Force Measurement

Where is it required?
Weighing of an object
Dynamics of vehicles
Control applications such as
deployment of air bag in a vehicle
Study of behaviour of materials under
different types of loads
Vibration studies
Seismology or monitoring of
earthquakes

Force Measurement
1.The forces acting within and between parts of
a mechanism are fundamental to the safety,
assembly, and use of any piece of equipment,
whether that equipment be freely acting or an
integral part of a process.
Force measurement is needed in many
industries, and though the precision required
may vary from a few percent to a few parts per
million.
2.

Force Measurement
The SI system of units
Force and other Physical Quantities
1.Mass
Mass is a measure of the amount of material in an
object, being directly related to the number and type of
atoms present in the object. Mass does not change with
position, movement, or alteration of the bodys shape unless
material is added or removed.
The unit of mass in the SI system is the kilogram (kg)

Force Measurement
Force and other Physical quantities
2. Force
Force is a measure of the interaction between bodies.
Force takes a number of forms including short-range
atomic forces, electromagnetic and gravitational forces.
Force is a vector quantity, with both direction and
magnitude.
If the forces acting on a body in equilibrium are summed
around the periphery of the body then they add to zero.

Force Measurement
Force and other Physical quantities
2. Force

If there is any resultant force acting then the body is

not in equilibrium and it will accelerate such that the rate of
change of the bodys momentum (velocity times mass) is
equal to the force

If the body is held stationary in some way, then there

will be a reaction acting on the body from the support
structure that is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction
to the force imposed

Force Measurement
Force and other Physical Quantities
2. Force
With any vector quantity, the force and reaction may
be projected onto three orthogonal axes, and the equilibrium
may be considered independently parallel to each of those
axes.
Frequently a force measurement system will react
properly only to forces along its principal axis, and if this
should not coincide exactly with the direction of the total
applied force to be measured then an erroneous result may
be generated.

Force Measurement
Force and other Physical Quantities
2. Force
The SI unit of force is the Newton (N)
defined as the unit of force which would give to a
mass of one kilogram is moved to an acceleration of 1 metre
per second, per second.
It is not convenient, in practice, to produce an
acceleration of 1 metre per second, per second acting on a
mass of one kilogram in order to realise a standard of force
of 1 Newton.

Force Measurement
Force and other Physical Quantities
1.Force
Instead the practical realisation of the unit of force
makes use of known masses which, when subjected to the
effect of local gravitational force, exert a known force on an
earth located support.
The mechanical structure to handle and control such
masses is known as a deadweight machine.

Force Measurement
Force and other Physical Quantities
3. Weight

weight is taken to mean the same as mass, and is

measured in kilograms

weighing as a process for determining the mass of an

object

Force Measurement
Force and other Physical Quantities
4. Load

Load is a term frequently used in engineering to

mean the force exerted on a surface or body

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods

Direct method: This involves a direct comparison with a

known gravitational force on a standard mass.
Indirect method: This involves the measurement of the effect
of force on a body. For example.
1. Measurement of acceleration of a body of known mass
which is subjected to force.
2.Measurement of resultant effect (deformation) when the
force is applied to an elastic member.
3.Transducing the unknown force to a fluid pressure and
then measuring the fluid pressure.
4. Balancing the unknown force against a magnetic force
developed on account of interaction of a current
carrying
coil and a magnet.

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods

Direct method:
1.Mechanical Weighing systems
i. Equal Arm Balance
ii. Unequal Arm Balance
E.g The analytical balance
Multiple lever systems
The pendulum Force-Measuring Mechanism

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
The analytical balance

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods

Electromagnetic Balance:

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods

Electromagnetic Balance :
Advantages:
1.Easy to Use
2.Less sensitive to changes in environment
3.Smaller in size
4.Faster response
5.Produces electrical output
6.Easy to use with electronic automatic systems

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods

Hydraulic Load Cell:

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods

Hydraulic load cell :

Advantages:
1.Good Dynamic Response
2.High load capacity up to 500 kN
3.Special units may measure up to 50 MN
4.Accuracy is about to 0.1% and resolution up to 0.02%
Disadvantages:
1.Friction between cylinder and piston
2.Maintenance
3.Sensitive to temperature

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods

Pneumatic Load Cell:

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods

Pneumatic load cell :

Advantages:
1.Good dynamic Response
2.Load capacity up to 350 kN for single unit
3.Error 0.1% on full scale
Disadvantages:
1.Non linearity- so Care should be taken in the design
2.Dynamically unstable so viscous damper is used
3.Sensitive to temperature

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Elastic Sensing Elements :
Earlier methods discussed all are for measuring loads at
static or slow varying conditions.
Many Force measuring systems employ some
mechanical elastic member or a combination of
members for measurement of both static as well as
dynamic loads which may vary at frequencies upto
many Khz.

