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STRESS MEASUREMENT OF A HELICAL COIL SPRING UNDER STATIC LOAD

USING STRAIN ROSETTE

Conference Paper · January 2016

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STRESS MEASUREMENT OF A HELICAL COIL SPRING UNDER STATIC
LOAD USING STRAIN ROSETTE

Abhijit S. Chate1 and Nilaj N. Deshmukh2

1
Student M.E. Machine Design, Mechanical Department,
Fr. C. Rodrigues Institute of Technology, Navi Mumbai, India
abhijitchate@gmail.com

2
Associate Professor Mechanical Department,
Fr. C. Rodrigues Institute of Technology, Navi Mumbai, India
nilajdeshmukh2000@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
There are various techniques available for measurement of stress and strain. The strain rosette is widely used in
many applications for finding the maximum shear stress. The strain rosette mounting on a coil spring is critical task. In this
study attempt is made to measure a maximum shear stress by placing 00- 450 - 900 stacked rectangular strain rosette on
inner and outer surface of coil spring for static loading and unloading conditions. The measurements are carried out by
making quarter bridge configuration, NI DAQ system and LabVIEW software. The experimentally calculated stresses are
compared with calculated values and concluded that the error is minimum with strain rosette mounted on the inner surface
of coil spring. This error can further reduced with the help of increasing number of active gauges.

Keywords: NI DAQ, LabVIEW, Rosette, Strain gauges, Wheatstone bridge.

INTRODUCTION
Strain gauges are widely used in the engineering constructed from steel wire of diameter, d, with a mean
field to measure the strain. Strain gauges used in load cells coil diameter, D, and pitch angle, , as shown in Figure-1.
for weighing, scales, and in medical and educational
applications. Strain gauges can be widely used in research
and development applications, including automobile,
aerospace, medical process, oil and gas industries and
power generation, and in virtually every other sector of
industry. In practical applications, an element may be
subjected to stresses in any and many directions. It is not
always possible to orient the strain gauge along the
direction of principle stresses. Hence, there is a necessity to
evolve a strain measurement system which measures the
values of principle strains and stresses without actually
knowing their directions. The solution to the problem lies
in using three strain gauges to form a unit called a rosette.
In machine parts and structural members biaxial, triaxial Figure-1. Helical coil spring with loading.
stresses occur. So for experimental strain analysis strain
gauges used would be rosettes. With a coaxial tensile loading of P, a section cut
The aim of this study is to measure maximum perpendicular to the wire will require a torque of
shear stresses of helical coil spring using strain rosette for magnitude PD/2 and a vertical shear of P to put the free
different static load. The objective is to study the effect of body in equilibrium. The torsion and direct shear produce
strain rosette placement location on maximum shear stress. shear stresses which are additive on the inside radius,
An automobile helical coil spring is studied here to explain point A in Figure-1. The corresponding elementary
the use of strain gauge rosette in measuring strains and to formula for the combined shear stresses is given by
verify the adequacy of commonly recommended formulas
= + (1)
for the determination of maximum shear stress in
compression spring design. This type of spring is selected In this case R is the mean coil radius, D/2, V is the shear
because it is easily available in market and an automobile force, P, t the wire or bar diameter, d, and I, J, and Q are
spring coil are of sufficient size to mount strain rosette on the moment of inertia about the wire diameter, the polar
the inside radius and outer radius of spring. For convenient moment of inertia, and the area moment for the direct
loading and to eliminate problems with buckling and shear-stress calculation, respectively. For wire or bar of
alignment, the spring is loaded in compression by diameter d, the latter three are given by the relations
fabricating brackets to support in UTM machine and
provide purely axial loading. = = = (2)
BACKGROUND THEORY Substituting Eqn. (2) into Eqn. (1), the maximum shear
The basic theory for the stresses in a helical-coil stress based on elementary mechanics of materials theory
spring can be derived from equations developed in becomes
elementary mechanics of materials. Consider a coil spring
 = + (3) Young, therefore, recommend using the first three terms.
Eqn. (3), based on the elementary theory, and Eqn. (8),
In a more elaborate development, Wahl defines the spring with the Wahl correction factor incorporating curvature
index as and a more accurate direct shear contribution, will be
compared with experimental results [5].
= (4)
and includes corrections to the elementary theory for the
spring curvature to get the torsional contribution to be EXPERIMENTAL METHODOLOGY

