FORCE, WEIGHT &

FLOW
MEASUREMENT
UNIT-6

CONTENT
Introduction to force, weight and flow
measurement
Strain gauge and its function
Load cell, Principle and Operation
Flow measurement using Orifice plate

Introduction to force, weight

and flow measurement
Force Measurement
Force is defined as a cause that produces resistance or
obstruction to any moving body, or changes the motion of a
body, or tends to produce these effects.
F=MA
Where,
F=force
M= mass, in Kg
A = acceleration, in Kg/m

Force Measurement
Methods Of Force Measurement Are:
Hydraulic force meter.
Pneumatic force meter.
Electric force transducers.

Force Measurement
Limitations to the methods of measuring force are:
Force must be either reasonably constant in value or
changing gradually and continuously in one direction.
The force must act perpendicular to the platform of the
scale, otherwise only the cosine component is measured.
The measurement requires correction for local variation in
gravitational constant.

Weight Measurement
Weight is the force with which a body is attracted to the
earth.
The relation between weight and mass is.
Weight= mass acceleration

Weight Measurement
The fundamental principles used in practically all methods of
measuring weights are:
a. Comparison with known weights.
b. Measuring deflection of a body, using Hookes law,
according to which the strain is proportional to stress.
c. Measuring the hydraulic or pneumatic pressure required to
support the unknown weight.

Weight Measurement
d. Measuring the electric current in a coil whose magnetic
field supports the unknown weight.
e. Measuring displacement of a liquid, using Archimedes,
principle, that a floating body displaces its own weight of
a liquid.
f. Load cells.

Flow Measurement
It is made for determining the proportions and the
amount of materials flowing in or out of a process.
Without flow measurement, plant material balancing,
quality

control

and

even

the

operation

of

any

continuous process would be impossible.

Flow measurement is made both for fluids and solids.

Flow Measurement
Methods of Flow Measurements are:
Inferential type flow meter.
Quantity flow meter.
Mass flow meter.

Strain gauge and its function

The most popular method for measuring force is using
strain gauge.
Strain gauge is one of the most popular types of
transducer.
It has got a wide range of applications.

Strain gauge
It can be used for measurement of force, torque, pressure,
acceleration and many other parameters.
The basic principle of operation of a strain gage is simple:
When strain is applied to a thin metallic wire, its
dimension changes, thus changing the resistance of the
wire.

Definition
A strain gauge is an example of passive transducer that
converts a mechanical displacement into a change of
resistance.
A strain gauge is a thin, wafer-like device that can be
attached to a variety of materials to measure applied
strain.

Basic Strain-Gauge Theory

The relationship between resistance change and strain in the foil or wire used
in strain-gauge construction can be expressed as

where K is defined as the gauge factor of the foil or wire,

R is the resistance change due to strain,
R is the initial resistance,
L is the change in length,
L is the original length of the wire or foil, and

Strain Gauge

Strain gauge
The heart of a strain gauge is grid made of very fine wire using
Platinum, Nichrome, or tungsten.
The grid is arranged in such a way that the measured pressure
will cause the wire in the grid to stretch or strain resulting in a
change in the electrical resistance of the grid wire.
The strain gauge is a fine wire which changes its resistance
when mechanically strained.

Strain gauge
A strain gauge is attached to the diaphragm so that
when the diaphragm flexes due to the process pressure
applied on it, the strain gauge stretches or compressed.
This deformation of the strain gauge causes the
variation in its length & cross section area due to which
its resistance also changes.

Strain gauge
The resistance change of a strain gauge is converted in
to voltage by connecting one, two, or four similar
gauges, as of a Wheatstone bridge and applying
excitation to the bridge.
The bridge output voltage is a measure of the Pressure
sensed by the strain gauge.

Construction and working

Two strain gauges Rsg1 and Rsg3 are mounted in such a way
that increasing pressure increases their resistance.
The remaining two strain gauge, Rsg2 and Rsg4 are mounted
so that increasing pressure decrease their resistance.
At balance, when there is no pressure, no current flows
through the galvanometer G.