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Diaphragm:

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Diaphragm:

Force Measurement

Force Measurement Methods

Diaphragm:

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Bellows:

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Bellows:

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Bellows:

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Bourdon tubes:

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Bourdon tubes:

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Elastic devices commonly used for direct or indirect
measurement of Force:
1.Coil Springs in tension
2.Proving rings in tension or compression
3.Load cells in tension or compression

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Spring Balances:
When force is applied

X= 8 D3n F/ Gd4
The deflection of spring which is a linear function of force

The displacement is indicated by a pointer and scale

arrangement
Reading accuracy may be improved by using mechanical
magnifying systems.

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Elastic devices commonly used for direct measurement
of Force:
Coil Springs in compression

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Elastic devices commonly used for direct measurement
of Force:
Coil Springs in tension

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Ring:
Steel rings, specially used for material testing where deadweight gauges impractical to use because of material size

X= (/2 4/ )d3 F/ 16 EI
A displacement transducer is attached to the top and
bottom of the proving ring
LVDT is normally used for measurement of deflection
in the order of 1 mm
Strain gauge also can be used to measure the strain
caused by the applied force
supporting 2kN to 2 MN

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Ring:

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Load Cells
Utilize an elastic member as the primary transducer and
strain gauges as secondary transducer
Strain gauge load cells
Peizoelectric load cells

Force Measurement
Strain gauge :
Let us consider a long straight metallic wire of length l
circular cross section with diameter d
When this wire is subjected to a force applied at the
end, a strain will be generated and as a result, the
dimension will change (l changing to l+l, d changing to
d+d and A changing to A+A). For the time being, we
are considering that all the changes are in positive
direction

Force Measurement
Strain gauge :
Now the resistance of the wire:

Force Measurement
Strain gauge :

Force Measurement
Strain gauge :

Force Measurement
Strain gauge :
The change in resistivity of the material due to applied
strain that occurs due to the piezo-resistance property of
the material
All the elements in the 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 of metallic strain gages varies in the
range 1.8 to 2.6

Force Measurement
Strain gauge :
The semiconductor type strain gages have a very large
Gage Factor, in the range of 100-150
The commercially available strain gages have certain
fixed resistance values, such as, 120, 350 , 1000 ,
etc. The manufacturer also specifies the Gage Factor and
the maximum gage current to avoid self-heating
(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

Force Measurement
Strain gauge :

Few alloys qualify for a commercial metallic strain

gage 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
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

Force Measurement

Metallic Strain gauge :

They can be of two types: unbonded and bonded
Capacity 300 MN
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
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

Force Measurement
Metallic Strain gauge :
The metal foil type strain gage is manufactured by photoetching technique
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
It is easier to connect the lead wires with the strain gage
The strain gage in 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.

Force Measurement
Metallic Strain gauge :
Un-Bonded type:

Force Measurement
Metallic Strain gauge :
Bonded type:

Force Measurement
Metallic Strain gauge :
Three element strain gage rosette 45 :

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Semiconductor type strain gauge
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 p-type the resistance increases with positive strain
In n-type the resistance decreases with positive strain
MEMS pressure sensors is now a days becoming
increasingly popular for measurement of pressure

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Semiconductor type strain gauge

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Semiconductor type strain gauge

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Factors considered in the design of load Cell
1. Stiffness of elastic element
2. Optimum positioning of gauges on the element
3. Provision for temperature compensation

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Strain gauge Load Cell

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Strain gauge Load Cell
Normal strain experienced by a strain gage is in the range
of micro strain (typical value: 100 x 10-6)
The change in resistance associated with it is small
R/R=G
If a single strain gage is connected to a wheatstone bridge,
with three fixed resistances, the bridge output voltage is
going to be linear
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

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Strain gauge 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

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Strain gauge Load Cell
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
The longitudinal strain developed in the load cell would be
compressional in nature, and is given by:
= F/AE
where F is the force applied, A is the cross sectional area
and Y is the Youngs modulus of elasticity

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Strain gauge Load Cell
Tensile strain:
= F/AE
where F is the force applied, A is the cross sectional area
and Y is the Youngs modulus of elasticity ; - Poissons
ratio

Force Measurement
Force Measurement Methods
Strain gauge Load Cell
Tensile- Compressive load cell:
Using two strain gauges with 90 deg
E0= (1+ )Gf ei/4
Where E0- Out voltage of the Bridge
Ei Input voltage
Using Four strain gauges with 90 deg
E0= (1+ )Gf ei/2