STRAIN GAUGE BONDING TECHNIQUE

INSTRUCTION MANUAL FOR STRAIN GAUGE BONDING

1. PRINCIPLE

The change in electrical resistance of a strain gauge is proportional to the mechanical strain to w hich it is subjected . Wh en it is physically mo u nt ed on a t es t su r fa ce an d e le ct ri ca ll y connected as an arm of a Wheatstones bridge circuit, the resulting output signal represents a voltage analogue of the mechanical deformation of the surface. 2. CONSTRUCTION

Strain Gauge consists of various configurations of a resistance wire or foil bonded to paper, bakelite, polyester, epoxy and other insulating bases. They are available with flat and helical elements in single or multi-axial arrays (Rossettes). 3. SELECTION

Environment, test specimen material, available space, extent and type of deformation and the desired life of the gauge are the factors for consideration in the selection of strain gauges. 4. MOUNTING

4.1 Preparation of mounting surface It is recommended that a surface about twice the size of the gauge should be prepared for mounting the strain gauge. Remove scales, rust, grease, or any type of

co nt ami nat io n fr om th e mea su rin g sur f ace . Smoothen the protruding edges of the measuring surface with the help of chiesel and file. Clean the

paint or rust scales with wire brush, hand grinder or 150 to 220 grain emery paper. Avoid polishing of the surface to give perfect bonding. Next, clean the surface with chemical agents to remove dust particles, emery remains and grease, etc. Wash the surface with Surface Cleanibg Agent on grease free cotton wool. Hold the cotton wool with tweezers to avoid contamination. The required surface should then be rubbed with cotton wool soaked in Surface Cleaning Agent till no dirt

appears on the cotton wool. Commercial benzene or other solvents having high gasoline content must not be used.

The cleaned surface should not be touched by hand or else the sufface should be cleaned once again. 4.2 Preparation of Strain Gauge. Gently remove the Strain Gauge from its packing using a pointed forceps. Care should be taken to avoid damage to the Strain Gauge or its leads as these are very sensitive to mechanical forces.

Place the Strain gauges on a clean glass surface to avoid contaminaton of the Strain Gauge surface.

Select suitable Strain Gauge Wiring Terminals (SGWT) to be soldered to the Strain Gauge leads. The size of the wiring terminals is normally decided by the distance between the lead wires of the Strain Gauges used. The Strain Gauge Wiring Terminals are normally available in sizes of 5, 7, 10 mm.

Trim each pair of the wiring terminal using a sharp and clean pair of scissors. Place the Strain Gauge on a glass plate and clean its leads using a sharp knife edge to remove any scales or remenant adhesive adhearing to the lead surface.

Trim the Strain Gauge leads to a suitable size so that when the Strain Gauge and its corresponding wiring terminal is placed side by side, the lead covers the complete diameter of the dumbel shaped terminal on one side.

Clean the wiring terminal copper surface with a fine sand paper (320/600 grade) and place Strain

Gauge and the wiring terminal side by side on a

clean glass plate. Finely solder the Strain Gauge leads to the dumbell shaped using a good quality soldering flux preferably a non-corrosive soldering flux. Care should be taken that the edges of the

Strain Gauge and the wiring terminal do not overlap each other or the gap between them should be minimal.

4.3 Cleaning of Strain Gauges. After all the Strain Gauges have been soldered, place them in a clean glass bowl and pour some Surface Cleaning Agent into the bowl. Clean both surfaces of the Strain Gauges using a soft hair brush and holding the Strain Gauges with a clean forceps. Care should be taken to remove all the remenant flux from the soldering area.

After cleaning each Strain Gauge, place them upside down on a clean glass plate and allow them to dry up. A slight heat can be applied using a table lamp. 4.4 Placement of Strain Gauges. Once the Strain Gauges have been soldered to the Strain Gauge Wiring Terminal, cleaned and dried, it is time to place the Strain Gauges at the point where they are to be pasted. Ordinary Cello tape 3/4 inches wide is used to place the Strain Gauge in position. Take about 3 times long Cello tape and fold about 5 mm. at one end to hide the sticking portion. This will be used to lift the Cello tape when required. Place the prepared Strain Gauge in the middle of this Cello tape such that the terminal end is towards the folded end of the tape and the soldered side is on the sticking side of the tape. Thus the bonding side of the Strain Gauge and the Wiring terminal is now exposed.

