v Ro ee w= oe where V = the bridge excitation voltage AR = small change in resistance of one clement and R = the resistance of the element before the chan lange strain. Ex Fig. 8.5 Resistance-bridge circuit used in strain measurement If the bridge circuit shown in fig. 8.5 is used for the measurement of uniaxial strain, using a single active gauge of resistance R,, the unloaded Output voltage becomes = e a er 4 Rk I 2 = K. 2 from equation 8.1 . Al w= Fx KE A or > aconstant x Ti ‘ small i.e. the output voltage is proportional to mechanical strain for Ae changes of gauge resistance, the change being usually of the order of ! of the unstrained resistance value Ry 148; F ! ‘seem that high sensitivity is possible by using a high gauge ‘and/or a large value of excitation voltage, In practice the gauge "js determined by the type of gauge used, foil and wire gauges : factors of about 2 and semiconductor gauges having typical ¢ factors of about —100 to +200, The value of the excitation voltage d by the gauge manufacturer's recommended operating current yr power rating for the gauge, typical values being 15mA and 20mW f ively. The recommendations therefore impose restrictions on the maximum value of excitation voltage that may be used. Example 8.5 A single 1000 resistance strain gauge, having a gauge [actor Of2, is mounted on a steel bar and is connected into a symmetrical bridge circuit. When the steel bar is subjected to a tensile force, the output Voltage of the unloaded bridge is Smv. If the recommended operating Current of the gauge is ISmA, determine the value of the mechanical Strain, Excitation voltage V= 2 * x 1000 =3V From equation 8.2 we have Ws a «x K> y Al _ 4vs. thus strain = = Te My = 4x5x107V 3Vx2 = 3.333 x 10% = 3333p-strain Example 8.6 If in example 8.5 the gauge factor was 1.9 and the strain input was 4000y-strain, determine the value of output voltage corres- ponding to the new strain input. ‘Using equation 8.2, 5 Vv _Al aT aoe 1.9 x 4000 x 10°° =5.7mV‘A 1000 resistance strain gauge has a recom, mple 8.7 Example ower rating of 40mW, Determine the excitation vo Deby usine © B Prosi neni nde eae connected into the s trical by toh the gauge is connecte ie symmetrical bridge shown a. cerns i ical bridge shown in i) by arrang P= watts 3.8.1 Self-te is Gelf-tempere material suc whose temp. when the gal ‘of any tem ~ V = VRP volts voltage across one gauge is given by ¥: 1000 x oy Unfortunat: 1000 complete of =2V must be ex response to Since there are two gauges in series in cach parallel path, the tor also on the excitation voltage will be twice the voltage per gauge, i.e. 4V " oweearbon 1) compensat 8.7.3 A.C. or dc. excitation? The bridge signal output voltage is rarely large enough for accur 8.8.2 ‘Dun analysis of strain, and the signal is therefore conditioned before being | fee demi to the recording device. The type of conditioner usually depends on th Se i] Both gave type of measurement to be performed ‘There are various techniques for the processing of electrical normally 5 derived from the strain gauges connected in bridge circuits. Three these methods are as follows: a) High-frequency a.c. excitation of the bridge. Usually used when on the static component of strain is being measured b) D.C. excitation of the bridge. Used when only the dynamic strains be measured i ¢) When both static and high-frequency dynamic strain are to be measured simultaneously, it appears that the best approach is & employ d.c. excitation of the bridge followed by a low-drift wide-bane directly coupled amplifier. ‘The main advantage of using the a.c.-excited system is that the amplifiers are simple and inexpensive, but the dynamic measurements restricted since in general the carrier frequencies (usually 10 3kHz) must be approximately ten times the highest frequency component o! dynamic strain. ~ the Fig. 8.6 | 8.8 Temperature compensation : If a resistance strain gauge is subjected to a changing temperature. | 4 The a e variation, This a ~ dummy: resistance alters, thereby producing an output-voltag tp ‘apparent strain’ due to temperature effects is undesirable and ma overcome either not sens 150.by using self-temperature., ip) by wsing dummy" pauper O™Pensated gauge ip) byattanging the bridge sg oh, er aie g.8.1 Self-temperature-compen, Gelf-temperature-compensateq material such as nickel-copper, SUE iwhiose temperature coefficients of pocig eo OF treated sil when the gauge is bonded to a hoy of SAE AN expansion sien ne tof any temperature change on tne Pood material, the total efter Unfortunately the temperature compos wee ‘tance is negligible. complete operating range o pee uniform over the must be exercised in the selection of «. gree of judgement response to temperature. This depends not only on wee mim also on the temperature range. For example, anne ee material ut Jow-carbon steel at high temperatures will ae ie tor use