Evaluation of the Torque

Measurement System
1. Mechanical system and strain gauges
• Describe the mechanical system for the torque measurement
• The requirement and arrangement of the strain gauges on the surface of the shaft in order to sense
the maximum torsional stresses
• Bridge circuit and connection of the strain gauges
• Effects of ambient temperature, bending force and tensile force on the bridge output of the chosen
configuration.
2. Derivation the relationships between
• the shear stress and the torque
• the strain and the shear stress
• the resistance and strain for strain gauges
• the bridge output and the torque
3. Specifications and Electronic amplifier
• Specifications of the range and sensitivity of the torque measurement system
• Design/configure the associated electronic circuits (amplification and low pass filter)
4. Calibration
Compare the difference between the measured sensitivity and the theoretical sensitivity
5. Design of the display panel of the measurement system
This should cover two approaches; one is for standalone torque measurement system, and the other is
equipped with a PC and Labview software to provide graphical display in terms of both voltage and
torque measurements.
6. Discussions
This section should cover discussions of the system capability (range, and resolution for torque
measurement), sensitivity (to torque, bending and tensile loading, and temperature) and errors
sources.
7. Improvements
Comment on the system for any improvement, in particular, if the system is to be used for dynamic
torque measurement and suggest a design approach for noise reduction by using Labview.

1.0 Mechanical System (Background)

This investigation utilised The Strain Gauge Trainer SM1009 from Tecquipment. A strain
gauge is a normally a semiconductor element where the resistance alters as strain is
induced. More specifically the section of the trainer of interest was the torsion system which
demonstrated how shear and torque strain gauges operate. Connected to the main part of
the trainer was a strain display which was supplied with ‘dummy’ strain gauge resistors and
controls. By manipulating which of the resistors was a dummy and which were active could
allow quarter, half and full bridge networks to be created (“SM1009-Strain-Gauge-
Datasheet-0518.pdf,” n.d.). The strain display also allowed the gauge factor to be changed to
match what the equipment specified as can be seen in figure 1. *** ADD PIC OF DISPLAY
AND GAUGE FACTOR ON EQUIPMENT ***
The Torsion system on the back panel is comprised of a circular beam manufactured from
mild steel fixed at both ends. One end of the main beam is clamped and the other
connected to a perpendicular torque arm which rotates by a small amount. This other end is
held by a free-moving bearing that also removes any bending moment on the beam
(“es3d9_lab_1_updated.pdf,” n.d.). The torque arm is connected in the bearing and weights
are applied.

The strain gauges are connected above and below of the main torsion beam and measure
the shear strain applied by hanging weights on the moment arm. These strain gauges
convert the applied torque into a change in electrical resistance and this change in
resistance is converted by a Wheatstone bridge to an output voltage (“Ways to Measure the
Force Acting on a Rotating Shaft,” n.d.). Throughout the experiment quarter, half and full-
bridge systems will be used.

A quarter-bridge circuit used one active gauge and is most commonly used for uniaxial stress
measurements and requires the temperature to be relatively constant. By using a dummy
gauge, any active gauge output fluctuation caused by temperature change can be removed
to an extent. For optimum temperature compensation, the active gauge and dummy gauge
must be identical. A half-bridge circuit uses two active strain gauges and as well as
compensating for temperature it also compensates for transverse strain (“White Paper
Introduction to Strain 699A.pdf,” n.d.). Optimum temperature compensation will be
achieved if the two active gauges are identical. The sensitivity of a half bridge is double
compared to a quarter bridge. A full-bridge layout includes four active gauges where half
measure tension and the other half compression. Compared to a quarter bridge, the
sensitivity is quadrupled.

Gauge factor is a measure of how much resistance changes in response to an applied strain
so in effect is the strain gauge’s sensitivity as shown in equations 1 and 2. In the torsion
experiment this will measure how resistance changes in response to the applied shear strain
and is 2.05.

∆R

1¿ G=
( R )0
2 ¿ G=1+2 v+
( ∆ρ
ρ )
ε εr
where G=gauge factor , R=resistance ( Ω ) , ε=strain , v =voltage (V )

2.0 Method
The specification and parameters of the equipment are displayed in table 1 and 2 below.

Table 1: Specification
Power Supply +5V
Gauge Factor G=2.05
Nominal Gauge Resistance R= 350Ω
Torsion beam: Material: Mild steel with Young’s Modulus of 207Gpa Nominal
Dimension: diameter= 10mm Torque arm length
Table 2: Parameters
Torsion System
Gauge Factor Length of torque arm Diameter of torsion beam Young’s Modulus
 2.05 0.15m 0.10015 207 GPa

When weight is applied to the torque

arm, a torque is induced in the beam
which causes the beam to twist. Twisting
the beam causes the material to stretch
slightly in a direction 45 to the main axis
of the beam shown in figure 2 (“Strain
Gauge Based Torque Sensors &
Measurement Experts,” n.d.). One side of
the shaft will be in compression and the
other in tension and table 3 tabulates the
strain gauge pattern for the torsion
system.

