Engineering measurements laboratory

(0904424)
Short laboratory report

School of Engineering
The University of Jordan, Amman-Jordan

Strain gauge measurements

by

Faai Osama Aldawood( 0183647)

Yara Adel AlWaraydat( 0183929)
Laith Mahmoud Alfahmawi( 0194768)
Qusai Saeed Aburayya( 0196210)
Mayar Salah Jubran( 0199946)

Section #:2

March 2023
Abstract
The basic experimental concepts of strain gauge measurement devices were developed on an
elastic beam made of steel, simple yet major components were present in the experiment, and
the goal was to eventually calculate the hysteresis losses using the output signal referenced to the
feed signal, then prove that the experimental stress differs in magnitude with the theoretical
stress.

This was conducted by connecting the measuring amplifier and the strain-gauge circuit to the
beam, then observations were made after the beam was held by loadings varying from 0-5.5
nektons for the sake of measuring the stresses as output voltage signals.

The most important conclusion is that even as accurate as digital devices may be, even these
kinds of measurement devices have errors anyhow, so on a wider scale, any small amount of
disturbance or even any small impurities that any measurement device or component comes
across, might lead to catastrophic events in industrial or pedestrian sites for engineering
applications, it is of importance to say that there were differences between the experimental and
theoretical values of stresses and strains, where in this experiment, the error percentage of the
stresses turned out to be(6.52%), which can say a lot about the errors that may arise in
experimental analysis.

I
Nomenclature

b beam width (mm)

E Modulus of elasticity (Pa)

k Strain-gauge sensitivity factor [ND]
L Lever arm (mm)
Mb Bending moment (N.mm2)
UA The output voltage signal (mV)
UE The feed voltage signal (V)

Wy Section modulus (mm3)

ε longitudinal strain [ND]
σ Normal stress (N/mm2)

Subscripts

Exp Experimental

Theo Theoretical

II
 Objective

The objective of this experiment is to observe the errors in a strain gauge measuring device and
how the strain gauge devices are used for measuring, then calculate the hysteresis losses using the
data results.

Experimental Setup and Procedure

In this section, the setup shown below in Figure (1) and (2), and the procedure of the experiment
will be discussed, starting with the setup:

The hook of the weight

Wheatstone bridge
Measuring amplifier

Figure (2): The holder and the weight used

Figure (1): The strain gauge setup

1- The holder was attached to the hook and the reading with the weight of the holder alone
as the load was observed and taken.
2- After that, weights were added to the holder gradually for each reading 2N, 3N, 4.5N, and
5.5N, and the reading of the output to feed voltage ratio was observed for each load.

1
 3- And for the last step, weights were removed gradually, and the readings for a decrease of
compressive stress and load were observed until all the weights and the handle were
removed, this was essential to calculate the hysteresis errors in the readings of the device.

Data observations
Given Data:
L=250 mm
hbeam =4.75 mm bbeam=19.75mm.
Esteel = 210000 N/mm2.
mV
Uncertainty in voltage reading(V) = ± 0.001
V∗10−3
Uncertainty in beam’s width(b) = ± 0.01 𝑚𝑚

Table (1): the observed data for the Bending Test

Bending experiment, lever arm 250 mm

Load in 0 1 2 3 4.5 5.5
Newtons (holder only)
Reading in 0.000 - 0.035 - 0.070 - 0.104 - 0.157 - 0.192
mV/V.10-3
(Increasing
load)
Reading in 0.000 - 0.035 - 0.070 - 0.105 - 0.157 - 0.192
mV/V.10-3
(decreasing
load)

Sample of Calculation:
- Take 2N load as an example
The experimental strain was found using the following equation

1 𝑈𝐴
ε=
𝑘 𝑈𝐸
Where:

K: Sensitivity constant = 2.05

2
𝑈𝐴
: The output signal 𝑈𝐴 of the measuring bridge referenced to the feed voltage 𝑈𝐸 ,
𝑈𝐸
(The reading taken from the device)
1
ε = 2.05 ∗ −0.070 ∗ 10−3
= - 0.03415 * 10-3

- For Experimental Stress the following equation was used

σ=ε∗𝐸

Where E the Modulus of Elasticity and its = 210000N/mm2 for steel.

