ASSIGNMENT # 1

Title: INDUCTANCE AND CAPACITENCE

STRAIN GAUGES

Course: EXPERIMENTAL STREE ANALYSIS

Submitted To: Abdul Naseer (CU- -2019)

Submitted To: Dr. Riaz Muhammad

Faculty of Engineering

Department of Mechanical Engineering

CECOS University of Information Technology and Emerging

Sciences Peshawar.
INTODUCTION:
A strain gauge is a device used to measure strain on an object. The gauge is attached to the
object by a suitable adhesive. As the object is deformed, the foil is deformed, causing
its electrical resistance to change. This resistance change, usually measured using a Wheatstone
bridge.

Strain Gauge is a passive transducer that converts a mechanical elongation or displacement

produced due to a force into its corresponding change in resistance R, inductance L, or
capacitance C. A strain gauge is basically used to measure the strain in a work piece.

If a metal piece is subjected to a tensile stress, the metal length will increase and thus will
increase the electrical resistance of the material. Similarly, if the metal is subjected to
compressive stress, the length will decrease, but the breadth will increase. This will also change
the electrical resistance of the conductor. If both these stresses are limited within its elastic
limit the metal conductor can be used to measure the amount of force given to produce the
stress, through its change in resistance.

INDUCTANCE STRAIN GUAGE

This type of strain gauge is very sensitive and can
be used to measure small changes in length as small as 1 millionth of an inch. It is highly
applicable as a displacement transducer.

WORKING
The member whose strain is to be measured is connected to one end of a
moveable iron armature. The long part of the armature is placed between the two cores with
wires coiled in between. If the strain produced makes the armature move towards the left core
(core 1), it increases the inductance of the left hand coil, that is, coil 1 and decreases the
inductance of coil 2. These two coils produce the impedance Z1 and Z2 in the bridge circuit. This
produces an output voltage E, which is proportional to the input displacement and hence
proportional to the strain. This type of strain gauge is more accurate and sensitive than a
resistive strain gauge. But, it is difficult to install the device as it is bulky and complex in
construction.
RESISTANCE STRAIN GAUGE
Resistance strain gauges, commercially available from
the early 1940s, are now predominantly fabricated from metal foil. Such strain gauges are now
ubiquitous and used for characterizing small mechanical strains in rigid engineering structures,
force (load) cells, scales for weighing, and the engineering testing of metals and rigid
composites. The change in the gauge resistance is typically characterized using a Wheatstone
bridge resistor network.

CAPACITIVE SENSING
Capacitive elastomers sensors can be assembled by sandwiching
elastomers dielectric layers between elastomers electrodes that are filled with conducting
particles. Figure below depicts a simple embodiment of such a sensor, fabricated in three layers
with a dielectric between the electrodes. Capacitance for a simple stretch sensor will be
proportional to strain.
Algorithms for calculating sensor capacitance are based on a lumped-parameter equivalent
electrical circuit for the sensor, which includes a series resistance for the electrodes
(Relectrodes) that flank the dielectric in series with a variable capacitance CDE in parallel with a
resistance that accounts for leakage across the membrane of the dielectric layer (Rmembrane).

Equivalent circuit for dielectric elastomers sensor.

Using a small electrical signal that is fed to the sensor, it is possible to estimate sensor
capacitance CDE once the magnitude of the imaginary component of the impedance

Where ω is the signal frequency. The lumped resistance parameters can be estimated in real-
time; there is no need for a priori knowledge of any stretch-dependent electrode resistance.

Dielectric permittivity is influenced by temperature, deformation, and the nature of the

compliant electrode layers that flank the dielectric. A recent study has demonstrated that non-
linearity in capacitance measurement can be attributed to stretch-influenced changes in the
dielectric constant and that the sensor ends will affect the measurement. Thus, for good
measurement fidelity, pre-calibration is recommended.

A capacitive sensor can more realistically be represented by an infinite number of smaller

capacitors and resistors joined together in a transmission line as depicted in Figure, with each
resistor and capacitor set acting as a low-pass filter. As sensing frequency is increased, the
 signal will be attenuated as it progresses along the sensor. It is, therefore, important to limit the
sensing signal to frequencies below which the signal attenuation is negligible.

Errors in Strain Gauges:

Some of the main causes for errors and inaccuracy in the device reading are given below.

 Temperature Variation – This can be one of the major causes of error in a strain gauge. It can
easily change the gauge resistance and cause differential expansion between the gauge and the
test piece, causing variation in the measurable strain.

 Humidity – Humidity can affect the accuracy by the breakdown of insulation between the
gauge and the ground point. It also causes electro-chemical corrosion of gauge wire due to
electrolysis.

 Small errors could be caused due to thermoelectric effect.

 The gauge will be erroneous even due to small factors like zero drift, hysteresis effect and so
on.

 Magnetostrictive effect can also cause errors in strain gauges of ferromagnetic materials. It
produces a small voltage fluctuation of almost 2 mill volts.

Strain Gauge Applications:

1. Pressure Measurement
2. Acceleration Measurement
3. Temperature Measurement

SUMMARY
Electrical resistance measurement has clearly proved its worth for small strain sensing.
However, for large strain sensing that involves filled elastomers, the measurement will be
highly non-linear due to geometric influences and transient changes in resistivity. Capacitance
measurement offers an opportunity for reliable, near linear strain measurement that is
relatively unaffected by transient changes in electrode resistance.