STRAIN GAUGE

THEORY OF STRAIN GAUGE

The strain or microstrain can be defined as a change in the mechanical dimension of a body with
respect to its original mechanical dimensions.

Strain gauges are passive transducers which based their operation on the fact that the resistance
of their material increases due to the strain that the body undergoes.

The transducer finds application in the measurement of various parameters such as

1. FORCE

2. PRESSURE

3. WEIGHT

4. VIBRATIONS

5. TORQUE etc

Stress is a measurement of how much internal pressure a material is under when a force acts on
it. The bigger the force or the smaller the area over which it acts, the more likely it is that the
material is to going to deform (change shape). Just like pressure, we measure stress by dividing
the force that's acting by the area it's acting over, so stress = force / area.

Strain is what happens as a result of stress. If a material is stressed by a force, it often changes
shape and gets a little bit longer (if you've pulled it apart) or shorter (if you've pushed it
together). The strain is defined as the change in length the force produces divided by the
material's original length. So if you pull a 10cm-long piece of elastic and it stretches by 1cm, the
strain is 0.1

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GENERALISED EXPRESSION FOR THE GAUGE FACTOR OF
STRAIN GAUGE

The strain gage is one of the most widely used strain measurement sensors. It is a resistive elastic
unit whose change in resistance is a function of applied strain.

where R is the resistance, is the strain, and S is the strain sensitivity factor of the gage material
(gage factor in some books).

Among strain gages, an electric resistance wire strain gage has the
advantages of lower cost and being an established product. Thus it is the
most commonly used type of device. Other types of strain gages are
acoustic, capacitive, inductive, mechanical, optical, piezo-resistive, and
semi-conductive.

A wire strain gage is made by a resistor, usually in metal foil form, bonded on an elastic backing.
Its principle is based on fact that the resistance of a wire increases with increasing strain and
decreases with decreasing strain, as first reported by Lord Kelvin in 1856.

Consider a wire strain gage, as illustrated above. The wire is composed of a uniform conductor
of electric resistivity with length l and cross-section area A. Its resistance R is a function of the
geometry given by

The resistance change rate is a combination effect of changes in length, cross-section area, and
resistivity.

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When the strain gage is attached and bonded well to the surface of an object, the two are
considered to deform together. The strain of the strain gage wire along the longitudinal direction
is the same as the strain on the surface in the same direction.

However, its cross-sectional area will also change due to the Poisson's ratio. Suppose that the
wire is cylindrical with initial radius r. The normal strain along the radial direction is

The change rate of cross-section area is twice as the radial strain, when the strain is small.

The resistance change rate becomes

For a given material, the sensitivity of resistance versus strain can be calibrated by the following
equation.

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When the sensitivity factor S is given, (usually provided by strain gage vendors) the average
strain at the point of attachment of the strain gage can be obtained by measuring the change in
electric resistance of the strain gauge

On the basis of expression of S we have two type of strain gauges

1. Metal wire strain gauge

As in metals change in resistivity is zero then

2. Semiconductor wire strain gauge

As in this the change in dimensions are zero. Semiconductor type strain gage is made of a thin
wire of silicon, typically 0.005 inch to 0.0005 inch, and length 0.05 inch to 0.5 inch. They can be of
two types: p-type and n-type. In the former the resistance increases with positive strain, while, in the
later the resistance decreases with temperature

MEMS pressure sensors is now a days becoming increasingly popular for measurement of pressure.
It is made of a small silicon diagram with four piezo-resistive strain gages mounted on it. It has an in-
built signal conditioning circuits and delivers measurable output voltage corresponding to the
pressure applied. Low weight and small size of the sensor make it suitable for measurement of

pressure in specific applications.

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TYPES OF STRAIN GAUGE CIRCUITS
1. RESISTANCE TYPRE STRAIN GAUGE
Relationship of electrical resistance to some of the physical properties of a conductor:

R = ρL/A

where R is the electrical resistance, ρ is the conductivity constant, L is the length of the
conductor and A is the cross sectional area. Resistance is directly proportional to the length and
inversely proportional to the cross sectional area. The electrical resistance of a metal wire
increases as it is stretched as a result of the decreased cross sectional area and an increase in the
length of the wire. Conversely, as the wire is compressed and the length decreases, with a
corresponding increase in cross sectional area, the electrical resistance of the material decreases.

