Basics of Strain Gauge

BY
DR. RAJA ROUT
 STRAIN GAUGE

 The strain gauge is a passive, resistive transducer which converts the mechanical elongation
and compression into a resistance change.
 This change in resistance takes place due to variation in length and cross-sectional area of
the gauge wire, when an external force acts on it.
 Also, there is a change in the value of resistivity of
the conductor when it is strained, and this property
is called piezo resistive effect.
 Therefore, resistance strain gauges are also known
as piezoresistive gauges.
 STRAIN GAUGE

Working Principle:
 If a strip of conductive metal is placed
under compressive force (without
buckling), it will broaden and shorten.
 If these stresses are kept within the
elastic limit of the metal strip (so that
the strip does not permanently deform),
the strip can be used as a measuring
element for physical force, the amount
of applied force inferred from
measuring its resistance. This is the
principle of a Strain Gauge.
Video !!
 STRAIN GAUGE

 The electric resistance of a wire having length L, cross

section A, and resistivity ρ is

 When we apply a force F on this cylindrical conductor

with some surface area A, a stress is developed on it
which can be mathematically related as:

𝑭 ∆𝑳
𝝈= =𝑬 𝜺=𝑬
𝑨 𝑳

where E is the Young’s modulus, specific for each material

and temperature-dependent, σ is the mechanical stress,
and ε = ΔL/L is the strain.
 STRAIN GAUGE

 When the wire is stressed longitudinally with a tensile stress of σ, each of the three quantities that
affect R change and therefore to find how ΔR depends upon the material physical quantities, the
expression for R is differentiated with respect to stress σ
𝒅𝑹 𝝆 𝒅 𝑳 𝝆 𝑳 𝒅 𝑨 𝑳 𝒅 𝝆
= × − 𝟐× + × − −(𝟏)
𝒅𝝈 𝑨 𝒅𝝈 𝑨 𝒅𝝈 𝑨 𝒅𝝈
 By dividing equation (1) by R = ρL/A, the equation becomes

𝒅𝑹 𝒅 𝑳 𝒅 𝑨 𝒅 𝝆
= − + − −(𝟐)
𝑹 𝑳 𝑨 𝝆
 For small variations, the above relationship can be written as :

∆𝑹 ∆𝑳 ∆ 𝑨 ∆𝝆
= − + −−(𝟑)
𝑹 𝑳 𝑨 𝝆
 STRAIN GAUGE

 According to Poisson’s law, we have

Lateral Strain 𝒅 𝑫/ 𝑫
𝝂=− =−
Longitudinal Strain 𝒅 𝑳/ 𝑳
 If the wire having cross section of diameter D, we have /4
then
𝒅𝑨 𝒅𝑫 𝒅𝑳
=𝟐 =−𝟐 𝝂 −−(𝟒)
𝑨 𝑫 𝑳

 Thus, equation (2) becomes

𝒅𝑹 𝒅 𝑳 𝒅 𝑳 𝒅𝝆 𝒅 𝑳 𝒅𝝆
= +𝟐𝝂 + =( 𝟏+𝟐 𝝂 ) + −−(𝟓)
𝑹 𝑳 𝑳 𝝆 𝑳 𝝆
 STRAIN GAUGE

Gauge Factor
 The gauge factor is defined as the ratio of per unit change in resistance to per unit change in length.
∆ 𝑹/ 𝑹
𝑮𝒇 =
∆ 𝑳/ 𝑳
 Hence,
∆𝑹 ∆𝑳
=𝑮 𝒇 =𝑮 𝒇 𝜺
𝑹 𝑳
 The gauge factor can be rewritten as
∆ 𝑹/ 𝑹 ∆ 𝝆/ 𝝆 ∆ 𝝆/ 𝝆
𝑮𝒇 = =( 𝟏+𝟐 𝝂 )+ =( 𝟏+𝟐 𝝂 )+ −−(𝟔)
∆ 𝑳/ 𝑳 ∆ 𝑳/ 𝑳 𝜺
 If the change in the value of resistivity of a material when strained is neglected, the gauge factor is
𝑮 𝒇 = (𝟏 +𝟐 𝝂 )
Types of Strain Gauge
• Unbonded Metal Wire Gauge
•Bonded Metal Wire Gauge
•Bonded Metal Foil Gauge
•Bonded Semiconductor Gauge
•Diffused Semiconductor Gauge
Unbonded Metal
Wire Gauge
• Consist of a fixed frame and a movable frame
•The movable frame is attached with fixed frame through four
platinum tungsten alloy having high tensile strength.
• These wires have equal cross-sectional area and length.
• In the presence of compression or expansion the change in
resistance is captured by the deflection in galvanometer.
Bonded Metal Wire
Gauge
• Bonded metal wire or foil gauge are bonded to an elastic element
surface.
• The strain gauge is cemented to the base which is thin sheet of
Teflon or bakelite.
• Wire Strain Gauge: In a metal bonded strain gauge a fine wire
element, about 0.025 mm or less in diameter is looped back and
forth on the base carrier or mounting plate.
• Metal Foil Gauge: The metal foil is pasted on one side of the
plastic The leads are soldered to the metal foil for connecting the
Wheatstone bridge.

