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handbook of modern sensors

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9.1 Strain Gauges 325<br />

(A)<br />

(B)<br />

Fig. 9.1. (A) Spring-loaded force sensor with LVDT; (B) force sensor with a pressure transducer.<br />

3. By balancing the force against an electromagnetically developed force<br />

4. By converting the force to a fluid pressure and measuring that pressure<br />

5. By measuring the strain produced in a elastic member by the unknown force<br />

In <strong>modern</strong> <strong>sensors</strong>, the most commonly used method is method 5; methods 3 and 4<br />

are used occasionally.<br />

In most <strong>sensors</strong>, force is not directly converted into an electric signal. Some intermediate<br />

steps are usually required. Thus, many force <strong>sensors</strong> are complex <strong>sensors</strong>. For<br />

instance, a force sensor can be fabricated by combining a force-to-displacement converter<br />

and a position (displacement) sensor. The former may be a simple coil spring,<br />

whose compression displacement x can be defined through the spring coefficient k<br />

and compressing force F as<br />

x = kF. (9.3)<br />

The sensor shown in Fig. 9.1A is composed <strong>of</strong> a spring and linear variable differential<br />

transformer (LVDT) displacement sensor (Section 7.4 <strong>of</strong> Chapter 7). Within the linear<br />

range <strong>of</strong> the spring, the LVDT sensor produces a voltage which is proportional to<br />

the applied force. A similar sensor can be constructed with other types <strong>of</strong> spring<br />

and pressure sensor, such as the one shown in Fig. 9.1B. The pressure sensor is<br />

combined with a fluid-filled bellows which is subjected to force. The fluid-filled<br />

bellows functions as a force-to-pressure converter by distributing a localized force at<br />

its input over the sensing membrane <strong>of</strong> a pressure transducer.<br />

9.1 Strain Gauges<br />

A strain gauge is a resistive elastic sensor whose resistance is a function <strong>of</strong> applied<br />

strain (unit deformation). Because all materials resist deformation, some force must<br />

be applied to cause deformation. Hence, resistance can be related to applied force.<br />

That relationship is generally called the piezoresistive effect (see Section 3.5.3 <strong>of</strong><br />

Chapter 3) and is expressed through the gauge factor S e <strong>of</strong> the conductor [Eq. (3.63)<br />

<strong>of</strong> Chapter 3]:<br />

dR<br />

R = S ee, (9.4)<br />

For many materials, S e ≈ 2 with the exception <strong>of</strong> platinum, for which S e ≈ 6 [3].

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