Measurements 12

University of Technology Dr. louay A.
Mahdi
Department of Machines and Equipments Engineering
Branches: General, Refrigeration and Air conditioning, Vehicles Measurements
Forth class 2012 – 2013 Measurement of strain 12
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University of Technology Dr. louay A.Mahdi
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Strain is the amount of deformation of a body due to an applied force. More specifically, strain (e) is defined
as the fractional change in length, as shown in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1. Definition of Strain

Strain can be positive (tensile) or negative (compressive). Although dimensionless, strain is sometimes
expressed in units such as in./in. or mm/mm. In practice, the magnitude of measured strain is very small.
Therefore, strain is often expressed as micro strain, which is e x 10-6.
When a bar is strained with a uniaxial force, as in Figure 1, a phenomenon known as Poisson Strain causes
the girth of the bar, D, to contract in the transverse, or perpendicular, direction. The magnitude of this
transverse contraction is a material property indicated by its Poisson's Ratio. The Poisson's Ratio n of a
material is defined as the negative ratio of the strain in the transverse direction (perpendicular to the force) to
the strain in the axial direction (parallel to the force), or n = eT/e. Poisson's Ratio for steel, for example, ranges
from 0.25 to 0.3.
What is a strain gauge?
While there are several methods of measuring strain, the most common is with a strain gauge, a device whose
electrical resistance varies in proportion to the amount of strain in the device. The most widely used gauge is
the bonded metallic strain gauge.
The metallic strain gauge consists of a very fine wire or, more commonly, metallic foil arranged in a grid
pattern. The grid pattern maximizes the amount of metallic wire or foil subject to strain in the parallel direction
(Figure 2). The cross-sectional area of the grid is minimized to reduce the effect of shear strain and Poisson
Strain. The grid is bonded to a thin backing, called the carrier, which is attached directly to the test specimen.
Therefore, the strain experienced by the test specimen is transferred directly to the strain gauge, which
responds with a linear change in electrical resistance. Strain gauges are available commercially with nominal
resistance values from 30 to 3000 W, with 120, 350, and 1000 W being the most common values.
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Figure 2. Bonded Metallic Strain Gauge
It is very important that the strain gauge be properly mounted onto the test specimen so that the strain is
accurately transferred from the test specimen, though the adhesive and strain gauge backing, to the foil itself.
A fundamental parameter of the strain gauge is its sensitivity to strain, expressed quantitatively as the gauge
factor (GF). Gauge factor is defined as the ratio of fractional change in electrical resistance to the fractional
change in length (strain):
The Gauge Factor for metallic strain gauges is typically around 2.
A strain gauge is a device used to measure the strain of an object.

Physical operation:
A strain gauge takes advantage of the physical property of electrical conductance and its dependence on the
conductor's geometry. When an electrical conductor is stretched within the limits of its elasticity such that it
does not break or permanently deform, it will become narrower and longer, changes that increase its electrical
resistance end-to-end. Conversely, when a conductor is compressed such that it does not buckle, it will
broaden and shorten changes that decrease its electrical resistance end-to-end. From the measured electrical
resistance of the strain gauge, the amount of applied stress may be inferred. A typical strain gauge arranges a
long, thin conductive strip in a zig-zag pattern of parallel lines such that a small amount of stress in the
direction of the orientation of the parallel lines results in a multiplicatively larger strain over the effective length
of the conductor and hence a multiplicatively larger change in resistance—than would be observed with a
single straight-line conductive wire. Strain gauges measure only local deformations and can be manufactured
small enough to allow a "finite element" like analysis of the stresses to which the specimen is subject. This can
be positively used in fatigue studies of materials.
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Gauges in practice:
Strain gauge measurement:

In practice, the strain measurements rarely involve quantities larger than a few mille-strain (e x 10-3).
Therefore, to measure the strain requires accurate measurement of very small changes in resistance. For
example, suppose a test specimen undergoes a strain of 500 μm . A strain gauge with a gauge factor of 2 will
exhibit a change in electrical resistance of only 2 * (500 x 10-6) = 0.1%. For a 120 W gauge, this is a change of
only 0.12 W.
To measure such small changes in resistance, strain gauges are almost always used in a bridge configuration
with a voltage excitation source. The general Wheatstone bridge, illustrated below, consists of four resistive
arms with an excitation voltage, VEX, that is applied across the bridge.
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Figure 3. Wheatstone bridge

The output voltage of the bridge, VO, will be equal to:
From this equation, it is apparent that when R1/R2 = R4/R3, the voltage output VO will be zero. Under these
conditions, the bridge is said to be balanced. Any change in resistance in any arm of the bridge will result in a
nonzero output voltage.
Therefore, if we replace R4 in Figure 3 with an active strain gauge, any changes in the strain gauge resistance
will unbalance the bridge and produce a nonzero output voltage. If the nominal resistance of the strain gauge
is designated as RG, then the strain-induced change in resistance, DR, can be expressed as DR = RG*GF*e.
Assuming that R1 = R2 and R3 = RG, the bridge equation above can be rewritten to express VO/VEX as a
function of strain (see Figure 4). Note the presence of the 1/(1+GF*e/2) term that indicates the nonlinearity of
the quarter-bridge output with respect to strain.
Figure 4. Quarter-Bridge Circuit

Ideally, we would like the resistance of the strain gauge to change only in response to applied strain. However,
strain gauge material, as well as the specimen material to which the gauge is applied, will also respond to
changes in temperature. Strain gauge manufacturers attempt to minimize sensitivity to temperature by
processing the gauge material to compensate for the thermal expansion of the specimen material for which the
gauge is intended. While compensated gauges reduce the thermal sensitivity, they do not totally remove it.
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By using two strain gauges in the bridge, the effect of temperature can be further minimized. For example,
Figure 5 illustrates a strain gauge configuration where one gauge is active ( RG+ DR), and a second gauge is
placed transverse to the applied strain. Therefore, the strain has little effect on the second gauge, called the
dummy gauge. However, any changes in temperature will affect both gauges in the same way. Because the
temperature changes are identical in the two gauges, the ratio of their resistance does not change, the voltage
VO does not change, and the effects of the temperature change are minimized.
Figure 5. Use of a Dummy Gauge to Eliminate Temperature Effects

The sensitivity of the bridge to strain can be doubled by making both gauges active in a half-bridge
configuration. For example, Figure 6 illustrates a bending beam application with one bridge mounted in tension
( RG+ DR) and the other mounted in compression ( RG+ DR). This half-bridge configuration, whose circuit
diagram is also illustrated in Figure 6, yields an output voltage that is linear and approximately doubles the
output of the quarter-bridge circuit.
Figure 6. Half-Bridge Circuit