σ = −0.03415 ∗ 10−3 ∗ 2100000

= -7.1715 N/mm2

- finding theoretical stress

𝑀
σth = 𝑊𝑏 , where:
𝑦
𝑀𝑏 : Bending moment.
𝑊𝑦 : Section modulus
𝑏ℎ2 19.75∗4.752
𝑊𝑦 = = = 74.268 mm3
6 6
2∗250
σth =- 74.268 = - 6.7324

- Calculating the percentage of error between the theoretical and experimental values:

σ𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜 − σ𝑒𝑥𝑝
| | ∗ 100%
σ𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜

−6.7324 + 7.1715
| | ∗ 100%
−6.7324

Uncertainty analysis

1 UA
ε=
k UE
−0.035
𝜀 = 2.05 = - 0.01707
𝑈𝐴
= (−0.035 ± .100 )𝑚𝑉/𝑉
𝑈𝐸
Max/Min method :

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Maximum :
1
𝜀 = 2.05 ∗ (−.035 + .001)= - 0.01658
Minimum :
1
𝜀= ∗ (−.035 − .001) = −0.017561
2.05

−0.01658 − (−0.017561)
𝛿𝜀 = = ±.00049
2
𝜀 = (0.01707 ± 0.00049) = 2.87%
Limiting error :
𝑈
𝛿𝜀 𝛿 𝑈𝐴 𝛿𝑘
= ±( 𝐸 + )
𝜀 𝑈𝐴 𝑘
𝑈𝐸
𝛿𝜀 0.001
= ±( + 0) = ±0.02857
𝜀 . 035

Results and discussion

As seen in figure(3), it can be denoted and obviously observed that the test specimen
undergoes compressive stress as far as the load increases throughout the experiment since
the output voltage signal referred to the feed voltage turns out to be negative in
magnitude whilst it increases in that direction.

0.05
The output singla UA referenced

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

-0.05
to the feed voltage
UE(mV/V.10^3)

-0.1

-0.15
y = -0.0349x + 8E-06
-0.2 R² = 1

-0.25
Load(N)

Figure (3): Variation of the output signal with the weight load

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 Observing the experimental stress and theoretical stress at high precision in table(2),
there is a slight difference between the two values as it is shown as an error percentage in
the sample calculation section above. This has4to do with sources of error that occur due
to errors in the components used in the experiment, such as the beam, it is logical that
theoretical values can never be the same as the experimental values since theoretical
concepts are mostly idealized in a lot of mechanical analyses.

Table (2): Calculated data for the Bending Test

Load in 0 1 2 3 4.5 5.5

Newtons
(UA/UE) 0 -0.035 -0.070 -0.104 -0.157 -0.192
Reading in
mV/V.10−3
Experimental 0 -3.5847 -7.1715 -10.6533 -16.0839 -19.6686
strain
𝜖𝑒𝑥𝑝 (. 10−3 )
Experimental 0 -3.5853 -7.17073 -10.65366 -16.08293 -19.66829
stress 𝜎𝑒𝑥𝑝
𝑁
(𝑚𝑚2 )
Theoretical 0 -3.3662 -6.7324 -10.0986 -15.1478 -18.5140
strain
𝜖𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑜 (.10−6 )
Theoretical 0 -3.3661873 -6.7323746 -10.098562 -15.147843 -18.51403
stress
𝑁
σtheo (𝑚𝑚2 )

Now the hysteresis error, which is the error of the readings between the case of load
increasing and load decreasing as barely shown in figure(4), can be determined by
calculating the value across the two graphs. There were barely any hysteresis losses in
this experiment, and it would be almost impossible to calculate the error by only
observing figure (4).

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 0.05

referenced to the feed voltage

0

The output singla UA

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Variation of the output

UE(mV/V.10^3)
-0.05 signal tofeed ratio with
y = -0.0349x + 8E-06
R² = 1 a gradual increase in
-0.1 the load
variation of the output
-0.15
y = -0.0349x - 0.0001 signal to feedratio with
R² = 1 a gradual decrease in
-0.2
the load
-0.25
Load(Newtons)

Figure (4): Variation of the output signal with the weight load

There are a lot of strain gauges ‘types, since it differs from application to another, for
instance, there are photoelectric gauges, these are considered revolutionary in industries
such as automotive, material handling, etc..

Another types are those that are used in the aerospace industry, they can monitor stresses
that act upon the fuselage of the aircraft, and can monitor other major components of an
aerospace design.

Conclusion
Since the main goal of this experiment was finding the error for the measurement data,
there was a bit of a hardship during the observation of data, the device should have given
a visible error, but as shown in Figure (4) above, there was barely an error, which might
be illogical to some extent, eventually though, the experiment was done on that basis, and
ideas were conceived from brief measurements.
This highlighted the technology and technical developments that are coming up every
now and then, how some electronic measurement devices can get some accurate readings
on a mechanical system.
Even though the errors are almost seen as negligible, this isn’t true most of the time.