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DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM FOR REAL-TIME STRAIN GAUGE

MEASUREMENT USING DASYLAB

Conference Paper · October 2003

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 DATA ACQUISITION SYSTEM FOR REAL-TIME STRAIN GAUGE
MEASUREMENT USING DASYLAB

Catalin Teodoriu**, Alexandru Popa*, Peter Reichetseder**

*Ing. Alexandru Popa, Universitatea “Petrol-Gaze” Ploiesti

**Dipl. Ing. C. Teodoriu, Prof. Dr. mont. P. Reichetseder, Technical University of Clausthal

Abstract: Threaded connections for tubular goods are one of the most used
elements in the oil and gas industry. The new data acquisition devices offer to
date a large applicability. This paper deals with the development of a strain
gauges measurement system based on a SPIDER strain gauge amplifier,
which is interconnected under DASYLab software in a research network. The
new developed strain gauges measurement permits time reduction and better
stress visualisation for threaded connections. This paper was prepared for
presentation at THE 4TH SYMPOSIUM ON PROCESS CONTROL,
OCTOBER 8 - 9, 2003, PLOIESTI, ROMANIA. Copyright © 2002 IFAC
Keywords: software, hardware, data acquisition, threaded connection, strain
gauge.

connections for a given torque value, the strain

1. INTRODUCTION
Threaded connections are one of the most
important elements used in the oil and gas
industry. The demand in better connections
creates a large diversification of the threaded
connections types. The quality and performance
of the threaded connections can be increased if
we understand the stress and strain state that
occurs in the connection.
gauges are measured static. Measurements of
dynamical processes using strain gauges are
limited by the sampling rate of the amplifier. For
a low number of strain gauges this kind of
measurements is performed without problems.
The new series of strain gauges amplifiers from
HBM (Hottinger Baldwin Messtechnik GmbH)
offer sampling rates up to 600 Hz, (Spider, 2003).
2. THE THREADED CONNECTION GEOMETRY

It is known that the stress state in a threaded
connection determines its behaviour under
external loads. Therefore, it is necessary to
measure the stress state of any new type of
connection before it is released on the market.
Analytical methods are not applicable for the
entire spectrum of threaded connections,
(Teodoriu, et al, 2003). The analytical results are
mostly adapted for types of threaded connections
and the results need confirmation using other
methods like experimental stress analysis or finite
element method. The strain gauge technology is a
very good and easy to apply technique to evaluate
the stress state in a specimen. In case of threaded
A threaded connection used in the oil and gas
field is formed by a pin and a box, which are
screwed together. To achieve high resistance the
connection has one or two shoulders. The pitch
value and thread form may differ from the
producer to producer. The important parts of a
threaded connection are (see fig. 1):
• Threaded zone
• Sealing zone or Stress Relief Groove
(when available)
• Shoulder
• Body.
 SRG Threaded interval where: Fv represents the buck-up force;
Shoulder Connection P – thread pitch;
body Rp – pitch radius;
β – half angle of thread tooth
µth,s – friction coefficient for thread,
respectively shoulder;
Rs - average shoulder radius.

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of threaded For the preliminary tests the specimens were
connection equipped with strain gauges according to the
API specifications: A pair of strain gauges was
Two situations can be defined for the stress mounted on pin at 19,05 mm from shoulder and
strain state of a threaded connection: the a second pair was mounted on box at 9,5 mm
makeup and external loads. from shoulder.
Usually the makeup stress state after makeup is
3. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT
described by the Farr formula (Farr, et al, 1954):
The goal of the project was to found a
 P Rp  software/hardware configuration capable to
M = Fv ⋅  + ⋅ µ th + R s ⋅ µ s 
 2 ⋅ π cos β  measure up to 8 strain gauges simultaneous.

The project is based on a distributed hardware

and software system. The system is divided in
following components: signal acquisition, data
management and backup. Two types of
hardware components are defined: the testing
hardware and the measurement hardware.