Construction and working

When the pressure is applied, the strain gauge stretches or
compresses accordingly and the bridge circuit becomes balanced.
Thus

the

current

flows

through

the

galvanometer

during

unbalanced condition.
So the change in current indicates the change in measured
pressure.

Types
Based on principle of working :
Mechanical
Electrical
Piezoelectric
Based on mounting :
Bonded strain gauge
Unbonded strain gauge

Types
Based on construction :
Foil strain gauge
Semiconductor strain gauge
Photoelectric Strain gauge

Unbonded Strain Gauge

Unbonded Strain Gauge

Unbonded strain gauge has a resistance wire stretched between

two frames.
The rigid pins of the two frames are insulated.
When the wire is stretched due to an applied force, there occurs

a relative motion between the two frames and thus a strain is

produced, causing a change in resistance value.
This change of resistance value will be equal to the strain input.

Bonded Strain Gauge

Bonded Strain Gauge

A bonded strain gauge will be either a wire type or a foil type.
It is connected to a paper or a thick plastic film support.
The measuring leads are soldered or welded to the gauge wire.
The bonded strain gauge with the paper backing is connected
to the elastic member whose strain is to be measured.

Advantages
Sensitive to small pressure change.
Small size.
Good accuracy.
Fast response.

Disadvantages
Require constant voltage supply.
Electrical readout is necessary.
Temperature compensation required.

Load Cell
A load cell is a transducer that is used to convert a force into
electrical signal.
The most common type is a strain gauge load cell.

Load Cell
Load cell is a passive transducer or sensor which
converts applied force into electrical signals. They are
also referred to as Load transducers.
Load cells use different operating principles, viz.,
Load Cells based on fluid pressure
Load Cells based on elasticity
Load Cells based on magnetostriction effect or
piezoelectric effect

MEASURMENT PRINICIPLE

Load cell primarily consists of a spring material and strain gage. Spring material causes strain due to applied load and strain gage changes its resistance in accordance with
the change in strain.

1. Spring Material

The sensing or spring element is the main structural component of the load cell. The element is designed in such a way that it develops a strain, directly proportional to the
load applied.

When external force is applied, a molecular force works between the molecules constituting the object, generating an internal force that tries to prevent the deformation by
the applied force. When the external force is balanced with the internal force generated inside the object, the deformation of the object ceases. At this moment, the internal
force per unit area that is generated on the cross section of the object is called the stress and the change in dimensions per unit original dimensions is called strain. The
spring material develops the strain in proportion to applied force.

In order to enhance the performance of a load cell, the characteristics of the spring material are very important.

Creep, the phenomenon that occurs when the deformation of an object caused by external force becomes larger with time, should be small.

The material should have a high proportional limit, which guarantees a wide range of linearity.

Secular variation, change in an object due to permanent stress with passage of time, should be small

The resistance to impact should be high.

It should have good workability.

Nickel-chrome-molybdenum steel, stainless steel, and aluminium steel are some of the materials meeting these requirements.

 2. Strain Gage
Strain gages utilise the principle of change in resistance of many metals when they
are elongated or contracted.
Since resistance depends upon the resistivity, length and cross sectional area of the
material, the same metallic wire will have different electrical resistance depending on
whether it is elongated or contracted. The longer the metallic string becomes, the
larger the resistance. The strain gauge utilizes this principle and is defined as a
device whose electrical resistance varies in proportion to the amount of strain in the
device.
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. 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 ?,
with 120, 350, and 1000 ? being the most common values.

 A load cell is made by bonding strain gauges to a spring

material. To efficiently detect the strain, strain gauges
are bonded to the position on the spring material where
the strain is maximum. When the stress caused by
applied force to an object is below the proportional limit,
the strain varies linearly with the stress and the
resistance value of the strain gauge varies linearly with
the deformation.

 Relation of the change in strain to the change in

resistance is governed by the Gage factor, defined as
the ratio of change in resistance per unit resistance to
the change in length per unit length of the strain gage.
Therefore,

Change in gage resistance = Gage Resistance * Gage

Factor * Strain.
Gage factor of metallic strain gages is approx. 1.5 2.

