MEASUREMENTS AND

INSTRUMENTATION
ELE 4101
LECTURE XV
Lecturer: Jomo N. Gill

CONCEPTS TO BE EXAMINED

Strain

The strain gauge

Measurements using strain gauges

Temperature compensation

STRAIN

Strain is the amount of deformation of a body

due to an applied force. More specifically, strain
() is defined as the fractional change in length,
as shown in Figure 1

Fig. 1
3

contd

Strain can be positive (tensile) or negative

(compressive). Strain is expressed in in/in or
mm/mm. In practice, the magnitude of the
measured strain is very small. Therefore, strain
is often expressed as microstrain (), which is
106
The resistance of the metallic bar of Fig. 1 is
given by:

l
R ,
A

where the quantities have their usual meanings

4

contd

A compressive force causes the length of the

metallic bar to decrease and its area to
increase. This in turn causes the resistance of
the bar to decrease. However, the volume of
the bar does not change as it is compressed.

The new resistance of the bar would be given

by:

l l
R R
,
A A

contd

It can be shown that the change in resistance is

given by:

l
R GF.R ,
l
R / R
or GF
l / l
R / R

where GF is the gauge factor

6

contd

For metals, GF~2. The GF is a measure of the

sensitivity of the strain gauge

A larger GF signifies a larger change in

resistance for a given strain, and a larger
resistance is easier to measure

Semiconductor strain gauges have much higher

GFs than metallic strain gauges, but they are
very sensitive to temperature variations and are
often non-linear
7

THE STRAIN GAUGE

A strain gauge is usually a thin metallic

conductor that is firmly attached to a solid
object to detect strain in the object. It changes
its resistance as it is stretched or compressed.
The change in resistance is measured in a
bridge circuit

There are two types of strain gauge:

the unbonded type
the bonded type
8

THE BONDED STRAIN GAUGE

This strain gauge consists of a very fine wire or,

more commonly, metallic foil arranged in a grid
pattern

 contd

The grid pattern maximizes the amount of

metallic wire or foil subject to strain in the
parallel direction, while minimising the strain in
the perpendicular direction

The grid is bonded to a thin backing, called the

carrier, which is attached directly to the test
specimen. Therefore, the strain experienced by
the test specimen is transferred directly to the
strain gauge, which responds with a linear
change in electrical resistance
10

MEASUREMENTS USING
STRAIN GAUGES

Wheatstone bridges are employed to detect the

very small resistance change in strain gauges

The strain gauge is used in one or more arms of

the bridge, while the source does not usually
exceed 15 V, in order to guard against selfheating of the gauges

Temperature compensation is factored into the

design
because
temperature
influences
resistance
11

QUARTER BRIDGE
CONFIGURATION

Such a bridge has an active strain gauge, and a

dummy strain gauge included for temperature
compensation only

12

contd

To determine the strain, Vo with no strain is

observed; the bridge can then be balanced at
this point by adjusting one of the bridge
resistors.

The gauge is then subject to strain and the

output voltage is again observed.

The strain is given by:

4Vr

GF(1 2Vr )
13

contd
where

Vout
Vout
Vr

Vin strained
Vin unstrained

The equation for strain factors in non-linearity

of the bridge. If we neglect this non-linearity
and assume the bridge is initially balanced
(Vout, unstrained = 0 V, then . . . .
14

contd

The strain can be approximated as:

4Vout

GFVin
Worked example on strain gauge

15

HALF BRIDGE
CONFIGURATION

Is more sensitive than the quarter bridge

Is used for measuring bending beams

Utilises 2 strain gauges one in tension and the

other in compression, as shown in the Figure

16

 contd

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
minimised

The sensitivity of the half bridge is twice that of

the quarter bridge

17

 contd

The strain can be approximated as:

2Vout

GFVin

18

FULL BRIDGE
CONFIGURATION

Utilises active gauges in all four arms

Two strain gauges in opposite diagonals are in

tension and the other two are in compression

Additional
temperature
compensation
is
accomplished
by
placing
compensation
elements in the excitation lines and output
junctions

19

 contd

The strain can be approximated as:

Vout

GFVin

20

CONFIGURABLE GAUGES
Manufacturers of strain equipment have
developed instrumentation that performs the
basic functions necessary for making a strain
measurement
These enable the user to:
set the GF directly into the arm resistance
scale the output signal
zero the bridge
calibrate the instrument
supply the excitation voltage
complete the various possible configurations 21

THE P3500 STRAIN

INDICATOR

22