Finally, you can further increase the sensitivity of the circuit by making all four of the arms of the bridge active
strain gauges in a full-bridge configuration. The full-bridge circuit is shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7. Full-Bridge Circuit
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The equations given here for the Wheatstone bridge circuits assume an initially balanced bridge that
generates zero output when no strain is applied. In practice however, resistance tolerances and strain induced
by gauge application will generate some initial offset voltage. This initial offset voltage is typically handled in
two ways. First, you can use a special offset-nulling, or balancing, circuit to adjust the resistance in the bridge
to rebalance the bridge to zero output. Alternatively, you can measure the initial unstrained output of the circuit
and compensate in software.
The equations given above for quarter, half, and full-bridge strain gauge configurations assume that the lead
wire resistance is negligible. While ignoring the lead resistances may be beneficial to understanding the basics
of strain gauge measurements, doing so in practice can be a major source of error. For example, consider the
2-wire connection of a strain gauge shown in Figure 8a. Suppose each lead wire connected to the strain
gauge is 15 m long with lead resistance RLequal to 1 W. Therefore, the lead resistance adds 2 W of resistance
to that arm of the bridge. Besides adding an offset error, the lead resistance also desensitizes the output of the
bridge.
You can compensate for this error by measuring the lead resistance R L and accounting for it in the strain
calculations. However, a more difficult problem arises from changes in the lead resistance due to temperature
fluctuations. Given typical temperature coefficients for copper wire, a slight change in temperature can
generate a measurement error of several μm.
Using a 3-wire connection can eliminate the effects of variable lead wire resistance because the lead
resistances affect adjacent legs of the bridge. As seen in Figure 8b, changes in lead wire resistance, RL2, do
not change the ratio of the bridge legs R3 and RG. Therefore, any changes in resistance due to temperature
cancel each other.
Figure 8. 2-Wire and 3-Wire Connections of Quarter-Bridge Circuit
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Selection of a proper gauge:
Three primary considerations in strain gauge selection are mentioned below:
1. Operating temperature
2. Nature of the strain to be detected
3. Stability requirements
In addition, choosing the right carrier material, grid alloy, adhesive, and protective coating plays an
important role in the success of the application.
Following are the chief characteristics of bonded resistance strain gauges:

 They are reasonably inexpensive.
 They can pull off overall accuracy of better than +/-0.10%.
 They are available in a short gauge length and have small physical size.
 These strain gauges are only moderately affected by temperature changes.
 They are extremely sensitive and have low mass.
 Bonded resistance strain gages can be employed to measure both static and dynamic strain.
 These types of strain gauges are appropriate for a wide variety of environmental conditions. They can
measure strain in jet engine turbines operating at very high temperatures and in cryogenic fluid
applications at temperatures as low as -452 F (-269℃).
Kinds of effects shape:

• Change in line length
• Change in angle
• Change in volume
• Change in Resistance
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Using strain gauge to measuring pressure:
• The change in resistance is measured using an electrical circuit
• Many variables can be measured – displacement, acceleration, pressure, temperature, liquid level,
stress, force and torque
• Some variables (stress, force, torque) can be determined by measuring the strain directly
• Other variables can be measured by converting the measure and into stress using a front-end device
Housing
Strai
n
Strain gage accelerometer
Strain gages are manufactured as metallic foil (copper-nickel alloy – constantan)
Seism
ic
Mass
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Types of strain gauges:
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Types of connection for strain gauge:
1- Potentiometer or Ballast Circuit:
Base Mounting
Threads
Single Element
ST
R
vo  vref
R  Rc 
• Ambient temperature changes will introduce error
• Variations in supply voltage will affect the output
• Electrical loading effect will be significant
• Change in voltage due to strain is a very small percentage of the output
2- Wheatstone Bridge Circuit:
O
v
u
t
R1vref R3vref p (R1 R4  R2 R3 )
vo    vref
(R1  R2 ) (R3  R4u) (R1  R2 )(R3  R4 )
t
When the bridge is balanced: R1 R3

R2 R4
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CALIBRATION METHOD:
Null Balance Method:
• When the stain gage in the bridge deforms, the balance is upset.
• Balance is restored by changing a variable resistor
• The amount of change corresponds to the change in stain
• Time consuming – servo balancing can be used
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University of Technology Dr. louay A.

Figure 1. Definition of Strain

Figure 2. Bonded Metallic Strain Gauge

The Gauge Factor for metallic strain gauges is typically around 2.

A strain gauge is a device used to measure the strain of an object.

Strain gauge measurement:

Figure 3. Wheatstone bridge

Figure 4. Quarter-Bridge Circuit

Figure 5. Use of a Dummy Gauge to Eliminate Temperature Effects

Figure 6. Half-Bridge Circuit

Figure 7. Full-Bridge Circuit

Figure 8. 2-Wire and 3-Wire Connections of Quarter-Bridge Circuit

Following are the chief characteristics of bonded resistance strain gauges:

Kinds of effects shape:

Types of strain gauges:

2- Wheatstone Bridge Circuit:

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