 CLASSIFICATION: BASED ON SHAPES OF SPRING

MATERIAL
Five commonly used load cell shapes are
1.Column Type
It uses a simple structure and uses 2 strain gages; one
in longitudinal and other in transverse direction. It can
be used for both tension and compression
measurements.

 1.Column Type

2. Roberval Type (Double-beam

Type, Parallel-beam Type
These load cells use bending as the sensing
principle.When a force (F) is applied to the Robervaltype load cell, strain gauge 1 contracts while the strain
gauge 2 stretches. Value of strain depends upon L, t and
width of the beam.
This structure is suitable for high-precision load cells.
Bending beams offer high strain levels at relatively low
forces, which make them ideal for low capacity load
cells. Typical measurement range is generally between
1kg and 1 T, and are not suitable for large capacities

2. Roberval Type (Double-beam

Type, Parallel-beam Type

 3. Shear Type
Strain gauges are bonded at a 45o angle on the neutral
axis of the load cell.Shear-type load cells can be made
smaller than Roberval-type load cells with the same
capacity. They are strongly resistant to transverse
loading and it is easy to make them highly precise. The
measurement range is generally between 100kg and 20
T.

 3. Shear Type

 4. Ring Type (Annular Type)

The ring load cell is a high precision load cell and
primarily has anintermediate capacity, ranging from
500kg to 20ton.

 4. Ring Type (Annular Type)

5. Diaphragm Type
The diaphragm-type load cell has a round shape. The
primary advantage of using a diaphragm-type load cell
is that its height can be lowered and it is resistant to
transverse loading.

5. Diaphragm Type

Load Cell

Load Cell
A load cell is a transducer which converts force in to a
measurable electrical output.
There are many varieties of load cell, strain gauge based load
cells are the most commonly used type.

Load cell
The strain gauge load cell is an electromechanical transducer
which translates changes in force or weight in to changes in
voltage.
The change in voltage calibrated directly in terms of force or load
applied to the cell.

Load cell

Construction
Strain gauge load cell is constructed of wire grids (known as strain
gauge) bonded to precisely machined supporting columns.
The grids are connected electrically to form a balanced Wheatstone
bridge.
Additional compensation resistors are added to the circuit for
maintaining the accuracy of the bridge over a wide range of
temperature.

Working
The principle of operation of the strain gauge load cell depends
upon the deflection of the column.
When a force or load to be measured is applied to the supporting
column, the column is compressed causing the wires in the grid
bonded to sides X1 and Y1 to decrease in length and increase in
cross sectional area, thus decreasing their electrical resistance.

Working
The grid bonded to sides X2 and Y2 are unaffected by the
comparison of the column.
These grids are attached to the column to minimize errors due to
temperature variations.

Working
When the column is stressed in tension, the measuring grid wires
(strain gauge) are lengthened and their resistance increased.
The change in resistance of the strain gauge causes the Wheatstone
bridge, which is directly proportional to the force (load) applied to
the column, to become unbalanced, thus providing a linear output
voltage signal with respect to the force .

Working
Strain gauge load cells are made for compression, tension or
universal loading of either type.
The output signals of strain gauges are in the range 1 to 3mv per
volt of excitation, and are proportional to the excitation.
The excitation voltage can be AC or DC in the range of 5 to 25V.
Accuracy of the device is 0.1% of full scale output.

CLASSIFICATION: BASED ON
DIRECTION OF LOADING

CLASSIFICATION: BASED ON
OUTER SHAPE

CLASSIFICATION: BASED ON AIR

TIGHTNESS

ADVANTAGES
They are small and compact in size.
They are well suited for measurements where an electrical output
signal is desired.
They are inexpensive.
They respond rapidly to load variations.
They can measure up to the rated capacity, with deflection in the range
0.125mm to 0.25mm.

LIMITATIONS
Overloads greatly in excess of their ratings should be avoided.

