Module 6: Force Measurement

By
Prof Manisha Bhendale
Strain Gauge for Force measurement:
➢ A Strain gauge (sometimes referred to as a Strain gage) is a sensor whose resistance varies
with applied force.
➢ It converts force, pressure, tension, weight, etc., into a change in electrical resistance which
can then be measured.
➢ When external forces are applied to a stationary object, stress and strain are the result.
➢ Stress is defined as the object's internal resisting forces, and strain is defined as the
displacement and deformation that occur.
➢ The strain gauge is one of the most important sensor of the electrical measurement
technique applied to the measurement of mechanical quantities.
➢ As their name indicates, they are used for the measurement of strain
➢ As a technical term "strain" consists of tensile and compressive strain, distinguished by a
positive or negative sign. Thus, strain gauges can be used to pick up expansion as well as
contraction.
➢ Strain might be caused by forces, pressures, moments, heat, structural changes of the material and
the like.
➢
➢ Measuring strain gauge circuits:
➢ In order to measure strain with a bonded resistance strain gauge, it must be connected to an electric
circuit that is capable of measuring the minute changes in resistance corresponding to strain.
➢ Strain gauge transducers usually employ four strain gauge elements that are electrically connected to
form a Wheatstone bridge circuit.
➢ The Figure shows a typical strain gauge diagram. A Wheatstone bridge is a divided bridge circuit
used for the measurement of static or dynamic electrical resistance.
➢ The output voltage of the Wheatstone bridge is expressed in millivolts output per volt input. The
Wheatstone circuit is also well suited for temperature compensation.
➢ The number of active strain gauges that should be connected to the bridge depends on the
application. For example, it may be useful to connect gauges that are on opposite sides of a beam,
one in compression and the other in tension. In this arrangement, one can effectively double the
bridge output for the same strain.
➢ In installations where all of the arms are connected to strain gauges, temperature compensation is
automatic as resistance change (due to temperature variations) will be the same for all arms of the
bridge.
➢ The force sensor based on strain gauge technology uses so-called strain gauges to measure the applied static
and quasistatic tensile and compressive force.
➢ Force sensors based on strain gauge technology supply extremely precise measurement data and also record
even the smallest of forces drift-free. They are thus especially well suited for measuring static and quasistatic
forces.
➢ The strain gauge structure can be installed in a number of ways – depending on the requirements of the application and
force range.
➢ The larger the nominal force, the larger the force sensor needs to be; this follows from the mechanical setup: for the
measurement of small forces, softer and smaller spring bodies are used than for the measurement of larger forces.
➢ Where are force sensors based on the strain gauge structure used?
➢ Strain gauge force sensors are used in a variety of applications where longevity and thermal stability are
required. Typically, the principle of strain gauges (Wheatstone Bridge circuit) can be designed to operate in a
wide range of environments and typically offers high precision, and repeatable characteristics.
Typical fields of use for this type of sensor include, among others:
● Test bench technology
● Material testing machines
● Industrial process monitoring during press-fitting, joining, riveting, punching, drawing
● Industrial process monitoring in fastening technology (torque measurement)
● Quality assurance
 https://youtu.be/BH8hAWRDTkA: refer the video

