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Measurement Lab
7 Feb 2003
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Time response of first-order transducers
Example: thermocouple temperature after being immersed in hot water
T T
i
= + (T - T )(1- e
f i
-t /
)
Measurement Lab
7 Feb 2003
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Time response of first-order transducers
The time it takes for thermocouples voltage to reach 63.2% of its final value is
called time constant. It usually ranges from 0.15 to 3.90 s. Therefore these
thermocouples cannot be used for applications where temperature changes
occur over time interval of fractions of second.
Temperature transducers are described as first-order linear systems on the
assumption that the rate of change of the temperature T of the measuring
transducer is proportional to the difference between T and the final value
according to the relation:
Where k is the proportionality constant. It turns out that the proportionality
constant is the inverse of the time-constant . Thus the equation can be
written as:
dT
dt
T T
f
=
1

( )
) ( T T k
dt
dT
f
=
2
Measurement Lab
7 Feb 2003
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Strain Gages - Strain
Before studying strain gages, we first discuss briefly some related topics, such
as strain, stress, Poissons ratio, and Youngs modulus.
When a force is applied to an elastic body, it deforms. The (normal) strain is
defined as deformation per unit length, as
which is the percentage (relative) change in length. The strain is unit-less by
definition. However, since its value is usually small, it is often expressed in
such words as micro strain (10
-6
), ppm (parts per million), m/m, in/in,
percent strain (10
-2
), etc.
Strain may be either tensile (positive) or compressive (negative).
L
L L +
F
F
Tensile strain
=
L
L
(unit - less)
L
L L
F
F
Compressive
strain
L
L+L
Measurement Lab
7 Feb 2003
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Strain Gages - Poissons Ratio
An elastic body deforms not only along the axis of applied force but also
around its girth (width, thickness).
For instance, a body with tensile force will decrease it girth. This
contraction is a strain in the transverse direction, which is caused due to
a property of the material called a Poissons Ratio, . It is defined as
Where
(axial strain) and (transverse strain)
For most materials, Poissons ratio is between 0.25 and 0.4, with steel
typically around 0.3
L
L L +
D
D D +

=
t
a
L+L
L
D
D-D
L
L
a

=
D
D
t

=
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Measurement Lab
7 Feb 2003
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Strain Gages - Stress
A bar with axial force F along the x-axis experiences the average stress on
the plane of the cross-section, and is defined as
Where F is the axial force and A the cross-sectional area of the body. This
stress is perpendicular to the cross-sectional plane and is called the
(normal) stress. It has the unit of force per unit area, i.e., pressure.
=
F
A
x-axis
F
Cross-
sectional
area A
Free-body
diagram
We consider only
normal stress and
not shear stress
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7 Feb 2003
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Strain Gages - Stress-Strain Relationship
A relationship between stress and strain can be found experimentally and
often has a characteristic shown in the figure below:
Stress
(Pressure)
Strain
(Deformation)
Proportional
limit
Rupture
point
Yield point
Ultimate
point
Slope: E
Stress-Strain Diagram
(Mild Steel)
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Measurement Lab
7 Feb 2003
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Strain Gages - Stress-Strain Relationship
A linear portion of the stress-strain diagram is described by the following
Hookes Law:
where E is the Youngs
modulus, or modulus of
elasticity, which has the
same units as stress
Ex: Find the strain which results from a tensile force of 1000 N applied to a 10
m aluminum beam with a uniform cross-sectional area of 4x10
-4
m
2.
The strain is found as
This can also be written as 36.3 m/m, in/in, etc.
= E
3.45 x10
8
Polyethylene
20.70 x10
10
Steel
11.73 x10
10
Copper
6.89 x10
10
Aluminum
E (N/m
2
) Material
=

=

=

F
A E
10
4 10 6 89 10
3 63 10
3
4 10
5
.
.
l = l = 10m = 0.363 mm
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7 Feb 2003
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Strain Gages
Strain Gages (SGs) are metal or semiconductor elements whose electrical
resistance is made particularly sensitive to strain. They are very versatile
and usually bonded on a surface of an elastic body, which deforms in
response to force, pressure, temperature, etc. Electrical resistance R of a
SG is
Where is the resistivity, which is a property of material, l is the length, and A is
the cross-sectional area. When stressed, a change in resistance occurs
such that
The gage factor (GF) is a relative change in resistance per unit strain, and
defined as
R
A
=
l
) term tive piezoresis ( 2 + + =

t a
A
A
l
l
R
R

(GF) = for most metal SGs

R R
a a
/ /
.
.
.