on gompensated on the same material at very low temperatures Bauges may be nufactured from ¢ alloy {ona ation is not and some de @ particul: $.8.2 ‘Dummy’ gauges The dummy -gauge method of compensation is accomplished by using wo gauges. one in cach adjoining arm of the bridge circ Both gauges are matched in terms of g factor a normally selected from the same production batch hown in fig. 8.6 d resistance and are ‘ ¢ > ’ a Fig. 8.6 Dummy-e mp id the terial or body an ted on the test mater it does mounted on te et guch a way that it docs pine active nes On es of similar material 2, is mounted € arate piece ¢ auge Ryis™ arate PI ses, or on 2 SEP principal sires dummy £ pot sense the 1not subjected to the strain being measured but placed near enough sy the ‘active’ and “dummy” gauges sense the same temperature" temperature variations will have the same effect on both gauzes.q\0 bridge output voltage will remain unchanged as the temperature yy," §.8.3 Bridge arrangement | ‘This method of compensation is best illustrated by a particular exam Assume that the cantilever shown in fig. 8.7 has Wo identical a Dummy gauges jas} Strain cap) ‘gouge Strain ey Load Fig. 8.7 Loaded cantilever with attached strain gauges mounted onit. If the gauges are connected in adjacent arms of the bridg temperature compensation takes place since any temperature change not vary the output voltage. If, however, a load is applied to bend th cantilever, the upper gauge A, will be in extension and the lower g A: will be in compression. The resistance of A, will thus rise, while resistance of A) will fall by the same amount. The effect on the ouip voltage is the same as it would be if A» remained unchanged and A changed by twice the amount. The output voltage is thus 8 Remember this for bending strains, dealt with in more detail in section BALL 8.9 Bridge balancing In chapter 4 it was shown that the condition for balance of a Wheatstone bridge circuit is RRs Ry R; Null-balancing bridges used in strain measurement employ @ eres resistor having a scale calibrated in terms of strain. The am 2 I apparen seale. Th in fig. 8.8 8.9.1 Ap A potent with the the brid icrea decreasi balance: gauges 3 Fig. 8.3 8.9.2 The va circuit resista total Exam actos that it The re the sh“apparent strain’ to balance the bridge may then be read directly from the le. The two most common methods of balancing the bridge are shown fig. 8.8 and are (i) apex balancing and (ii) shunt balancing 8.9.1 Apex balancing A potentiometer, RVI, whose resistance is usually very small compared with the resis aalue of the strain guage, is connected at one apex of the bridge circuit shown in fig. 8.8. Movement of the potentiometer wiper increases the resistance of one arm of the bridge while simultancously decreasing the re: we in the other arm. In this way th bridge may be balanced to compensate for the differences in the resistance values of the gauges and associated fixed resistors, Fig. 8.8 Apex and shunt balancing int balancing ’ : at Be lGe of ihe charting or parallel resistors Ry and Reintbe balancing circuit shown in fig, 8.8 are very high compared ae fe earn resistance value. This means that the parallel aaa Sey en total resistance of their associated bridge arms by ly : be placed i he shunting resistor to etermine the value oft : eee ero fein gauge connected in a gyrnmetrcal bridge ¢ that its resistance apparently changes by 1%. a fi The resistance of the parallel combination of the the shunt resistor is be 1200 strain gauge and1 Pale 1209) = 118,80. 1200 (im 1200 118.80 shunting-resistor value = F550 ian = 118800 = 1L.88ko 8.10 Types of circuit arrangement Bridge circuits can be used in any of the following configurations a) One active gauge only. This simple installation is suitable on) dynamic measurements. active gauge with a temperature-compensating (dummy) gay The dummy gauge is mounted so that it is insensitive to princip strains. Dummies mounted on loosely attached plates are used wh, no transmission of train ispermissible, but temperature compens.atio, may be imperfect. Low output. ©) Two active gauges and two dummy gauges. Moderate output wi temperature compensation. d) Two active gauges for bending strain only. Moderate output, but », temperature compensation, since the active gauges are in adj arms of the bridge. e) Two gauges for longitudinal strain only. High output temperature compensation. f) Two active gauges for torsional strain. High output with temperate compensation. g) Four active gauges. Highest output with temperature compensatic ‘The bridge circuits are often referred to in the following manner i) quarter bridge — where only one strain gauge is used, the other three elements being fixed resistors; ii) half bridge — where two of the elements are strain gauges, the othe two being fixed resistors. iii) full bridge — where all four elements of the bridge are strain gauges. 