Strain gauge force sensors measure applied static and quasi static tensile and
compression forces extremely precisely and practically drift-free.
 LVDT for force measurement:
➢ LVDT’s are frequently used to measure spring deformation in weighing
systems and force measuring transducers (load cells). The displacement
measurement and the characteristics of the spring (force/unit
displacement) are used to calculate the applied force.
➢ A simple weighing system like the one illustrated below will consist of a
weighing pan, displacement sensor, coil springs, and a base.
➢ Both the LVDT and springs are attached to the base, with the core assembly
connected to the weighing pan.
➢ Alignment of the core assembly is precise enough to assure that no rubbing between
the core and transducer ID takes place.
➢ The weighing pan is centered over the LVDT, and mounted on the springs.
➢ Once the system is constructed, the output of the transducer is mechanically or
electrically zeroed.
Torque measurement (Torsion meters):
- Measurement of torque may be necessitated for its own
Figure . Gravity Balance for
Torque Measurement
sake or as a part of power measurement for a rotating shaft.
- In a gravity balance method , the known mass (m) is
moved along the arm so that the value of torque (F x r) equals
the torque (T) which is to be measured. Alternatively,
magnitude of the mass may be varied, keeping the radius
constant. For the two arrangements we have:r α T (m and g
are constant) m α T (r and g are constant)
- Torque transmission through a shaft usually involves a
power source, a power transmitter (shaft), and a power sink
(also called the power absorber or dissipater). Torque
measurement is accomplished by mounting either the source
or the sink in bearing and measuring the reaction force F and
the arm length L. This concept of bearing mounting is called
cradling and this forms the basis of most shaft power
dynamometers.
 Mechanical torsion meter:
Figure. shows the schematics of an elastic torsion bar meter wherein angular deflection of a parallel length of
shaft is used to measure torque. The angular twist over fixed length of the bar is observed on a calibrated disk
(attached to the rotating shaft) by using the stroboscope effect of intermittent viewing and the persistence of
vision. The system gives a varying angle of twist between the driving engine and the driven load as the torque
changes.
Electrical Torsion Meter:
A system using two magnetic or photoelectric transducers, involves two
sets of measurements.

1. A count of impulse from either slotted wheel. This count gives

the frequency or shaft speed
2. A measure of the time between pulses from the two wheels.
These signals are proportional to the twist θ of, and hence torque T
In the shaft.
These 2 signals, T and ω, can be combined to estimate the power being
transmitted by the shaft.
 Torque measurement using Strain -gauge :A general configuration of a strain gauge bridge circuit widely
employed for torque measurement from a rotating shaft is shown in figure

Four bonded-wire strain gauges are mounted on a 45° helix with the axis of the rotation; and are placed in pairs
diametrically opposite. If the gauges are accurately placed and have matched characteristics, the system is
temperature compensated and insensitive o bending and thrust or pulls effects. Any change in the gauge circuit then
results only from torsion deflection
When the shaft is under torsion, gauges 1 and 4 will elongate as a result of the tensile component of a pure shear
stress on one diagonal axis, while gauges 2 and 3 will contract owing to compressive component on the other
diagonal axis. These tensile and compressive principal strains can be measured, and the shaft torque can be
calculated
A main problem of the system is carrying connections from the strain gauges (mounted on the rotating shaft) to a
bridge circuit which is stationary. For slow shaft rotations, the connecting wires are simply wrapped around the shaft.
For continuous and fast shaft rotations, leads from the four junctions of the gauges are led along the shaft to the slip
Density measurement: A densitometer is an instrument having a light-sensitive photoelectric eye for
measuring the density of colored ink to measure and control the optical density of color inks on the
substrate. Densitometers measure the degree of light absorption or opacity of the image. A darker image
absorbs more light which corresponds to a higher optical density. A densitometer does not measure color as
the eye sees it, but instead as the substrate responds to it.
Densitometers are used for measuring color saturation by print professionals, and calibrating printing
equipment. They are also used for making adjustments so outputs are consistent with the colors desired in
the finished products.

Types of Densitometers : Reflection - A reflective densitometer is used to measure opaque

surfaces. Reflection densitometers use red, green and blue colored filters to measure printed
surfaces
* Transmission - A transmission densitometer is used to measure transparent surfaces. Color
transparencies, film negatives and positives are some examples of common transparent surfaces
measured.
* Combination - A densitometer capable of both transmission and reflection densitometric
measurements.

Uses for Densitometers: Densitometers are use for process control of density, dot gain (TVI),
dot area, and ink trap. Densitometer readings will different for different types of substrates.
Viscometer: A viscometer is an instrument used to measure the viscosity of a fluid. For liquids with
viscosities which vary with flow conditions, an instrument called a rheometer is used. Thus, a rheometer can
be considered as a special type of viscometer.[1] Viscometers only measure under one flow condition.

