Lecture#2-Load Cells and Force Measurement - 081155

Benha University
Benha Faculty of Engineering

Mechanical Engineering Dept.
M1251
Measurements and Instrumentation
Fall 2023
Load cells and force measurement

1
Mass (weight) measurement
• Load cells are the most common instrument used to measure mass,
especially in industrial applications. Most load cells are now
electronic, although pneumatic and hydraulic types also exist.
Electronic load cell (electronic balance)
• the gravitational force on the body being measured is applied to an
elastic element. This deflects according to the magnitude of the body
mass. The elastic elements used are specially shaped and designed,
some examples of which are shown in next Figure.
• The design is to obtain a linear output relationship between the
applied force and the measured deflection and to make the instrument
insensitive to forces that are not applied directly along the sensing
axis.
• One performance problems affect the of load cells is creep, i.e. the
permanent deformation that an elastic element undergoes after it has
been under load for a period of time. This can lead to significant
measurement errors. However, careful design and choice of materials
can largely eliminate the problem. 2
Elastic elements used in load cells.
• Strain gauge is used most to
measure the deflection, since this
gives the best measurement
accuracy, with an inaccuracy
figure less than ±0.05% of full-
scale reading being obtainable.
• Load cells including strain gauges
are used to measure masses over a
very wide range between 0 and
3000 tonnes.
• Transducers based on differential
transformers (LVDTs) to measure
defections are used to measure
masses up to 25 tonnes.
• Piezoelectric device instruments
are used to measure masses in the
range 0 to 1000 tonnes. 3
Pneumatic/hydraulic load cells
• They translate mass measurement into a pressure measurement task.
➢ Pneumatic load cells: Application of a mass to the cell causes
deflection of a diaphragm acting as a variable restriction in a
nozzle–flapper mechanism. The output pressure measured in the cell
is approximately proportional to the magnitude of the gravitational
force on the applied mass.
• It requires 0.25 m3/hour input air flow at a around pressure of 4 bar.
• Instruments are available
with a full-scale reading
of 25 kg, whilst at the top
of the range, instruments
with a full-scale reading
of 25 tonnes are
obtainable.
• Inaccuracy is typically
±0.5% of full scale. 4
Pneumatic/hydraulic load cells, Contd.
➢ Hydraulic load cells: the gravitational force due to the unknown
mass is applied, via a diaphragm, to oil contained within an enclosed
chamber. The oil pressure increase is measured by a suitable
pressure transducer. These instruments are designed for measuring
much larger masses than pneumatic cells, with a load capacity of
500 tonnes being common.
• Besides their much greater measuring range, hydraulic load cells are
much more accurate than pneumatic cells, with an inaccuracy figure
of ±0.05% of full scale being typical.
• However, in order to obtain
such a level of accuracy,
correction for the local value of
g (acceleration due to gravity)
is necessary.
• A measurement resolution of
0.02% is attainable. 5
Force measurement
If a force of magnitude, F, is applied to a body of mass, M, the body
will accelerate at a rate, A, according to the equation: F = MA
• The standard unit of force is the Newton, this being the force that will
produce an acceleration of one metre per second squared in the
direction of the force when it is applied to a mass of one kilogram.
• To measure an unknown force, measure the acceleration when it is
applied to a body of known mass or measure the variation in the
resonant frequency of a vibrating wire as it is tensioned by an applied
force.
➢ Accelerometers: the technique can be of use in measuring some
transient forces, and also for calibrating the forces produced by
thrust motors in space vehicles.
• The method is of very limited practical value because, in most cases,
forces are not free entities but are part of a system (from which they
cannot be decoupled) in which they are acting on some body that is
not free to accelerate.
6
.
Force measurement, Contd.
➢ Vibrating wire sensor: It consists of a wire kept vibrating at its
resonant frequency by a variable-frequency oscillator. The resonant
frequency of a wire under tension is given by:
• M is the mass per unit length of the wire, L is the length of the wire,
and, T is the tension due to the applied force, F.
• Thus, measurement of the output frequency of the oscillator allows
the force applied to the wire to be calculated.
7
Torque measurement
• Measurement of applied torques is of fundamental importance in
