Experimental Stress Analysis

Strain Gauges
MEC 445
Mechanical Engineering
Amrita Vishwavidyapeetham
Electrical Resistance Strain Gauges
The principle of electrical resistance strain gauge is that the
electrical resistance of a conductor changes proportionally to any
strain applied to it.

Lord Kelvin in 1856 first reported on the relationship between
strain and resistance of wire conductors.

During 1930s Simmons at California Institute of Tech and Ruge
at MIT made practical use of it by bonding small diameter wires
to a structure to measure surface strain.

The strain gauges developed by them were known as SR-4
Gauges.
Strain Sensitivity of a Wire
Resistance of a conductor can be written as


Where is the specific resistance L is the length of the conductor, and A is the cross
sectional area of the conductor

To find out the change in resistance we differentiate the above


If the wire diameter is D, the change in area can be calculated as

.
Strain Sensitivity of a Wire
From the definition of Poissons ratio we can write


Hence






Strain sensitivity of metallic strain gauges 2


.
Strain Gauge Construction
SR-4 measured 7000 with

Minimum resistance required from instrumentation point of
view is 100

For a dia of .025mm and R/L =1000 we need 100 mm of
wire.

Even for a reasonably thin wire we need very lengthy wire to
have a base resistance of 100

Scope study is measuring strain at a point. Its not possible to
measure strain at a point using a long wire.


Strain Gauge Construction

Gauges are formed by folded grids etched on metal foil.

We are measuring the strain along the gauge length

Strain gauges are available only at certain values

Thin metal foils are very fragile. Proper backing is
necessary.

The backing allows proper alignment and supports the lead
wires


Strain Gauge Construction
Different type of grid patterns are available for different
application






Standard resistances available are 120,350

Gauge factor must be measured experimentally

Gauge Length
The gauge length of a strain gauge is the active or strain sensitive
length of the grid

The gauge measures the axial strain in the direction of the gauge
length.

The end loops and solder tabs are insensitive to strain because of
their relatively large cross-sectional area and low electrical
resistance.

Most common strain gauges have 3 mm gauge length and these
are good enough for a large verity of problems.


Selection of Gauge Length
Thumb rule in selection of gauge length

Selection of gauge length is very important point in strain
measurement

The gauge length should be no grater than 0.1 times the radius
of a hole, fillet, or notch, or corresponding dimension of any
other stress raiser at which the strain measurement is to be
made.
Commonly used strain gauge materials








The value of S
A
depends upon the degree of cold working
imparted to the conductor during its formation, the impurities in
the alloy, and range of strain over which the measurement of
strain sensitivity is made
Commonly used strain gauge materials
Most commonly used strain gauge material is an alloy of 55%
Copper and 45% Nickel called Constantan/Advance.

S
A
2.1 for the Advance

S
A
is linear over a large range of strain ( 0 to 8%).

Constantan has excellent thermal capability

Has high specific resistance ( = 0.49 m)

Easy to develop self compensated strain gauges.(1 /
0
c)

Commonly used strain gauge materials
Isoelastic alloy
High sensitivity ( S
A
=3.6) : Advantageous in dynamic applications
where the strain gauge output must be amplified to a considerable
degree before recording.

High fatigue strength : Useful when the gauge is to operate in a
cyclic strain field where the alternative strains exceed 1500

Poor thermal stability : When mounted on steel a 10c would
produce a strain of 300 to 400

Useful for dynamic applications where temperature is stable

Commonly used strain gauge materials
Karma alloy

Fatigue limit is higher than Advance but lower than Isoelastic.

Excellent stability with time: useful for strain measurements over
weeks or months.

Temperature compensation achievable in Karma is better over a wide
range of temperature than advance alloy

Useful up to 260
0
c in static strain measurements.

Difficult to solder the lead wires to the tabs.
Commonly used strain gauge materials
Thermally induced apparent strains as a function of temperature