+ +

1 2 2 0
0 3
0 4
{
123
5
Measurement Lab
7 Feb 2003
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Strain Gages
Lead wires
Photo-etched
metal foil
(measures the average
strain under this area)
Resin film base
Sensitive axis
Ex. Strain of 1 ppm (1 micro-strain) is detectable with commercial equipment.
Find the corresponding resistance change which will result from this strain.
Assume that
To measure such a small change, an instrument more sensitive than the
ordinary ohmmeter is needed. (Wheatstone bridge, which is used for this
purpose, will be explained later.)
R = 120 and (GF) = 2.0.
R GF R = = =

( ) . . 1 10 2 0 120 0 000240
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SG Data
A popular SG (``Advance: 54% copper, 44% nickel and 1% manganese):
(GF): 2.0 to 2.2
unstrained resistance: 1201
linearity: 0.3 % FS
+ (max) = 2% (0.02 tensile strain)
- (max) = 1% (0.01 compressive strain)
temperature coefficient of resistance: 20 ppm/degC
maximum temperature: 150 degC
maximum current: 100mA (to limit self-heating)
The most common strain gages are of the bonded type where the gage
consists of metal foil, which is cut into a grid structure by a photo-etching
process, and a resin film base on which the foil is mounted. The film backing
is attached to the structure to be measured with suitable adhesive such as
nitrocellulose, cyanoacrylate, and phenolic. The gage is usually positioned
such that its active (sensitive) axis is along the direction of the strain to be
measured.
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Measurement Lab
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Gage Factors
0.47 Manganin (Cu 84%, Mn 12%, Ni 4%)
1.9 Monel (Ni 67%, Cu 33%)
2.0 Armour D (Fe 70%, Cr 20%, Al 10%)
2.0 Karma (Ni 74%, Cr 20%, Al 3%, Fe 3%)
2.1 Nichrome V (Ni 80%, Cr 20%)
2.1 Constantan / Advance / Copel (Ni 45%, Cu 55%)
3.6 Isoelastic (Fe 55.5%, Ni 36% Cr 8%, Mn 0.5%)
4.0 Platinum-Tungsten (Pt 92%, W 8%)
5.1 Platinum-Iridium (Pt 95%, Ir 5%)
6.1 Platinum (Pt 100%)
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7 Feb 2003
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GF Temperature Dependence
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Measurement Lab
7 Feb 2003
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Temperature Effects
Besides strain, SGs respond to temperature changes. The effect of
temperature on a SGs resistance can be approximated as
where
is the temperature coefficient of resistance
(around 0.004/degC for most metals),
R
0
is the resistance at a nominal temperature, and
R
T
is the resistance change due to a temperature change.
T
0
T
R
0
R
R
T

0
( )
T
R R T R R T R R + = + = + =
0 0 0 0 0 0
1
Measurement Lab
7 Feb 2003
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Temperature Effects
Ex. Assuming , find the resistance
change to a temperature change of 1 degC.
The resistance change is found to be .
Compare this value with that in the previous example. A
temperature effect can mask the resistance change which
we want to detect. Thus, we need to compensate for such
temperature effect, while try to measure the key resistance
change.
A Wheatstone bridge circuit (or simply a bridge circuit)
converts a resistance change into a voltage signal, which
can be measured with higher accuracy than resistance, and
has a provision for the required temperature compensation.
R
o
= = 120 20 and ppm C
0
/
o
R
T
= =

120 20 10 1 0 0024
6
.
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Measurement Lab
7 Feb 2003
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Transverse Sensitivity
SGs respond not only to strain along their longitudinal (sensitive) axis but also to that
along the transverse axis, to a certain extent. Ideally a SG should not respond to
strain in the transverse direction. The transverse sensitivity factor is an indication
of this characteristic and defined as
This factor is usually expressed in percent. Typical values of K
t
range from 0 to 10%.
(The smaller the better)
Some semiconductor SGs have large GF (100 to 300), which is good, but have
large temperature coefficient, which is not good. Even for metal SGs,
temperature effects are often not negligible.
K
t
= =
transverse (GF)
longitudinal (GF)
(GF)
t
(GF)
a
R R /

= (GF)
a
R R '/

= (GF)
t
Resin film base
Measurement Lab
7 Feb 2003
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History: Strain gage based transducers
Strange gage invented in 1930
The true origin of the strain gage transducer (and the strain
gage itself, for that matter!) is lost in history.
Lord Kelvin reported on the strain-induced resistance change
of electrical wires in the 1800's.
In 1908, Dr. St. Lindeck of Germany suggested what might be
the first bonded strain gage pressure transducer. He was
working with precision resistors which consisted of fine
manganin wire wound on thin-wall brass tubes. The
construction method involved coating the wire with shellac,
and then baking the assembly to firmly bond the wire to the
tube. In a study of factors affecting the stability of such
resistors, St. Lindeck closed off the ends of the tubes,
pressurized them internally to about 800 psi, and found that
the coil changed resistance in a linear fashion with pressure.
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Measurement Lab
7 Feb 2003
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Example Application: Torque Sensor
F. Aghili, M. Buehler, and J. M. Hollerbach, "Design of a Hollow Hexaform
Torque Sensor for Robot Joints," Int. J. Robotics Research, 20(12):967-
976, Dec 2001.
Design of a novel sensor geometry which has high local strain concentrations
(for location strain gages) and high overall stiffness for use in direct drive
robots.