Fig. 2. Computer controlled Power Tong

3.1. Testing hardware
The tests were conducted using the Vertical
Power Tong, which is a part of the ITE Makeup
Center and special data acquisition system.
The ITE makeup centre consists in a
horizontally positioned power tong (HPT), a
vertical power tong (VPT) and a small-scale test
machine. The tests for this investigation were
carried out in the vertical power tong.
The system has five main components (fig. 2):
• Upper rotating clamping unit
• Lower non-rotating clamping unit, air
spring supported, free to move axially
• Operating console
• Hydraulic power pack
• Data acquisition system
The upper and lower clamping unit has six
hydraulic cylinders each in a radial
configuration. To ensure concentric clamping of
the tool joints the PT is equipped with
centralizing devices. Two radial hydraulic
motors provide the rotary drive with a tandem-
arranged transmission unit. The upper clamping
unit produces the rotation of the tool joint. Four
pneumatic cylinders compensate the axial
displacement occurring between the upper and
lower clamping units, as a result of the makeup
operation. The torque is measured using two
bending beams with strain gauges system (see
fig. 3).
Strain
Lower
clamping
gauges
unit
position
T was set to work in bipolar modus with a voltage
2 mm
1436 mm
Fig.. 3. Makeup torque transducer used in the
ITE Vertical Power Tong
By means of an automatic switch the makeup
process is finished after attainment of a
specified torque or a specified angular rotation.
The measured makeup torque values can be
observed in real time on a monitor. The data of
makeup and brake out are stored in a convenient
format on a physical disk. The power tong is
computer controlled.
3.2. Measurement hardware
The measurement hardware consists of signal
amplifiers and data acquisition devices and its
components are shown in figure 4.
The following parameters are measured:
• strain gauges signals using the HBM
Spider 8.30 device;
• makeup torque using the computer
controlled power tong and the ADDA
PCI-9112 mounted on the data
acquisition computer.
The Spider 8.30 device is produced by the
company Hottinger Baldwin Messtechnik
GmbH (HBM). This device is designed to read
simultaneously up to eight strain gauges.
The measurement bridges are able to work with
strain gauges of 120, 350 or 750 ohm. The
connection wiring of the strain gauges to Spider
is presented in figure 5. To measure the real
stress and strain the ¼ bridge modus was used.
The data transfer between the device and
measurement PC is made through serial port
RS232. The RS232 was set to work at 9600 bps.
The Spider 8.30 has a set of instructions that
permit the communication with a computer.
The ADDA acquisition card is produced by the
company ADLINK and is used to acquire
electric signals. To avoid interferences the card
between -10 … +10 V. This device reads the
makeup torque signals from the computer
controlled power tong. The data management is
performed using a PC with standard
configuration. A LAN makes the connection
between the measurement PC and server, where
the data are stored in order to have a backup.
Fig. 4. The hardware used for measuring
process
Fig. 5. Wiring schematic to connect single strain
gauge at Spider 8.30
Fig. 6. Client server configuration using
DASYLab
3.3. Measurement Software
As shown before, the system is designed to
work distributed in a LAN. On the client and on
the server runs the DASYLab software
produced by National Instruments. The
connection between client and server is created
using an implemented component called Socket
Server, see fig. 6. The socket server component
is available up to the version DASYLab 6.
The DASYLab offers a variety of capabilities to
acquire and work-out the signals. Additionally
the software contains a client-server structure
that allows it to be used in a LAN. The two
modules, that make the interface with the
hardware, read the signals from Spider and
ADDA card. The calibration and tarring of the
devices is made while measuring. The serial
interface is working in both directions, because
the Spider is sending a signal at request only.
Because the time base for the two modules is
different, the signals are applied to a
synchronisation module. A data fitting module
is used to transform the signals in adequate
output parameters such as Torque, Stress,
Strain, etc. The parameters are saved on a local
HDD and, using the socket server, are sent to
the server.
 4. RESULTS
The system was tested on two different
strain gauges configurations. One specimen was
glued with 2 XY strain gauges and the second
one used four XY strain gauges. The DASYLab
software was programmed to transform the
input signals from the SPIDER in readable
parameters as strain and stress.
4.1. Principles of stress analysis with strain
gauges
Experimental stress analysis using strain gauges
leads to information about the stress imposed on
the material of drill pipes and TJ. During the
test the measured data of the strain gauges are
registered using a multi-channel instrument
manufactured by HOTTINGER BALDWIN
Meßtechnik GmbH, Hemmingen, Germany.
The data are directly computer-aided processed
and stored.
The principle of strain gauges is based on the
physical HOOKE's law. In the elastic range of a
material the HOOKE's law is valid:
σ = ε ⋅E
where: σ represents the stress in the material
[MPa],
ε - elongation [m/m],
E - Young's modulus [MPa].
For a biaxial (plane) stress condition a more
complex condition of elongation exists. The
main normal stress of a plane stress condition
can be calculated by the extended Hooke’s law:
E
σ1 = ⋅ (ε1 + µ ⋅ ε 2 ) ,
1− µ2
respectively,
E performed by using the so-called 90°-rosettes. A
σ2 = ⋅ (ε 2 + µ ⋅ ε1 )
1− µ2
where: σ1, σ2 represent main normal stresses
[MPa],
ε1,ε1 - main normal strain [m/m],
µ - Poisson's ratio.
In order to compare the biaxial load of the
material with its yield strength the two main
normal stresses have to be converted into an
equivalent uniaxial stress. The equivalent stress
can be calculated using the maximum shear
strain energy criterion (von MISES-hypothesis):
σ v = σ12 + σ12 − 2 ⋅ σ1 ⋅ σ 2
where: σv represents the equivalent stress
[MPa].
The strain gauge measurement is based on the
alteration of the electrical resistance of
conductors if its material is stressed or upset.
The alteration of the resistance is caused by two
reasons:
• Alteration of the form,
• Alteration of resistivity.
The alteration of the form leads to an alteration
of the conductor’s cross-section. CH.
WHEATSTONE and W. THOMSON
discovered the effect of resistance alteration due
to alteration of the cross-section.
(4.1)
Fig. 7. XY 11 3/120 strain gauge and its active
directions
(4.2)
If the directions of the principal strains are
known the strain gauge measurement can be
rosette is a combination of multiple grids. A
two-grid set with an angle of 90° relative to
each other was used for the experiments. The(4.3)
direction of main strains being equal to the
active strain direction of the strain gauge is of
high importance for application of strain gauges
(fig. 7).
Theoretically, as a response to strains in the
active strain direction, strain gauges only
change their electrical resistance but in praxis
minimal strains in the cross-direction occur and
as a result, alterations of the resistance have
been observed (Hofmann, 1987). This
PIN
phenomenon is called “cross-directional
sensitiveness”. It occurs because the loops of
the strain gauge's conductors are in the same
manner strained as the other parts of the grid's Axial strain Tangential Strain gauges
gauge strain gauge
conductors. Modern grids were therefore BOX measurement system
modified by constructional arrangements to
minimize this effect. As a result the errors Spider
caused by the cross-directional sensitiveness are
negligible small. Since the measurable strains
and resulting alterations of electrical resistance
are very small, no direct measurement of
resistance is possible. Therefore it is required to Fig. 8. Strain gauges and data acquisition
apply a measuring chain, e. g. a system
WHEATSTONE bridge. Such a switching
enables the exactly determination of the
alteration of particular strain gauge resistances.
In general a measurement scheme consists on
four parts: strain gauges, measurement
switching, amplifier, output unit. Figure 8
shows a schematic of the measurement system
applied on a TJ specimen.