The relationship between length and cross sectional dimension can be expressed by Poissonâs
ratio:

P = -(dD/D)/dL/L = σL / σa

where P is Poissonâs ratio, D is the cross sectional dimension and L is the length, σL is the lateral
strain and σa is the axial strain. It basically states that as the length decreases (compression) for a
material, the cross sectional dimension increases and vice versa for an increase (tension) in
length for a material.

Lord Kelvinâs discovery was not put to any practical use until the 1930âs. Carlson is credited
with one of the first recorded instances of a wire resistance strain gauge being applied to measure
stress in 1931. The use of a bonded wire gauge to measure strain was conceived at about the
same time by Simmons and Ruge in 1938. A wire gauge was mounted and bonded between two
thin pieces of paper. The general construction of a bonded wire type strain gauge is shown in
Figure 16.

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Figure 16 General arrangement of a bonded-wire type strain gauge

The bonded wire gauge has largely been replaced by the foil gauge which has been in
production since the 1950âs. This type of gauge consists of a metal foil grid which is bonded
onto an epoxy support. Printed circuit techniques are used in the manufacture of bonded foil
strain gauges. Foil configurations can be varied and complicated. (Figure 17)

The selection of a strain gauge for a particular application is affected by the following gauge
characteristics: grid material and construction, backing material, bonding material, gauge
protection and gauge configuration. Gauge design incorporates as many of the following features
as possible: high gage factor, high resistivity, temperature insensitivity, high electrical stability,
high yield point, high endurance limit, ease of working, low hysteresis, low thermal emf with
other materials and durability. A variety of strain gauges are available from commercial sources.
Temperature sensitivity is a major concern in the use of strain gauges, and temperature
compensation is often incorporated in the circuit.

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Strain gauges are normally attached to the member whose strain is being measured through a
cement or adhesive. Adhesives and the gauge backing material transmit the force to the grid.
Good adhesives possess the following properties: high mechanical strength, high creep
resistance, high dielectric strength, good bonding strength, a minimum of temperature
restrictions and ease of application. Different types of cements and adhesives are available from
the manufacturer with varying life cycles and ease of use.

Most gauge installations require protection from the ambient conditions, which may include
mechanical abuse, moisture, oil, dust, etc.. A variety of different coatings and methods are
available from the manufacturers of strain gauges to protect the strain gauge assembly.

The basic relationship between strain and the change in gauge resistance can be expressed by:

S = (1 / F) ( R / R)

where S is the strain, F is the gauge factor and R is the gauge resistance. For a typical gauge F is
2.0 and R is 120 ohm. Strains in the range of 1 microstrain are measurable using commercial
systems, which means that a change in gauge resistance of .00024 ohm must be detected for a
typical strain gauge. To detect resistance changes of this magnitude a strain gauge bridge circuit
(Figure 18) is often used. Other circuit configurations to detect the resistance change in a strain
gauge include the voltage dividing potentiometer or ballast circuit and the constant current
circuit.

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2. WHEATSTONE BRIDGE CIRCUIT FOR STRAIN GAUGE

a. NULL DEFLECTION BRIDGE

The resistance of strain gauge at zero deflection

R1=R2*R3/R4

If R1 is stressed it changes its resistance by ΔR1 and the bridge become unbalanced

Now R2 is varied proportionally to bring the bridge back to balance and the value of R1 can be
written as

R1+ΔR1=R3/R4(R2+ΔR2)
THUS

ΔR1=ΔR2*R3/R4
AND
ΔR2=ΔR1*R4/R3
IF R1=R2=R3=R4=Rg
THEN
ΔR2=Rg/Rg*ΔRg
ΔR2=ΔRg
AS
ΔRg=(G.F) *ΔL/L*Rg
ΔR2=(G.F)* ΔL/L*Rg
ΔR2=K*ΔL/L

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As the finite time is required to bring the bridge back to balance condition the above method
would be suitable for the measurement of static strain.