8.11 Applications ‘The following three examples, illustrated in figs 8.9 and 8.10, show how the gauge mounting position and appropriate bridge-circuit connection may be used to measure the following strains in a loaded cantilever: i) bending strain, li) direct strain, iii) shear and torsional strain. For each of these three examples, using a half bridge with the shown below, it is possible to determine the output voltage in resistance changes when the cantilever is loaded. notation terms of 154 In the ¢ the notati A D AR R V subscrip Ge t 8.11.1 Whent Fig. 8 ————a—In the diagrams shown in figs 8.9 and 8.10 and the following analysis, the notation used is as follows: A active gauge D = dummy gauge e = strain AR = resistance change R= unstrained resistanee of gauge 4 = output-voltage change v= jon voltage subscripts: d = direct b = bending t = temperature s = shear 8.1L.1 Bending strain Sica the cantilever is loaded as shown in fig. 8.7, the gauge A, will be in tension and the gauge A> will be in compression. ‘The gauges are Connected in opposite arms of the bridge. as shown in fig. 8.9(a) Tf the temperature increases, both gauges will be subjec d to sensed by each gauge will temperature-induced strain, The strains therefore be: strain in Ar = eaten + & ey en tes strain Fig. 89 Bridge circvit for (a) bending strain and ip) aireNote the change of sign caused by the difference between comp, tensile strains. - Sink equation 4.16, we find that the output voltage will vi (Ay + ARy | AR, ARy AR, ‘ AR, WG Ra Rai Ra (ia Ra Rx )| ARy Kone R € Biven | Wf Ry = Rare R i.e, the output voltage is a function of only the bending component jn loaded cantilever, since direct and temperature effects are cancel) 8.11.2 Direct strain When the cantilever shown in fig, 8.7 is Ic , the gauge A, will tension and gauge A. will be in compression, The dummy gauges Ds are connected in series in the bridge arm adjacent to that in wt the active gauges A and A) are connected, as shown in fig. 8.9(b). In way full temperature compensation is provided as long as the temp tures of the dummy and active gauges remain identical. The strains sensed by cach gauge will therefore be strainin A; = este, +e, strain in A: = eu —e, +e strain in Di = re strain in D. = +e Using equation 4.16 once again, the output voltage will be g Vv ee AR, | AR, ) ARy AR, , AR, vy = ~|(——- +5 +5] + = + OR) 2R 2k ( PR\2R) 2R ( AR, , AR, mee (eee 2R 2R if the unstrained resistances of the active gauges A, and A> and the dummy gauges D, and D, = R. VARs 4°°R et is half the sensitivity of the previous case considered in sectio’ wy = 8.11.3 Shear and torsional strain The strain gauges are mounted on opposite sides of the cantilever at gor to each other, as shown in fig. 8.10, and are connected in adjacent arms 0! the bridge circuit with two gauges acting at 45° to the axis of to rsion. 156 Fig. 8.10 then, u 8.12 4 The bi using balan causes a con used ; demo. 4° ‘f-yement for shear and torsional strain gauge ar Fig, 8.10 Stra Ife4 is the strain due to direct loading registered at 45° to the beam axis. then, using equation 4.16 again, the output voltage will be given by NI A) _ AR, AR's | AR, Ry Rat Re Ra ca) and, if Ray= Ra =R V. AR, Paar i.e, the same sensitivity as the bending-strain example ve = 8.12 A complete strain-measuring system ‘am of fig, 8.11 shows a complete strain-measuring system The block diagr: using a.c. excitation of the bridge. The bridge uses RV 1 for resistive apex balancing and a capacitor C which balances out the phase differences caused by the inductance of the connecting wires. The oscillator provides § constant-amplitude high-frequency signal, typically 3kH2, which is ised as the bridge excitation voltage and the reference voltage for the demodulation. Modulated carrier Output strain foe ef ae Vi Ac. [| ee je) Recorder amplifier Lon ae | | ce lt | — ze Fig. 8.11 A complete strain-measuring system 157nical strain variations are applied, the bridge genera, ulated signal which is amplified before demouy he original form of the physical signal {rt and the reference signal ensures ton When mecha amplitude-mod The demodulator extr amplitude-modulated carr demodulator is phase-sensitive Exercises on chapter 8 T Define ‘gauge factor’ of a resistance strain gauge Ifa resistance strain gauge undergoes a 1% change in resistanc an input of §000jz-strain, determine its gauge factor, If in usin, culate the sense Strain gauge you assumed a gauge factor of 1.9. magnitude of the error in your measurement. [2, +5%] 2 Atypical strain-gauge specification is as follows: a) Gauge resistance 1509 nominal £0.5% b) Gauge factor 2 with 0.2% tolerance c) Fatigue life 10” cycles d) Transverse sensitivity 0.3% e) Drift 10,-str hat O.7max, operating temperature Explain the meaning and significance of each term. 3 A bridge uses one active gauge. The gauge factor is 1.4. If 1 