Strain Gage

Measurement and Data Acquisition

MEEN 486
Strain Gage
Electrical component
Bonded to material
Strains as material strains
Resistance changes as gage strains
R=120 O (nominal)
Strain Gage
Calibration information
Manufacturer provides gage factor or GF
2.x typical

oL/L
o
R
/
R

m=GF
Strain Gage
Equation

Measure R and change in R
Calculate strain (c)
So how do we measure R?

GF
R R/ o
c =
Measure R
Fluke DMM
Measure R directly
Agilent DMM
Measure R directly
Data to PC if desired
Balance or Deflection
Measure R using Wheatstone Bridge
R1 is the strain gage
R2 is a variable resistor
Balanced:
Eo is Galvanometer
Achieve null i
Manual (slow) or feedback
Deflection:
Eo is voltmeter
Direct! Fast!
Deflection Bridge
Measure voltage output of bridge
Calculate unknown resistance R1 (strain gage)
Equation

Equation for R1 from measured E
o
|
|
.
|

\
|
+

+
=
4 3
3
2 1
1
R R
R
R R
R
E E
i o
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
+
=
4 3
3
4 3
3
2
1
1
R R
R
E
E
R R
R
E
E
R
R
i
o
i
o
Deflection Bridge and High-speed DAQ
Connect USB-6008 to Deflection Bridge
Measure voltage
Calculate R1
10,000 samples per second
12 bit
Recall
Resolution
Quantization error u
0

?
2
= =
M
FSR
E
Q
M
FSR
q
E
Q e
2 * 2
2 / = =
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Strain Gage
Lets try it out
Deflect beam/strain gage
Observe R change
Deflect beam
Observe voltage change on Deflection Bridge
Calculate R1 from Bridge Equation
Calculate c from Strain Gage Equation
How good is the answer?
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