B. DEFLECTION TYPE OF WHEATSTONE BRIDGE AND

COMPENSATION

If a strip of conductive metal is stretched, it will become skinnier and longer, both changes
resulting in an increase of electrical resistance end-to-end. Conversely, if a strip of conductive
metal is placed under compressive force (without buckling), it will broaden and shorten. If
these stresses are kept within the elastic limit of the metal strip (so that the strip does not
permanently deform), the strip can be used as a measuring element for physical force, the
amount of applied force inferred from measuring its resistance.

Such a device is called a strain gauge. Strain gauges are frequently used in mechanical
engineering research and development to measure the stresses generated by machinery.
Aircraft component testing is one area of application, tiny strain-gauge strips glued to
structural members, linkages, and any other critical component of an airframe to measure
stress. Most strain gauges are smaller than a postage stamp, and they look something like this:

A strain gauge’s conductors are very thin: if made of round wire, about 1/1000 inch in
diameter. Alternatively, strain gauge conductors may be thin strips of metallic film deposited

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on a nonconducting substrate material called the carrier. The latter form of strain gauge is
represented in the previous illustration. The name “bonded gauge” is given to strain gauges
that are glued to a larger structure under stress (called the test specimen). The task of bonding
strain gauges to test specimens may appear to be very simple, but it is not. “Gauging” is a craft
in its own right, absolutely essential for obtaining accurate, stable strain measurements. It is
also possible to use an unmounted gauge wire stretched between two mechanical points to
measure tension, but this technique has its limitations.

Typical strain gauge resistances range from 30 Ω to 3 kΩ (unstressed). This resistance may
change only a fraction of a percent for the full force range of the gauge, given the limitations
imposed by the elastic limits of the gauge material and of the test specimen. Forces great
enough to induce greater resistance changes would permanently deform the test specimen
and/or the gauge conductors themselves, thus ruining the gauge as a measurement device.
Thus, in order to use the strain gauge as a practical instrument, we must measure extremely
small changes in resistance with high accuracy.

Such demanding precision calls for a bridge measurement circuit. Unlike the Wheatstone
bridge shown in the last chapter using a null-balance detector and a human operator to
maintain a state of balance, a strain gauge bridge circuit indicates measured strain by the
degree of imbalance, and uses a precision voltmeter in the center of the bridge to provide an
accurate measurement of that imbalance:

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Typically, the rheostat arm of the bridge (R2 in the diagram) is set at a value equal to the strain
gauge resistance with no force applied. The two ratio arms of the bridge (R1 and R3) are set
equal to each other. Thus, with no force applied to the strain gauge, the bridge will be
symmetrically balanced and the voltmeter will indicate zero volts, representing zero force on
the strain gauge. As the strain gauge is either compressed or tensed, its resistance will decrease
or increase, respectively, thus unbalancing the bridge and producing an indication at the
voltmeter. This arrangement, with a single element of the bridge changing resistance in
response to the measured variable (mechanical force), is known as a quarter-bridge circuit.

As the distance between the strain gauge and the three other resistances in the bridge circuit
may be substantial, wire resistance has a significant impact on the operation of the circuit. To
illustrate the effects of wire resistance, I’ll show the same schematic diagram, but add two
resistor symbols in series with the strain gauge to represent the wires:

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The strain gauge’s resistance (Rgauge) is not the only resistance being measured: the wire
resistances Rwire1 and Rwire2, being in series with Rgauge, also contribute to the resistance of the
lower half of the rheostat arm of the bridge, and consequently contribute to the voltmeter’s
indication. This, of course, will be falsely interpreted by the meter as physical strain on the
gauge.

While this effect cannot be completely eliminated in this configuration, it can be minimized
with the addition of a third wire, connecting the right side of the voltmeter directly to the upper
wire of the strain gauge:

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Because the third wire carries practically no current (due to the voltmeter’s extremely high
internal resistance), its resistance will not drop any substantial amount of voltage. Notice how
the resistance of the top wire (Rwire1) has been “bypassed” now that the voltmeter connects
directly to the top terminal of the strain gauge, leaving only the lower wire’s resistance (Rwire2)
to contribute any stray resistance in series with the gauge. Not a perfect solution, of course, but
twice as good as the last circuit!