̀= (5)
Also, a more accurate direct shear-stress solution is
obtained from the theory of elasticity as
UTM
̀ = 4.92 (6)
Spring
Using previously defined terms, Eqn. (6) can be written in
the form
.
̀= (7)
NI
Therefore, a more accurate maximum shear-stress relation DAQ
is given by 9219
= (8)
Where the Wahl correction factor is defined as
.
K= + (9)
(a)
Eqn. (8) and Eqn. (9) give the usually recommended
relation for helical spring design found in the standard
spring design reference book by Wahl and other more
general mechanical design. One widely used Design of
Machine Element by Spotts recommends a variation in
which curvature effects are neglected, the first term of
Eqn. (9) being unity. The variation of the shear stress over
the cross section of the helical coil spring wire is shown in
Figure-2 with the maximum shear stress occurring at the
inside radius where torsional and direct shear results are
additive.

(b)

(c)
Figure-3. Experimental setup (a) Photograph, (b) Line
Figure-2. Shear stress distribution across diameter of diagram, (c) Connection diagram for strain measurement.
helical spring wire.
For a small pitch angle, a more exact theory of elasticity Experimental setup used for measurement of
gives K in the form of an infinite series as [5] strain is shown in Figure-3. The setup consists of a helical
coil of mild steel, brackets which are designed and
∝
=1+ + + (10) fabricated to hold the spring in the UTM machine, UTM
(Universal Testing Machine), 120 Ω three element stacked
When practical spring indexes of c > 3 and pitch rectangular rosette, strain gauges, quarter bridge
angles < 150 are used, the difference between K evaluated configuration, NI DAQ module 9219, NI cDAQ 9172
by Eqn. (9) and Eqn. (10) is less than 2 %. Roark and chassis and computer.
 In this experimentation, Strain gauges are placed Strain data are analyzed to determine the maximum shear
on the mild steel plate to complete the quarter bridge stress and experimental results are then compared with
circuit as shown in the Figure-4(a). Strain rosette in first elementary theory and Wahl Equation.
case is mounted on the inner surface of the helical coil
spring wire shown in Figure-4(b) and in second case DATA ANALYSIS
rosette is mounted on the outer surface of the helical The strain data are first corrected for transverse
spring wire. sensitivity effects. Eqns. for this purpose are given [5] for
a three element rectangular rosette (00, 450, and 900) as,

ϵ = ϵ́ − K ϵ ́ (11)

ϵ = (1 + K )ϵ ́ − K (ϵ ́ + ϵ ́ ) (12)

ϵ = ϵ ́ − K ϵ́ (13)

Where the primed values are the actual strain readings and
K is the transverse sensitivity of the strain gauge given by
the strain manufacturer.
The principal strains can be determined using
strain transformation relations given in Mechanics of
(a) Materials or by using derived rosette Equations [5]. For
the rectangular rosette, the principal strains can be written
in the form

1
ϵ , = (ϵ + ϵ )
2
[(ϵ − ϵ ) + (2ϵ −ϵ −ϵ ) ] (14)