LOAD CELL

Flow measurement using Orifice

plate
Orifice Plate

Orifice Plate
An orifice plate is device used for measuring flow rate.
It uses the same principle as a Venturi nozzle, namely
Bernoulli's principle which states that there is a relationship
between the pressure of the fluid and the velocity of the
fluid.
When the velocity increases, the pressure decreases and
vice versa.

Orifice Plate

 An orifice plate is a thin plate with a hole in it, which is usually

placed in a pipe. When a fluid passes through the orifice, its
pressure builds up slightly upstream of the orifice but as the
fluid is forced to converge to pass through the hole, the
velocity increases and the fluid pressure decreases. A little
downstream of the orifice the flow reaches its point of
maximum convergence, the vena contracta where the velocity
reaches its maximum and the pressure reaches its minimum.
Beyond that, the flow expands, the velocity falls and the
pressure increases. By measuring the difference in fluid
pressure across tapping upstream and downstream of the
plate, the flow rate can be obtained from Bernoulli's equation
using coefficients established from extensive research

Basic Operating Principle

Square root relationship in the flow rate is proportional to the

square of the differential pressure.

72

FLOW MEASUREMENT USING

ORIFICE PLATE.
It acts as a primary device.
The orifice plate restricts the flow of a fluid to produce
the differential pressure across the plate.
The result is high pressure upstream and low pressure
downstream i.e. proportional to the square of flow
velocity.
Orifice plate produces greater pressure loss than other
primary devices.
73

ORIFICE PLATE
Variable head flow meters operate on the principle that a
restriction or obstruction in the line or plane of a flowing fluid,
introduced by the orifice plate or venture tube, produces a
differential pressure across the restriction element which is
proportional to the flow rate.

74

ORIFICE PLATE

Two standard design of orifice plate are :

Thin orifice plate.
Sharp square edge orifice plate.

ORIFICE PLATE

Important term used in orifice plate is diameter ratio.

D/d = diameter of the orifice of the primary element
Upstream diameter of the pipe

Types of orifice plate

Concentric orifice plate
Eccentric orifice plate
Segmental orifice plate
Quadrant orifice plate

Concentric orifice plate

Concentric orifice
plate
It is a simplest and largest expensive of the head meters.
It is made of stainless steel.
Its thickness varies from 3.175mm and to 12.7mm depending on
pipe line size and flow velocity.
It has a circular hole in the middle.
It is also made up of material like nickel, Chromel, phosphor,
bronze etc to withstand corrosive effects of the fluid.

Eccentric orifice plate

Eccentric orifice plate

It is similar to concentric plate except for the offset hole, which is
bored tangential to a circle.
Location of the bore prevents accumulation of solid materials or
foreign particles and makes it useful for measuring fluids
containing solids.

Segmental orifice plate

Segmental orifice plate

It is used for the same type of services as the eccentric orifice
plate.
It has a hole, which is a segment of a circle.
It is installed in such a way that the curved section of the
opening coincide with the lower surface of the pipe.

Quadrant edge orifice plate

Quadrant edge orifice plate

It is used for flow such as slurries and viscous flows.
It is constructed in such that the edge is rounded to form a
quarter circles.
The plate has a concentric opening with a rounded upstream
edge rather than sharp.

Vent and drain hole in orifice

plate

Vent and drain hole in orifice

plate
A drain hole is provided at the bottom when gases are measured
to allow the condensate to pass in order to prevent its building
up at the orifice plate.
A vent hole is located at the top when liquids are measured so
that gases can pass and gas pockets cannot build up.

ADVANTAGES
Low cost.
It offers the widest application coverage of any type of meter
It is accurate (+_1/4to+_2%)
It can be easily removed without shutting down the process
It is adaptable to any pipe size and flow rate

DISADVANTAGES
There is relatively high pressure loss in it.
It is difficult to use for slurry services.
It exhibits a square root relationship between head & flow rate,
rather than linear characteristics.
It is difficult to remove pulsating flow with this type of meter.

Flow Through an Orifice Meter

Flow Through an Orifice Meter

P1

P2

P1

Mechanical flow meters

Electromagnetic-FM

coriolis flow meter

Vortex

Variable area

Differential pressure