There is a way, however, to reduce wire resistance error far beyond the method just described,
and also help mitigate another kind of measurement error due to temperature. An unfortunate
characteristic of strain gauges is that of resistance change with changes in temperature. This is
a property common to all conductors, some more than others. Thus, our quarter-bridge circuit
as shown (either with two or with three wires connecting the gauge to the bridge) works as a
thermometer just as well as it does a strain indicator. If all we want to do is measure strain, this
is not good. We can transcend this problem, however, by using a “dummy” strain gauge in
place of R2, so that both elements of the rheostat arm will change resistance in the same
proportion when temperature changes, thus canceling the effects of temperature change:

Resistors R1 and R3 are of equal resistance value, and the strain gauges are identical to one
another. With no applied force, the bridge should be in a perfectly balanced condition and the
voltmeter should register 0 volts. Both gauges are bonded to the same test specimen, but only

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one is placed in a position and orientation so as to be exposed to physical strain
(the active gauge). The other gauge is isolated from all mechanical stress, and acts merely as a
temperature compensation device (the “dummy” gauge). If the temperature changes, both
gauge resistances will change by the same percentage, and the bridge’s state of balance will
remain unaffected. Only a differential resistance (difference of resistance between the two
strain gauges) produced by physical force on the test specimen can alter the balance of the
bridge.

Wire resistance doesn’t impact the accuracy of the circuit as much as before, because the wires
connecting both strain gauges to the bridge are approximately equal length. Therefore, the
upper and lower sections of the bridge’s rheostat arm contain approximately the same amount
of stray resistance, and their effects tend to cancel:

Even though there are now two strain gauges in the bridge circuit, only one is responsive to
mechanical strain, and thus we would still refer to this arrangement as a quarter-bridge.
However, if we were to take the upper strain gauge and position it so that it is exposed to the
opposite force as the lower gauge (i.e. when the upper gauge is compressed, the lower gauge
will be stretched, and vice versa), we will have bothgauges responding to strain, and the bridge
will be more responsive to applied force. This utilization is known as a half-bridge. Since both

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strain gauges will either increase or decrease resistance by the same proportion in response to
changes in temperature, the effects of temperature change remain canceled and the circuit will
suffer minimal temperature-induced measurement error:

An example of how a pair of strain gauges may be bonded to a test specimen so as to yield this
effect is illustrated here:

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With no force applied to the test specimen, both strain gauges have equal resistance and the
bridge circuit is balanced. However, when a downward force is applied to the free end of the
specimen, it will bend downward, stretching gauge #1 and compressing gauge #2 at the same
time:

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In applications where such complementary pairs of strain gauges can be bonded to the test
specimen, it may be advantageous to make all four elements of the bridge “active” for even
greater sensitivity. This is called a full-bridge circuit:

Both half-bridge and full-bridge configurations grant greater sensitivity over the quarter-bridge
circuit, but often it is not possible to bond complementary pairs of strain gauges to the test
specimen. Thus, the quarter-bridge circuit is frequently used in strain measurement systems.

When possible, the full-bridge configuration is the best to use. This is true not only because it
is more sensitive than the others, but because it is linear while the others are not. Quarter-
bridge and half-bridge circuits provide an output (imbalance) signal that is
only approximately proportional to applied strain gauge force. Linearity, or proportionality, of
these bridge circuits is best when the amount of resistance change due to applied force is very
small compared to the nominal resistance of the gauge(s). With a full-bridge, however, the

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output voltage is directly proportional to applied force, with no approximation (provided that
the change in resistance caused by the applied force is equal for all four strain gauges!).