ϵ = (ϵ + ϵ ) (15)
(b)
Figure-4. (a) Strain gauges placed on mild steel plate to Where ϑ = Poission’s ratio
complete circuit, (b) Rectangular strain rosette position The maximum shearing strain given as,
and orientation at inside radius of coil spring.
γ = (ϵ − ϵ ) (16)
A mild steel, helical coil of 208 mm long, with a
mean coil diameter 70.2 mm, a spring wire diameter of The corresponding stresses are found from Hooke’s law
11.2 mm is used in experimentation. A 120-Ω, three for plane stress and can be written as,
element stacked rectangular rosette of 6 mm gauge length
is selected. The rosette has gauge factor of 2.13 and a
σ = (ϵ + ϑϵ ) (17)
transverse sensitivity of 0.5 percent. The rosette is bonded
using cyano-acrylate adhesive to the inside of spring in
first case and outer surface of coil in second case. The σ = (ϵ + ϑϵ ) (18)
rosette is located on fourth spring wire out of ten active
coils and positioned with the axis of middle (450) gauge
τ = Gγ = γ (19)
oriented parallel to the coil spring axis. Assuming a pure ( )
shear stress condition, this position has 00 and 900 gauges
aligned in the principal stress (and strain) directions. In Where E and G are the Young’s and shear modulus of
order to eliminate the problems with buckling and elasticity for the material, respectively. Modulus of
alignment the spring is loaded in compression by elasticity for mild steel is E = 207 GPa and Poisson’s ratio
fabricating brackets designed to provide purely axial ϑ= 0.3 were used in the calculations.
loading. For three gauges in rosette, three quarter bridge
circuits are made in which one active gauge is one of the RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
gauge of rosette and other three are dummy gauges of
An automobile spring dimensions are as follows:
same parameters.
The spring and loading mounts are then carefully Mean coil diameter, D = 70.2 mm
aligned in UTM to ensure uniaxial loading. The three Coil wire diameter, d = 11.2 mm
gauges of the rosette are attached to NI DAQ module 9219
which is fixed in Ni cDAQ 9172 chassis. The excitation Wahl defines spring index as, c = D/d
voltage given is 2.5 V. The data is acquired at rate 1000 c = 70.2/11.2 = 6.27
for 1000 samples. The strain readings are recorded for
every 0.3 KN load until the maximum load of 3 KN is Substituting value of c in Eqn. (9), K = 1.24
reached. Readings are checked on unloading at the same The raw strain data and strain corrected for transverse
loads and zero strains verified after removal of the load. sensitivity using Eqn. (11) - (13) are given in Table-1 and
Table-2 for loads from 0 to 3KN in loading condition for mounted on the inner and outer surface of helical coil
case 1 when rosette is placed on inner surface of coil and spring wire respectively.
case 2 when rosette is placed on outer surface of coil
respectively. Table-3. Principal strains and stresses in coil spring with
corresponding maximum shearing strain and stress for
Table-1. Experimental raw strain data in coil and strains loading condition when rosette is on inner surface.
corrected for transverse sensitivity in loading condition
and rosette on inner surface of coil. Load
ϵ ϵ ϵ max   max
(KN)
Strain Readings Corrected strain for
Load (micro strain) transverse sensitivity 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
(KN)
ϵ0 ϵ45 ϵ90 ϵ0 ϵ45 ϵ90 0.3 263 -211 22 474 45 -30 38
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.6 479 -526 -19 1005 73 -86 80
0.3 261 16 210 262 16 -211
0.9 726 -822 -41 1549 109 -137 123
0.6 476 20 -522 478 20 -524
1.2 943 -1031 -37 1975 144 -170 157
0.9 718 46 -814 721 46 -817
1.2 934 62 -1022 938 62 -1026 1.5 1136 -1266 -55 2403 172 -210 191

1.5 1122 88 -1252 1126 89 -1256 1.8 1365 -1445 -34 2811 211 -235 223
1.8 1352 108 -1432 1357 109 -1438 2.1 1545 -1637 -39 3182 239 -267 253
2.1 1527 144 -1620 1533 145 -1626
2.4 1749 -1801 -22 3550 274 -290 282
2.4 1731 164 -1784 1738 165 -1791
2.7 2051 -2141 -38 4192 320 -347 333
2.7 2029 188 -2120 2037 189 -2128
3.0 2099 206 -2230 2108 207 -2238 3.0 2125 -2255 -55 4380 329 -368 348

Table-2. Experimental raw strain data in coil and strains Table-4. Principal strains and stresses in coil spring with
corrected for transverse sensitivity in loading condition corresponding maximum shearing strain and stress for
and rosette on outer surface of spring coil. loading condition when rosette is on outer surface.