Use a clean forceps to place the Strain Gauge on the tape. Once the Strain Gauges have been thoroughly cleaned, they should not be handled with hands as this contaminates their clean surface.

Now place this Strain Gauge, wiring terminal, tape combo at the location at which the Strain Gauge is to be bonded in the desired direction. The use of Cello tape eliminates the slippage of the Strain Gauge from its desired position during bonding.

4.5 Adhesive preparation. After all the Strain Gauges have been positioned at their respective position, prepare the adhesive as per instructions provided by its manufacturer. Single component adhesives can be directly used while dual component adhesives like Epoxy, Ceramic, Acrylic, etc. have to be mixed in a predefined ratio. Always use clean glass bowls for mixing of adhesives.

Bring very viscous adhesives to the required viscosity by adding recommended solvents. The milk like precipitation on the adhesive surface in monsoons or winters is prevented by heating the adhesive to approximately 30-40C using a table lamp or a hair drier. Once the pr ecipitation dissappears, the adhesive is ready for use. 4.6 Adhesive application. One the adhesive has been prepared and the Strain Gauges have been positioned at their location, it is time to apply the adhesive to the Strain Gauges. Gently lift the Strain Gauge adhearing tape from its folded side till the full surface of thr Strain Gauge and w irin g te rmin al is expose d. d urin g t his operation some of the adhesive of the tape is left behind on the test surface. This residual tape adhesive has to be thoroughly cleaned before Strain Gauge bonding. Make a small cotton ball and hold it with a forceps. Dip it in surface cleaning agent and scrub the surface below the Strain Gauge to remove all the residual tape adhesive. Repeat if required till a clean surface is obtained. Now apply a very thin layer of the adhesive to the complete exposed back side of the Strain Gauge and wiring terminal. Single component adhesives can be directly applied while two component adhesives should be applied by soft hair brushes.

Now place back the Strain Gauge tape at its desired location and cover the Strain Gauge area with a fine PVC sheet. Apply a slight thumb pressure on

the Strain Gauge area to push out the excess adhesive if any.

Place a 2-3 mm thick Neoprene Rubber sheet over the Strain Gauge area and apply 1-2 kg/cm 2 pressure over it for desired period as applicable for a particular adhesive.

Quick setting adhesives like cyno-acrylate, Acrylic, Ceramic, etc., require 1-5 minutes of pressure application while others may require 6-24 hours for curing. Room temperature setting adhesives cure without the need for heating, while thermosetting adhesives require ovens for curing at desired temperatures. Once the adhesive is fully cured, remove the weight, cushioning rubber sheet, and PVC sheet. Now gently lift the Cello tape that is holding the Strain Gauge and the wiring terminal to the test specimen. The soldering side of the wiring terminal and the Strain Gauge are now exposed. Check the

resistance of the gauge which should tally with the resistance marked on the packet. In general a slight difference may be found. In case of zero or infinite resistance, the gauge has become short

circuited or open circuited during the cementing procedure. Measure the resistance between the leads and the metal body which should be more than 2000 megohms. The colour of the gauge should be uniform and no spots seen which other-wise indicates air bubbles or dust specs and incorrect cementing. 4.7 Cable connections. Before making cable connections to the bonded Strain Gauge, layout the cables for all the Strain Gauges right upto the measuring instruments. Hold the cables at suitable locations using adhesive tapes or suitable anchors. Care should be taken to avoid hanging cables. Provide suitable supports below the cable bunch where required. Low resistance cables with multi-strand silvered copper wires should invariably be used for Strain Gauge installations. Flat twin cables can be used for short distances of upto 1-2 meters while single core shielded cables should be used when the distance betw een the Strain Gauge and the instrumentation is more. This minimises stray signal pickup from noisy electrical lines etc. Once all cables have been laid, finely solder the two ends of the cables to the other two ends of the dumbel shaped Strain Gauge Wiring Terminals.