Metal Foil strain gauges exhibit a higher gauge factor than wire foil strain gauges
Bonded Semiconductor Gauge
•Backing material electrically isolates the metallic gauge
from the test specimen.
•Polymide or glass reinforced phenolic are two
commonly used backing materials.
•High gauge factor but sensitive to temperature
variation.
Diffused Semiconductor strain gauge
• Silicon is the basic material for semiconductor strain
gauge.
•If doped with boron then p-type strain gauge and if
doped with arsenic then n-type strain gauge is formed
•P-Type semiconductor gauge-> Resistance increases
with applied strain
•N-Type semiconductor gauge-> Resistance decrease
with applied strain

Source: ScienceDirect
 STRAIN GAUGE

 Strain gauge bridge circuit shows the

measured stress by the degree of
discrepancy, and uses a voltmeter in the
center of the bridge to provide an accurate
measurement of that imbalance:
 In this circuit, R1 and R3 are the ratio arms
equal to each other, and R2 is the rheostat
arm has a value equal to the strain gage
resistance.
 When the gauge is unstrained, the bridge is balanced, and voltmeter shows zero value. As
there is a change in resistance of strain gauge, the bridge gets unbalanced and producing an
indication at the voltmeter.
 STRAIN GAUGE

 Advantages of Strain Gauges

 High gauge factor allows measurement of very small strains of the order in microns
 Hysteresis characteristics of strain gauges are excellent
 Fatigue life is good
 Disadvantages:
 They are very sensitive to changes in temperature
 Linearity of the semi-conductor strain gauges is poor
 Applications:
 In the field of mechanical engineering development.
 To measure the stress generated by machinery.
 In the field of component testing of aircraft like; linkages, structural damage etc.
Various applications

Courtesy: sintechnology
 STRAIN GAUGE

Example-1: A 350 Ω strain gage having Gf = 2.1 is attached to an aluminum strut (E = 73 GPa).
The outside diameter of the strut is 50 mm and the inside diameter is 47.5 mm. Calculate the
change in resistance when the strut supports a 1000 kg load.
Solution: We know that, ∆ 𝑹= 𝑹 𝑮 𝜺=𝑹 𝑮 𝑭 / 𝑨
𝒇 𝒇
𝑬

From geometry, the area supporting the force is

191 mm2

Therefore with R= 350 Ω, Gf = 2.1, F = 1000Kg X 9.8 = 9800 N, and E= 73 Gpa

𝟗𝟖𝟎𝟎
∆ 𝑹=𝟑𝟓𝟎 ×𝟐 . 𝟏× −𝟔
=𝟎 .𝟓𝟐 𝜴
𝟏𝟗𝟏 × 𝟏𝟎 ×𝟕𝟑

Which is less than 0.15 % of the initial resistance.

 STRAIN GAUGE

Example-2: A resistance wire strain gauge with a gauge factor of 2 is bonded to a steel
structural member subjected to a stress of 100 MN/m2. The modulus of elasticity of steel is
200 GN/m2. Calculate the percentage change in the value of the gauge resistance due to the
applied stress.
Solution: We know that, strain
𝝈 𝟏𝟎𝟎 ×𝟏𝟎𝟔 −𝟔
𝜺= = =𝟓𝟎𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎 =𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝒎𝒊𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏
𝑬 𝟐 𝟎𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎𝟗

We have,
∆𝑹 −𝟔
=𝑮 𝒇 𝜺=𝟐× 𝟓𝟎𝟎 ×𝟏𝟎 =𝟎 .𝟎𝟎𝟏=𝟎 .𝟏 %
𝑹

Therefore, the change in resistance is only 0.1%.

 PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Question-1: A resistance wire strain gauge uses a soft iron wire of small diameter. The gauge
factor is +4.2. Neglecting the piezoresistive effects, calculate the Poisson's ratio.

Question-2: A compressive force is applied to a structural member. The strain is 5 micro-strain.

Two separate strain gauges are attached to the structural member, one is a nickel wire strain
gauge having a gauge factor of – 12.1 and the other is Nichrome wire strain gauge having a gauge
factor of 2, Calculate the value of resistance of the gauges after they are strained. The resistance
of strain gauges before being strained is 120 Ω. (Hint: the tensile strain taken as positive while
the compressive strain is taken as negative)