whose one end is fixed and connected to the pressure tapping, the other end free, as shown in fig. 4. The
cross section of the tube is elliptical. When pressure is applied, the elliptical tube tries to acquire a circular
cross section; as a result, stress is developed and the tube tries to straighten up. Thus the free end of the tube
moves up, depending on magnitude of pressure. A deflecting and indicating mechanism is attached to the free
end that rotates the pointer. The materials used are commonly Phosphor Bronze, Brass and Beryllium Copper.
 1
For a overall diameter of the C-tube the useful travel of the free end is approximately 8. Though the C-type
tubes are most common, other shapes of tubes, such as helical, twisted or spiral tubes are also in use.

3.
Measurement of Force
The most popular method for measuring force is using strain gage. We measure the strain developed due to
force using strain gages; and by multiplying the strain with the effective cross-sectional area and Young’s
modulus of the material, we can obtain force. Load cells and Proving rings are two common methods for force
measurement using strain gages. We will first discuss the principle of strain gage and then go for the force
measuring techniques.
3.1 Strain Gage
Strain gage is one of the most popular types of transducer. It has got a wide range of applications. It can be
used for measurement of force, torque, pressure, acceleration and many other parameters. The basic principle
of operation of a strain gage is simple: when strain is applied to a thin metallic wire, its dimension changes,
thus changing the resistance of the wire. Let us first investigate what are the factors, responsible for the change
in resistance.
3.1.1 Gage Factor
Let us consider a long straight metallic wire of length l circular cross section with diameter d (fig. 5). When
this wire is subjected to a force applied at the two ends, a strain will be generated
The last term in the right hand side of the above expression, represents the change in resistivity of the material
due to applied strain that occurs due to the piezo-resistance property of the material. In fact, all the elements
in the right hand side of the above equation are independent of the geometry of the wire, subjected to strain,
but rather depend on the material property of the wire. Due to this reason, a term Gage Factor is used to
characterize the performance of a strain gage. The Gage Factor is defined as:

Thus, the Gage

Factor of metallic strain gages varies in the range 1.8 to 2.6. However, the semiconductor type strain gages
have a very large Gage Factor, in the range of 100-150. This is attained due to dominant piezo-resistance
property of semiconductors. The commercially available strain gages have certain fixed resistance values,
such as, 120Ω, 350 Ω, 1000 Ω, etc. The manufacturer also specifies the Gage Factor and the maximum gage
current to avoid selfheating (normally in the range 15 mA to 100 mA).
The choice of material for a metallic strain gage should depend on several factors. The material should have
low temperature coefficient of resistance. It should also have low coefficient for thermal expansion. Judging
from all these factors, only few alloys qualify for a commercial metallic strain gage. They are: Advance (55%
Cu, 45% Ni): Gage Factor between 2.0 to 2.2 Nichrome (80% Ni, 20% Co): Gage Factor between 2.2 to 2.5
Apart from these two, Isoelastic -another trademarked alloy with Gage Factor around 3.5 is also in use.
Semiconductor type strain gages, though having large Gage Factor, find limited use, because of their high
sensitivity and nonlinear characteristics.

3.1.2 Metallic
Strain Gage
Most of the strain gages are metallic type. They can be of two types: unbonded and bonded. The unbonded
strain gage is normally used for measuring strain (or displacement) between a fixed and a moving structure
by fixing four metallic wires in such a way, so that two are in compression and two are in tension, as shown
in fig. 6 (a). On the other hand, in the bonded strain gage, the element is fixed on a backing material, which is
permanently fixed over a structure, whose strain has to be measured, with adhesive. Most commonly used
bonded strain gages are metal foil type. The construction of such a strain gage is shown in fig. 6(b). The metal
foil type strain gage is manufactured by photo-etching technique. Here the thin strips of the foil are the active
elements of the strain gage, while the thick ones are for providing electrical connections. Because of large
area of the thick portion, their resistance is small and they do not contribute to any change in resistance due to
strain, but increase the heat dissipation area. Also it is easier to connect the lead wires with the strain gage.
The strain gage in fig. 6(b) can measure strain in one direction only. But if we want to measure the strain in
two or more directions at the same point, strain gage rosette, which is manufactured by stacking multiple strain
gages in different directions, is used. Fig. 7 shows a three-element strain gage rosette stacked at 450.