Soldering should be proper as any dry soldering will result in inaccurate measurements. Avoid acidified soldering pastes as they cause errors in Strain Gauge measurements. Do not use a very hot soldering iron or keep it for long on the leads rendering the strain gauge inserviceable. Measure resistance at the instrument end of the cable.This would be slightly higher than the Strain Gauge resistance as the resistance of the cable is now included. After checking Strain Gauge resistance at both the ends of the cables, thoroughly clean the soldered area on the wiring terminal using a soft hair brush and surface cleaning agent till all the residual flux is removed. Heat the junction slightly using a table lamp or a hair drier to remove all moisture.

4.8 Moisture proofing. Humidity has a deterimental effect on the operation of Strain Gauges. To protect them from moisture, a suitable w ater proofing compound should invariably be spread completely over the Strain Gauge and the wiring terminal area after thorough cleaning and drying. Rohits Water Proofing compound sticks can be used for short term measurement for 1-2 weeks.

Rohits Liquid Water Proofing compound can be used for long term un-submerged conditions while Rohits Silicon based Water Proofing Compound should invariably be used for splash & submerged applications.

4.9 Application of compensating gauge. In case of quarter bridge applications a dummy St r ai n G au g e sh o ul d i nv ar i ab l y be us e d t o compensate for the temperature drift of the Strain Gauges. The two most important factors that are affected by temperature are the co-efficient of resistance and the co-efficient of linear expansion. To compensate for the former, a Strain Gauge from the same lot should be used as a dummy Strain Gauge, while for the latter, the dummy Strain Gauge should be mounted on the same material as that of the active Strain Gauge and should be located as near to the test specimen as possible so that both undergo the same temperature changes. Apply the dummy compensating gauge to the surface undergoing no mechanical change and place it in the vicinity of the test specimen. Care should also be taken that the cable lengths of the Active and the Dummy Strain Gauges should be similar as the cable resistance also poses the same problems. 4.10 Checking installation. To ensure proper installation of Strain Gauges, make two checks. The first after installing the

Strain Gauge and second after connecting it with the test circuit. Resistance between the gauge and the mounting surface should be of the order of 2000 Megohms. if it is less, then it may be due to moisture or incomplete drying of the adhesive which can be removed with hot air dryer. If drying does not correct the condition replace the gauge. Resistance of the installed Strain Gauge at the instrument end should be nearly the same as mentioned on the Strain Gauge wrapper plus the resistance of the interconnecting cable. To check the integrity of the bond, connect the Strain Gauge to the measuring instrument. Gently probe the Strain Gauge with a thumb and observe the readout system indication. A true bonded Strain Ga ug e w ill n ot s how a ny fl uct ua ti on i n th e instrument reading. A Variation in the instrument reading signifies defective Strain Gauge bonding. The sources of error could be : a. b. c. d. Uncured adhesive. Presence of dust particle under the Strain Gauge measuring grid. Dry soldering. Entrapment of moisture around the mounted Strain Gauge.

In such cases scrap the mounted Strain Gauge and bond a fresh one keeping in view the facts stated above 5. TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION Since strain gauges are temperature sensitive, more accurate measurement will be obtained with temperature compensation. Some methods for accomplishing this are:

a. Twin gauges (active and dummy): Place the gauges side by side but bond only the active one to the test surface. Mount the dummy one on a similar but unstrained material located near the test specimen. Then connect them electrically as adjacent arms of a Wheatstone Bridge. b. Gauge selection: Choose gauge material of selected temperature coefficient of linear expansion that will nullify the resistance change due to the differential expansion between gauge material and specimen. c . C ab les : U se hi gh qu ali ty mu lti- st ra nd , silvered copper wire cables for wiring to minimise cable resistance. d. Cable length : Use equal lengths of cables for active and dummy Strain Gauges.