Strain Readings Corrected strain for Load

Load ϵ ϵ ϵ max   max
(micro strain) transverse sensitivity (KN)
(KN)
ϵ0 ϵ45 ϵ90 ϵ0 ϵ45 ϵ90 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.3 277 -252 10 529 45 -38 42

0.3 -251 11 276 -252 11 277 0.6 442 -413 12 856 72 -63 68
0.6 -411 12 441 -413 12 442
0.9 638 -591 20 1229 104 -90 97
0.9 -588 13 635 -590 13 638
1.2 -771 15 794 -774 15 797 1.2 797 -774 10 1571 128 -121 125

1.5 -929 19 959 -933 20 962 1.5 962 -933 12 1896 155 -146 150
1.8 -1117 21 1145 -1122 22 1150 1.8 1150 -1122 12 2272 185 -176 180
2.1 -1267 23 1320 -1273 24 1325 2.1 1325 -1273 22 2598 214 -199 206
2.4 -1444 27 1505 -1450 28 1510
2.4 1510 -1450 25 2961 244 -226 235
2.7 -1630 31 1681 -1637 32 1688
2.7 1688 -1637 21 3325 272 -257 264
3.0 -1807 35 1864 -1814 36 1871
3.0 1871 -1814 24 3686 301 -285 293
Unloading values are found to be close to the loading
value, as expected and are not shown.Table-3 and Table-4
contains the calculated principal strains, Eqn. (14) and Experimental results for the maximum shear stress are
(15), maximum shear strain, Eqn. (16) and the compared with the elementary theory, Eqn. (3), and with
corresponding principal stresses and maximum shear the Wahl Eqn., Eqn. (8) in Table-5 and Table-6.
stress, Eqn. (17) - (19) in loading condition when rosette is
Table-5. Comparison of experimental maximum shear Table-6. Comparison of experimental maximum shear
stress (in MPa) in loading condition with elementary stress (in MPa) in loading condition with elementary
theory (Eqn. 3) and Wahl Eqn. (Eqn. 8) when rosette is on theory (Eqn. 3) and Wahl Eqn. (Eqn. 8) when rosette is on
inner surface. outer surface.

Sr. Load max max max Sr. Load max max max
No. (KN) Eq. ( 3) Eq.( 8) Experimental No. (KN) Eq. ( 3) Eq.( 8) Experimental
1 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0
2 0.3 42 47 42
2 0.3 42 47 38
3 0.6 84 94 68
3 0.6 84 94 80
4 0.9 126 142 97
4 0.9 126 142 123
5 1.2 168 189 125
5 1.2 168 189 157
6 1.5 211 236 150
6 1.5 211 236 191
7 1.8 253 284 180
7 1.8 253 284 223
8 2.1 295 331 206
8 2.1 295 331 253
9 2.4 337 378 235
9 2.4 337 378 282
10 2.7 379 426 264
10 2.7 379 426 333
11 3.0 422 473 293
11 3.0 422 473 348

The data shown in Table-5 are plotted in Figure-5 which

shows the comparison of experimental maximum shear
stress against elementary theory and Wahl Eqn. when
rosette is mounted on the inner surface of the spring wire.
Linear trends are seen of shear stress versus load.

Figure-6. Plot of experimental maximum shear stress

against elementary theory and Wahl Eqn. during loading
and rosette on outer surface of spring coil.