The backing material, over which the strain gage is fabricated and which is fixed with the strain measuring
structure has to satisfy several important properties. Firstly, it should have high mechanical strength; it should
also have high dielectric strength. But the most important it should be non-hygroscopic, otherwise, absorption
of moisture will cause bulging and generate local strain. The backing materials normally used are impregnated
paper, fibre glass, etc. The bonding material used for fixing the strain gage permanently to the structure should
also be non-hygroscopic. Epoxy and Cellulose are the bonding materials normally used.
3.1.3 Semiconductor type Strain Gage
Semiconductor type strain gage is made of a thin wire of silicon, typically 0.005 inch to 0.0005 inch, and
length 0.05 inch to 0.5 inch. They can be of two types: p-type and n-type. In the former the resistance increases
with positive strain, while, in the later the resistance decreases with strain. The construction and the typical
characteristics of a semiconductor strain gage are shown in fig.8.
MEMS pressure sensors is now a days becoming increasingly popular for measurement of pressure. It is made
of a small silicon diaphram with four piezo-resistive strain gages mounted on it. It has an in-built signal
conditioning circuits and delivers measurable output voltage corresponding to the pressure applied. Low
weight and small size of the sensor make it suitable for measurement of pressure in specific applications.

3.1.4 Strain Gage Bridge

Normal strain experienced by a strain gage is in the range of micro strain (typical value: 100 x 10 -6). As a
result, the change in resistance associated with it is small (Δ R/R Δ ε G= ). So if a single strain gage is
connected to a wheatstone bridge, with three fixed resistances, the bridge output voltage is going to be linear
(recall, that we say the bridge output voltage would be linearly varying with Δ R/R , if Δ R/R does not exceed
0.1). But still then, a single strain gage is normally never used in a wheatstone bridge. This is not because of
improving linearity, but for obtaining perfect temperature compensation. Suppose one strain gage is connected
to a bridge with three fixed arms. Due to temperature rise, the strain gage resistance will change, thus making
the bridge unbalance, thus giving an erroneous signal, even if no strain is applied. If two identical strain gages
are fixed to the same structure, one measuring compressional strain and the other tensile strain, and connected
in the adjacent arms of the bridge, temperature compensation can be achieved. If the temperature increases,
both the strain gage resistances will be affected in the same way, thus maintaining the bridge balance under
no strain condition. One more advantage of using the push-pull configuration is increasing the sensitivity. In
fact, all the four arms of the bridge can be formed by four active gages; this will improve the sensitivity further,
while retaining the temperature compensation property. A typical strain gage bridge is shown in fig. 9. It can
be shown that if nominal resistances of the strain gages are same and also equal gage factor G, then the
unbalanced voltage is given by:
3.2 Load Cell
Load cells are extensively used for measurement of force; weigh bridge is one of the most common
applications of load cell. Here two strain gages are fixed so as to measure the longitudinal strain, while two
other measuring the transverse strain, as shown in fig. 10. The strain gages, measuring the similar strain (say,
tensile) are placed in the opposite arms, while the adjacent arms in the bridge should measure opposite strains
(one tensile, the other compressional). If the strain gages are identical in characteristics, this will provide not
only the perfect temperature coefficient, but also maximum obtainable sensitivity from the bridge. The
longitudinal strain developed in the load cell would be compressional in nature, and is given

3.3 Proving Ring

Proving Rings can be used for measurement of both compressional and tensile forces. The advantage of a
Proving Ring is that, because of its construction more strain can be developed compared to a load cell. The
typical construction of a Proving Ring is shown in fig.11. It consists of a hollow cylindrical beam of radius R,
thickness t and axial width b. The two ends of the ring are fixed with the structures between which force is
measured. Four strain gages are mounted on the walls of the proving ring, two on the inner wall, and two on
the outer wall. When force is applied as shown, gages 2 and 4 will experience strain –ε (compression), while
gages 1 and 3 will experience strain + ε (tension). The magnitude of the strain is given by the expression:

The four strain gages are connected in a bridge and the unbalanced voltage can easily be calibrated in terms
of force to be measured.
3.4 Cantilever Beam
Cantilever beam can be used for measurement up to 10 kg of weight. One end of the cantilever is fixed, while
the other end is free; load is applied at this end, as shown in fig. 12. The strain developed at the fixed end is
given by the expression:

where, l = length of the beam, t = thickness of the cantilever, b = width of the beam, E = Young’s modulus of
the material
The strain developed can be measured by fixing strain gages at the fixed end: two on the top side of the beam,
measuring tensile strain +ε and two on the bottom measuring compressional strain – ε (as shown in fig. 12)
and using eqn. (9).
4. Conclusion
In this lesson, we have studied the commonly used sensing elements for measurement of pressure and force.
Elastic elements are used for measurement of pressure, where the pressure signal is converted into
displacement signal. Displacement sensors are further used to convert this to appropriate electrical signal.
Strain gages are also sometimes used to measure strain developed on the diaphragm.
On the other hand, load cells, Proving Rings and Cantilever Beams are used for force measurement. Here
strain gages mounted on the sensing elements measure strains, and the unbalanced voltage of a strain gage
bridge can be effectively calibrated in terms of force. Another method of force measurement is using
magnetostrictive transducers.