Figure 2: Torsion in the shaft

Table 3: Strain Gauge Polarity
Weight: 500g
Strain gauge Strain reading (micro strain) Polarity (+/-) Type of strain (comp/ ten)
Blue 26 - Compression
Red 25 + Tension
Yellow 25 - Compression
Green 25 + Tension

The results in table 3 were found through using the provided dummy resistors in the bridge
circuit. The gauge factor on the strain display was set to 2.05 which was specified on the
equipment. One strain gauge was connected in one input socket and the other sockets were all
inserted with dummy resistors and as only one strain gauge was connected the configuration
dial is set to 1, signifying a quarter bridge. The system was nulled and then 500g was loaded
onto the torsion bar. The same experiment was then repeated in order to get the results for the
other 3 strain gauges.

Sensitivity measurements were then taken and recorded in table 4, by creating the specified
bridge and incrementally loading the torque arm. The strain was observed from the strain
display box and the voltage from the voltmeter.

Table 4: Sensitivity Measurements

Strain Reading (Microstrain)/ (Voltage)
Weight (Kg) Torque (Nm) Quarter bridge Half bridge Full bridge
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2
0.1 0.14715 5 13 4 23 4 50
0.2 0.2943 10 26 9 49 9 101
0.3 0.44145 14 38 15 77 15 156
 0.4 0.5886 21 54 19 99 20 208
0.5 0.73575 23 61 23 121 25 263

The sensitivity of a strain gauge is known as the gauge factor as was mentioned earlier. This
is seen in equation 3.
∆R
R
3 ¿ G=
ε

Substituting equation 3 into equations 4, 5 and 6, (the equations for sensitivity of quarter, half
and full bridge layouts respectively) equations can be derived to calculate the sensitivity of
each bridge in the practical experiment and are seen in table 5.

Vs ∆R V ∆R V ∆R
4 ¿∆Vo≅ ,5¿∆Vo≅ s ,6¿∆Vo≅ s
4 R 2 R 8 R

For each of the weights from 0.1-0.5kg the sensitivity was calculated from the recorded
results in table 4 and averaged. The theoretical sensitivity for the quarter bridge is 2.05 as the
gauge factor stated on the equipment. Half bridge sensitivity is double the quarter, and the
full bridge another double from the half. Using these average sensitivities for the quarter, half
and full-bridge setups the relative error could be calculated.

Table 5: Sensitivity Calculations

Quarter bridge Half bridge Full bridge

4Vo 8V o 16 V o
Sensitivity formulation V s. ε V s. ε V s. ε

Theoretical sensitivity 2.05 4.1 8.2

Test sensitivity 2.10 4.29 8.81

Relative error 2.54% 4.58% 7.40%

The output of the bridge circuit has been in the range of micro volts, so to achieve an
amplification of around 1000 a two staged cascaded amplifier is used. The first stage was a
non-inverting amplifier followed by a differential amplifier. The gain of the first amplifier was
100 and the second 10 and this was achieved using a 100k and 10k resistor.

Table 6: Determining the Sensitivity of The Whole System

Selected Amplifier 1: Differential Amplifier2: Non- Inverting
Parameters G1: 100 G2: 10 G=G1*G2
Weight Torque Output 1 Output 2
(Kg) (Nm) Input 1 (V) G1 (V) G2 G
0 0 0.335 37.4 413
0.1 0.1471 0.385 42.47 101.4 469 11.0453649 1120
 5
0.2 0.2943 0.438 47.5 94.90566 524 10.9343936 1037.73585
0.4414
0.3 5 0.486 52.48 103.75 582 11.6465863 1208.33333
0.4 0.5886 0.534 57.67 108.125 634 10.0192678 1083.33333
0.7357
0.5 5 0.588 62.6 91.296296 692 11.7647059 1074.07407
Average 99.895391 11.0820637 1104.69532

3.0 Analysis

3.1 Shear Stress and Torque

3.2 Strain and Shear Stress

3.3 Resistance and Strain for Strain Gauges

3.4 Bridge Output and Torque

References

es3d9_lab_1_updated.pdf, n.d.
SM1009-Strain-Gauge-Datasheet-0518.pdf, n.d.
Strain Gauge Based Torque Sensors & Measurement Experts, n.d. . Torque Sens. Torque
Transducers Shaft Power Meters - Datum Electron. URL https://datum-
electronics.co.uk/news/experts-in-torque-measurement/ (accessed 1.26.19).
Ways to Measure the Force Acting on a Rotating Shaft [WWW Document], n.d. URL
https://measurementsensors.honeywell.com/techresources/appnotes/Pages/Ways_t
o_Measure_the_Force_Acting_on_a_Rotating_Shaft.aspx (accessed 1.26.19).
White Paper Introduction to Strain 699A.pdf, n.d.