Figure-5. Plot of experimental maximum shear stress In Table-7. I and II notations are taken as,
against elementary theory and Wahl Eqn. during loading I. Average Percentage error between Maximum shear
and rosette on inner surface of spring coil. stress of elementary theory and experimental maximum
shear stress.
Table-6 shows experimental results for the II. Average percentage error between Maximum shear
maximum shear stresses which are compared with the stress of Wahl Eqn. and experimental maximum shear
elementary theory, Eqn. (3), and with the Wahl Eqn. (8) stress.
when rosette is on outer surface of the helical coil spring
wire. Plot in Figure-6 shows the linear nature of shear
stress versus load for the coil spring.
Table -7. Percentage error between Maximum shear stress [7] F.W Chau. July 1987. Effect of transverse sensitivity
of elementary theory, Wahl theory and Experimental of strain gauge on the accuracy of computed principal
maximum shear stress. strain.Experimental Techniques. pp. 22-23.
[8] Ho-Kyung Kim and Se-Hyung Kang. 2014. Design
and development of a training apparatus for strain
Sr. Rosette Average % error
Condition measurement. WIETE. Volume 16. Number 1.
No. Placement [9] K.E. Machin and Y.E. Hassan. 1978. Transverse
I* II*
sensitivity errors in rectangular rosettes. Strain.
Loading 10.60 20.28 pp. 47-49.
Inner surface
1. [10] Micro-Measurements. Technical note TN-515. 2014.
of coil
Unloading 21.42 29.94 Strain gauge rosettes: selection, application and data
reduction. Pp. 1-12.
Loading 24.59 32.76 [11] Measurement Group. INC. Raleigh. NC. 1983. Error
Outer surface
2. due to transverse sensitivity in strain gauges.
of coil
Unloading 34.59 41.67 Experimental Mechanics, pp.30-35.
[12] Paolo Cappa. 1987. Uncertainty associated with the
gauge factor in three-element strain-gauge-rosette
CONCLUSION measurements. Experimental Mechanics. pp. 429-431.
The use of LabVIEW and NI DAQ system made [13] R. Royles and J.M. Llambias. 1985. Buckling
easy for data acquisition through gauges of rosette and behavior of an underwater storage vessel.
quarter bridge circuit for different static load .The result of Experimental Mechanics. Volume 25. pp. 421-428.
Figure-5 and Figure-6 shows the linear trend of shear [14] R. Milligan. 1965. The effects of high pressure on foil
stress versus load for the coil spring and Table-7 shows strain gauges on convex and concave surfaces.
rosette should be placed on the inner surface of the coil as Experimental Mechanics. pp 1-6.
average percentage error is minimum i.e. 10.6 % in [15] Roark and Young. 1975. Formulas for stress and
loading condition.The use of rosette enables the strain. 5th Ed. McGraw-Hill.New York.
measurement of strain in unknown directions. This
[16] Timoshenko, S. and Goodier. 1970. Theory of
experiment provides the opportunity to mount the rosette
on a curved surface with limited access. The experimental Elasticity. 3rd Ed. McGraw-Hill.
values of maximum shear stress are calculated for strain [17] W Montero et.al. 2010. Uncertainties associated with
rosette is mounted on inner and outer surfaces at loading strain-measuring systems using resistance strain
and unloading condition. The errors are high during gauges. Journal of Strain analysis for Engineering
unloading condition because of residual stresses induced. Design. vol.46. issue 1.
This error in measurement is also due to mounting of [18] http://www.vishaypg.com/docs/11055/tn505.pdf
strain rosette as it is difficult to mount on curved surface. [19] http://www.me.metu.edu.tr/courses/me410/exp5/ME4
Error may reduce if spring wire diameter is larger diameter 10_exp5_theory.pdf.
and increasing number of active gauges. Hence this study
[20] http://www.efunda.com/designstandards/sensors/strai
is very useful from industrial application point of view.
n_gages/strain_gage_installat- ion.cfm.
This study could be expanded for half and full bridge
[21] http://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/374473e.pdf.
configurations.
[22] http://www.ni.com/datasheet/pdf/en/ds-198.
[23] http://www.ni.com/pdf/manuals/371747f.pdf.
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[24] http://www.ni.com/datasheet/pdf/en/ds-179.
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[2] Ashutosh Kumar et.al. 2012.Optimization of Position
of Strain Gauge Using Geometrical Parameter of , pp 3.
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[3] A. Patange and N. Deshmukh.2015. Experimental and
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