Unlike the Wheatstone and Kelvin bridges, which provide measurement at a condition of
perfect balance and therefore function irrespective of source voltage, the amount of source (or
“excitation”) voltage matters in an unbalanced bridge like this. Therefore, strain gauge bridges
are rated in millivolts of imbalance produced per volt of excitation, per unit measure of force.
A typical example for a strain gauge of the type used for measuring force in industrial
environments is 15 mV/V at 1000 pounds. That is, at exactly 1000 pounds applied force
(either compressive or tensile), the bridge will be unbalanced by 15 millivolts for every volt of
excitation voltage. Again, such a figure is precise if the bridge circuit is full-active (four active
strain gauges, one in each arm of the bridge), but only approximate for half-bridge and
quarter-bridge arrangements

LOAD CELL

Through a mechanical construction, the force being sensed deforms a strain gauge. The strain
gauge measures the deformation (strain) as a change in electrical resistance, which is a measure

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of the strain and hence the applied forces. A load cell usually consists of four strain gauges in
a Wheatstone bridge configuration. Load cells of one strain gauge (quarter bridge) or two strain
gauges (half bridge) are also available.[1] The electrical signal output is typically in the order of a
few millivolts and requires amplification by an instrumentation amplifier before it can be used.
The output of the transducer can be scaled to calculate the force applied to the transducer.
Sometimes a high resolution ADC, typically 24-bit, can be used directly.

Strain gauge load cells are the most common in industry. These load cells are particularly stiff,
have very good resonance values, and tend to have long life cycles in application. Strain gauge
load cells work on the principle that the strain gauge (a planar resistor)
deforms/stretches/contracts when the material of the load cells deforms appropriately. These
values are extremely small and are relational to the stress and/or strain that the material load cell
is undergoing at the time. The change in resistance of the strain gauge provides an electrical
value change that is calibrated to the load placed on the load cell.
Strain gauge load cells convert the load acting on them into electrical signals. The gauges
themselves are bonded onto a beam or structural member that deforms when weight is applied. In
most cases, four strain gauges are used to obtain maximum sensitivity and temperature
compensation. Two of the gauges are usually in tension, and two in compression, and are wired
with compensation adjustments. The strain gauge load cell is fundamentally a spring optimized
for strain measurement. Gauges are mounted in areas that exhibit strain in compression or
tension. The gauges are mounted in a differential bridge to enhance measurement
accuracy.[2] When weight is applied, the strain changes the electrical resistance of the gauges in
proportion to the load.[3] Other load cells are fading into obscurity, as strain gauge load cells
continue to increase their accuracy and lower their unit costs

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MEASUREMENT OF PRESSURE
We can measure the pressure by the two type of transducers

1. USING PASSIVE TRANDUCER

2. USING ACTIVE TRANSDUCER

1. PRESSURE MEANSURMENT USING PASSIVE TRANSDUCERS

The pressure measurement using passive transducer is a two stage process in which

 The pressure is sensed by the primary transducer initially and it will converted into a
proportional displacement signal
 In the secondary stage the output displacement of primary transducer and it converted
into an analogous electrical signal
 The various secondary transducer used in pressure measurement are variable inductance,
variable capacitance and variable resistance transducers

EXAMPLE OFB PRESSURE MEASUREMENT SETIP USING A BELLOW AND LVDT

Here in this experiment we have have the bellow as the primary transducer and the LVDT is
secondary transformer when the pressure is exerted p1 the bellow will expand thus the iron core
is change its position inside between the primary and secondary coil of LVDT thus the voltage
will be come across the secondary coils.

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2. PRESSURE MEANSURMENT USING ACTIVE TRANSDUCERS
The piezoelectric effect is defined as the property of a crystal by virtue of which charges
induced across the certain surface when its mechanical dimensions are changed due to
application of pressure

By the definition of piezoelectric effect

Q=Df

Where Q= charge induced

F= force exerted

D=(charge/coulomb) sensitivity

The relationship between Q the charge, V the voltage and C the capacitor is

Q=CV

Thus voltage across the piezoelectric is

V=Q/C

Thus the crystal capacitance expressed as

C=A ε /t

Where t= unstrain thickness of signal

then we have

V=(d*F*t)/ ε *A

As pressure P=F/A

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Now

V=P*t/ ε

By this relationship we can determine the pressure exerted by the equation

P=V* ε/t

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