In general, either the fluid remains stationary and an object moves through it, or the object is stationary
and the fluid moves past it. The drag caused by relative motion of the fluid and a surface is a measure
of the viscosity. The flow conditions must have a sufficiently small value of Reynolds number for there
to be laminar flow.

Viscosity is considered as a measurement of the frictional force that appears between

neighboring layers of fluid that are in relative motion. For example, when a fluid is forced to
pass through a tube, it flows faster near the axis of the tube than near its walls
Factors that influence the viscosity measurement are temperature, time, and shear stress.

CAPILLARY VISCOMETER based on Poiseuille's law. This method of measurement, measures

time taken for defined quantity of fluid to flow through a capillary with known diameter and
length.and is then compared with time required to flow by a liquid of known viscosity (usually water).
Viscometer
Several methods are used to measure the viscosity of fluids. These are generally
based on one of three phenomena
1. moving surface in touch with a fluid.
2. object moving through a fluid.
3. fluid flowing through a resistive component.

Types of Viscometers
A viscometer is a piece of equipment for measuring the viscosity of a fluid. There are
three basic practical techniques for determining the viscosity of a Newtonian liquid
a) Capillary viscometer.
b) Rotational viscometer.
c) Falling Ball viscometer.
Capillary Viscometer:
➢ The most common viscometer among the few other capillary tube viscometer is the Ostwald
viscometer, measuring the flow of the liquid through the tube.
➢ The simplest design of capillary viscometer type of model is the Ostwald viscometer. As shown in the
below figure, the viscometer is filled with the solution to be evaluated up to the upper level, or mark A,
then the fluid is sucked past the mark of the bulb through the capillary tube, up to mark B.
➢ As the next step, the fluid passes through a capillary tube under the influence of its hydrostatic
pressure. The time it takes for the fluid to pass from brand B to brand C through the capillary tube is
recorded.
➢ The time is multiplied by an instrument constant to find out the kinematic viscosity of the fluid:
➢ Kinematic viscosity = constant * time
➢ The time it takes for the fluid to pass through the capillary tube is directly proportional to the dynamic
viscosity and inversely proportional to the density of the fluid, and, obtaining the expression:
➢ Time = µ/ρ, µ = Dynamic viscosity.,ρ= Density of the fluid.
➢ Capillary tube measurements need to be restricted to fixed duration, it provides a direct reading of
kinematic viscosity.

https://instrumentationtools.com/what-is-a-viscometer-types-applications-advantages/:
refer this link for the detail types and explanation
Capillary Viscometer arrangements:
Variable Area Viscometer :https://automationforum.co/rotameter-type-vicosmeter/

➢ Rotameter type viscometers are used both industrially and in the pilot plant to measure
the viscosity of the process fluids and continuously indicate, record or control the
process. This type of viscometer is used in a closed flow system.
➢ Viscometer has been successfully used to maximize combustion efficiency by controlling
the viscosity of fuel oils in marine boilers and stationery.

Operating principle :
➢ The operating principle is similar to that of the variable area flow meter, where the
viscous drag force on a float is proportional to the opening of the required orifice
(between the float and the conical tube) to move the fluid through that orifice at a
constant flow rate.
➢ In a flow meter type rotameter, the forces acting on the float are affected by the flow
rate, by the floating weight and the specific gravity of the liquid, and by the viscosity of
the fluid being measured.
Construction and Working of Viscosmeter:
Construction and Working of Viscometer:

To obtain accurate viscosity measurements with rotameter-type viscometers, the flow rate must be constant.
Because this required flow control can be obtained in three different ways, there are three different designs: single
float, double float and concentric float.

The simple float viscometer is a direct and continuous reading viscosity instrument. A positive displacement pump
(other flow control devices can also be used) provides the constant sample flow rate through the instrument

The single float viscometer is also available as a transmitter that is used when screens or remote controls are
required. In this case, the position of the float is detected by the use of an armature attached to the float extension
bar with a magnetic detection device around its outer periphery.

The recommended flow rate is between 0.75 and 2.0 GPM (2.9 and 7.6 l/m).

The glass tube viscometer is rated for 450° F (232° C) temperature and for 90 PSIG (621 kPa) pressure.
Thank you……