all rotating bodies to ensure that the design of the rotating
element is adequate to prevent failure under shear stresses.
• It is also a necessary part of measuring the power transmitted by
rotating shafts.
• The three traditional measuring torque methods consist of :
A. measuring the reaction force in cradled shaft bearings,
B. the ‘Prony brake’ method and
C. measuring the strain produced by the applied torque in a
rotating body.
➢ Reaction force in shaft bearings
Any system involving torque transmission through a shaft
contains both a power source and a power absorber where the
power is used.
8
Torque measurement, Reaction force in shaft bearings
The magnitude of the transmitted torque is measured by cradling
either the power source or the power absorber end of the shaft in
bearings, and then measuring the reaction force, F, and the arm
length L.
The torque is then calculated as the simple product, FL.
Pendulum scales are very commonly used for measuring the
reaction force. Inherent errors in the method are bearing friction
and windage torques.
9
Pendulum scale
• It works on the mass-balance principle. The unknown mass is put on a platform that is
attached by steel tapes to a pair of cams.
• Downward motion of the platform, and hence rotation of the cams, under the
influence of the gravitational force on the mass, is opposed by the gravitational force
acting on two pendulum type masses attached to the cams.
• The amount of rotation of the cams when
the equilibrium position is reached is determined
by the deflection of a pointer against a scale.
• The shape of the cams is such that this
output deflection is linearly proportional
to the applied mass.
• We can replace the pointer and scale
system by a rotational displacement
transducer that gives an electrical output.
• It can measure masses in the range
between 1 kg and 500 tonnes, with a
typical measurement inaccuracy of ± 0.1%.
• One potential source of problem with it is oscillation
of the weigh platform when the mass is applied so, dashpots
are incorporated into the cam system to damp out such oscillations. 10
Prony brake
It is used to measure the torque in a
rotating shaft and consists of a rope wound
round the shaft.
One end of the rope is attached to a spring
balance and the other end carries a load in
the form of a standard mass, m.
If the measured force in the spring balance
is Fs, then the effective force, Fe, exerted
by the rope on the shaft is given by:
Fe = mg – Fs
Shaft radius of the is Rs and rope radius is
Rr, then the effective radius, Re, The
torque in the shaft, T
Re = Rs + Rr, T = FeRe
A lot of heat is generated because of
friction between the rope and shaft, and
11
water cooling is usually necessary.
Measurement of induced strain
It is the most common method used for torque measurement in recent years. It does
not disturb the measured system by introducing friction torques in the same way as the
last two methods described do.
• It involves bonding four strain gauges onto the shaft where the strain gauges are
arranged in a D.C. bridge circuit. The output from the bridge circuit is a function of
the strain in the shaft and hence of the torque applied.
• The positioning of the strain gauges on the shaft is precise, and the difficulty in
achieving this makes the instrument relatively expensive.
• The technique is ideal for measuring the stalled torque in a shaft before rotation
commences. A problem is encountered in the case of rotating shafts because the
electrical connections to the strain gauges. One solution is to use a system of slip
rings and brushes for this, but this increases the cost of the instrument.
12
Optical torque measurement
Aroused with development of laser diodes and fibre-optic light transmission systems..
• Two black-and-white striped wheels are mounted at either end of the rotating shaft
and are in alignment when no torque
is applied to the shaft.
• Light from a laser diode light source
is directed by a pair of optic-fibre
cables onto the wheels.
• The rotation of the wheels causes pulses of
reflected light and these are transmitted back to a
receiver by a second pair of fibre-optic cables.
• Under zero torque conditions, the two pulse trains
of reflected light are in phase with each other.
• When torque is applied to the shaft, the reflected
light is modulated.
• Measurement by the receiver of the phase
difference between the reflected pulse trains
therefore allows the magnitude of torque in the
shaft to be calculated.
• Its cost is relatively low, and an additional
advantage in many applications is their small size. 13

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Benha University

Benha Faculty of Engineering

Load cells and force measurement

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