Validation of Experimental Strain Measurement Technique and Development of Force Transducer

The accurate assessment of stress, strain and loads in components under working conditions are an essential requirement of successful engineering design. Experimental stress analysis over years has been playing an increasingly important role in aiding engineering product designers to produce not only efficient, economic designs but also in substantial reductions in weight and yet aid in easier manufacturing of the products. Electrical resistance strain gauges are a remarkable device which is small, lightweight, linear, precise and fairly inexpensive is used as a sensor in wide variety of applications. Load cell transducer is the most prevalent sensor which uses electrical strain gauges. In a load cell, the unknown, load is measured by sensing the strain developed in a mechanical member. Since the load is linearly related to the strain as long as the mechanical member remains elastic, the load cell can be calibrated so that the output signal is proportional to the load. The Thermal coefficient of expansion of unknown material may be determined with the strain gauges by mounting two half bridges resistances on the known material and unknown material respectively. Here, in this work, an attempt is made to develop a force transducer to find an unknown load using a cantilever beam. The Cantilever Beam (CLB) based transducer will be calibrated and validated using numerical approach, analytical approach and experimental measurements.