attached to a low-carbon-steel bar of diameter 2cm, what will be ouput voltage of the bridge when a load of 850kg is applied in tens The bridge is supplied at SV and is initially balanced. Assume £ low-carbon steel to be 205 x 10°N/m*. [231 4V] 4 A symmetrical bridge uses an active gauge of resistance 200) ‘Assuming that the bridge has an output impedance of 200.22, determine output voltage indicated on each of the instruments below when th active gauge is subjected to a strain of 350p-strain. The bridge is suppl at 6V, and the gauge factor is 2. Instrument (a) has an input impedance 200000; (b) has an input impedance of 1000Q; (c) has an in impedance of 2500. [1.04mV, 0.875 mV; 0.583mV] 5 A particular gauge must not dissipate more than 100mW duri period ofa test. Ifits resistance is 1500, what is the maximum voltage that can be applied to the bridge? [7.75 V] 2 Fo “ 9.1 Definition Force is define A for which 9.2 Units From Newto and a The unit unit mass In SI unit is the metre force is the Foree is on acceleratio be measur known stat range of s used for tt 9.3 Measi Force me from com systems it who are | meet g01 overfill te The pr pressure) differente= w(e-y) je. €='eXertor or YX deviation It is important that the output movement at y i arranyea in the opposite direction to the input x, ic.) ml '08 arrangement. ae Example 14.1 Calculate the value of € for the differentia) 14.4, ifa = 2b. pe pee rh 2b +b (@b+by” = ta(x—2y) Thus itis only with a = b that a true error signal is obtained 14.1.2 Potentiometers Potentiometers are used in many dc. electrical positioning systems. They consist of a pair of matched resistance potentins. Operating on the null-balance principle. The sliders are driven ,, 4 input and output shafts of the control system as illustrated in fig, 14 5\ Output shaft Excitation volts Fig. 14.5 Error detection by potentiometers If the same voltage is applied to each of the potentiometer windings." error voltage is generated which is proportional to the relative pos'io" of the wipers, We have € = K,(0,— 0.) where 0, = input-shaft position 6, = output-shaft position and K, = potentiometer sensitivity (volts/degree) When the input and output shafts are aligned, ¢ voltage ¢ is zero; i.e. null balance is achieved @, and the ert designe ters en _ Anott 14.2 4 items q) electric tion 0 erating ii) Error vott 14.1.3. Synch Synchros are 1 electrical ‘driving dials.” a.c. electricalINE sery< ntiometers ven by the g. 14.5 olts ¢ dings. positions ‘of the limitations of wi, sed in chapter 3, "ound Perctos the vtec cal Paeuah yeninetn Bentrol systems. To mininac O¥tee of igo REMeriHed ad Bisibe employed. "is, povemteeUFACy when they inher problem encount Wommeters with ver Hersiare used is that the maxing, si 9307, otherwise dead-rones (4,0 t recne stems TequITINE continuo 6S °! "9 signal) wil ye ‘ Seimally designed potentiometer, At" § ee that tentiometers employing internal cise” *. $ han 360” need Faggaone. Another method isto use speci cial mul " 14.2 A precision conductive-py antics potentiometer fy fallowing items quoted in its specification 4) actual electrical travel 355° + 2 b) resistance 2k ¢) resolution 0.002% @) power rating 2.5Wat +40°C, derating to 0W @) maximum applied volts at 2.5 W load Sn os Two of these potentiometers are used on the in @ position servo-system. If a voltage equal to 75% allowable is applied to the coils of both potentiomete fentiometer sensitivity and (ji) the expected error vol fhisalignment of 3° between the input and output shaft position. i) Voltage applied = 0.75 x 70V =52:5V Potentiometer sensitivity K, - WD) Error voltage = K,, x misalignment = 0. 1S V/degree * = 0.45V 14.1.3 Synchros mentiomerers ane Synchros are the a.c. ¢quivaleM rio and 1OrN put rat A.¢. electrical systems for data trans rei pul and oute driving dials. They are 2!s° “ey rotating nyse ys! ss i.e. electrical servo-syste™s *plfers can Be cmployey any And th, p phhase-sensitive rectifiers are , Recess, sed rational amp al amplifiers, or “op. amps" te, necial characteristics as Outlined jn ( BF cmoles i chapter 4.4.6.) amplit rection by employing the circuit They can A | + de of n by an operational amplifier vn in oe Applying the same analysis as in chapter 4, the input current a ‘amplifier can be assumed to be negligible, and ch : tts = ic tant n of otor R, iced ee R, v a } If i 0 dv, is made eq coil TER, = R, = Rz, v) is made equal to input (#,). and | output (~8,), we have ae % = —(0,-@,) a oo ter, as shown an inverter, as s! "The negative sign can be removed by using 2! j example 14.3, sjectrical control systems and Operational amplifiers are used in cle r tems ‘comparison elements in many hydraulic po 8 R 2 , = IMO, R Voltage proportional to the in is Proportional to the output digplaceme ill @ negative sense. Assuming the f : i if hrou, line the amplification thro" Of the error output can be inverte! aN