4.2. DASYLab Configuration

The DASYLab configuration is presented in

figure 9. The already presented modules are
customized to serve the project purpose. The
optimal data sampling for the SPIDER was
founded to be equal to 0.1 seconds. For finer
sampling rates the system becomes instable. A
user interface was created in order to show the
measured values online, see fig. 10. Through
this interface the process can be watched and
some process variable can be reset.

The interface offers to the user the possibility to

change at any time the input values for the
running project (i.e. strain gauges resistivity
constants, sampling rate, etc). Also a tarring Fig. 9. DASYLab configuration for data
function is available. The backup function can acqutition using SPIDER 8.30
be activated from the same user interface. The
measured values are visualized using two
display modules: digital and graphical. The
digital modus can be customizing to show the
real values from the SPIDER (see fig. 10) or the
computed values for the stress or strain. This
option is to be found under the setting button.
 Special Functions
Measured data plot
Fig. 10. User interface build mit DASYLab for
strain gauge measurement
4.1. Data interpretation
The measured data is saved in a standard format
(i.e. ASCI). The final data interpretation is
performed using a standard Worksheet program
like EXCEL. Figure 11 shows a final graphic
representing the axial stress in a double
shoulder connection during the makeup
procedure. For example the graphic shows when
the second shoulders come in contact.
A control procedure was performed to observe
the stability of the measurement system. The
procedure consists in a makeup followed by a
breakout with continuously strain gauge
measurement. It can be seen that the stresses at
the start and in the end of the procedure are
equal. A complete discussion about the results
of experimental stress analysis using continuous
data acquisition will be presented after complete
data evaluation.
Measured data
5. CONCLUSIONS
The project shows that it is possible to
combine different data acquisition systems
under DASYLab software to achieve a high
performance measuring system.
The system was stable down to 0,1 s
sampling rate, that offer a high quality of the
measured process.
Using this technique it is possible to reduce
the investigation duration and to find with high
accuracy the optimum torque.
For the future is planed a complete
automated system with the followings
improvements:
• Parallel communication between
SPIDER and DASYLab (for high
speed data transfer)
• New user interface with easy to use
options
• Double SPIDER control for 16 strain
gauges measurement
 900 9000

700 7000

500 5000

300 3000
Axial Stress [MPa]

Torque [Nm]
100 1000

00:12,1 00:13,0 00:13,8 00:14,7 00:15,6 00:16,4 00:17,3 00:18,1 00:19,0 00:19,9

-100 -1000

-300 -3000

-500 -5000

-700 -7000

-900 -9000
Time [s]

DMS B DMS A DMS D DMS C Torque

Fig. 11. Example of stress measurement while madeup using the SPIDER based system

REFERENCES

***, (2003) DASYLab 6 Online Tutorial,

National Instruments
***, (2003) SPIDER 8.30 –Instruction Manual,
HBM GmbH, Darmstadt
Hofmann, K, (1987) Eine Einführung in die
Technik des Messens mit
Dehnungsmeßstreifen, HBM GmbH,
Darmstadt
Farr, A.P., (1957) Torque Requirement for
Rotary Shouldered Connection”,
Paper No. 57-Pet.-19 presented at the
ASME Petroleum-Mechanical
Engineering Conference, Tulsa,
Okla., Sept 22-25
Teodoriu, C, et al, (2003) A Review of
Analytical Calculations of
Shouldered Threaded Connections,
DGMK Frühjahrstagung, April 2003,
Celle

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