Handbook of Force Transducers

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

   PDF

2. Characteristics of Force Transducers

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. The International System of Units (SI) and the Place of “Force” in Several Graphic Representations

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 3-12

   3. Metrological Technical Data in the Measurement Process, with Examples in Weighing Cells

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 13-28

   4. General Classification of the Electrical Methods and Principles for Measuring Mechanical Quantities

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 29-40

   5. Application of Electromagnetic and Optical Methods in Small Force Sensing

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 41-50

   6. Strain Gauges—Resistive and Other Principles

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 51-60

   7. Wheatstone and Other Bridge-Like Configurations

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 61-74

   8. Evolution of Strain Gauge Force Transducers—Design, Fabrication, Testing, Calibration and Databases

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 75-86

3. Applications with Force Transducers

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 87-87

      PDF

   2. Testing Equipment to Investigate Elastic Constants of Rocks and Composites

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 89-98

   3. Static and Dynamic Stiffness in Connection with Ball Screws and Reinforced Concrete Components

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 99-106

   4. Methods and Means for Measuring Cables Tension

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 107-112

   5. Measurement of the Axial Loads Transmitted to the Foundation by High Voltage Circuit Breakers When Acting

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 113-117

   6. A New Weigh-in-Motion and Traffic Monitoring System

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 119-126

   7. Robotic and Biomedical Applications Related to Human Hands

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 127-138

   8. Multifunctional Transducers for Force and Other Non-electrical Quantities

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 139-157

   9. Multicomponent Force and Moment Transducers

      • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

      Pages 159-170

   10. Equipment for Determining Aerodynamic Forces on Flapping Wings

       • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

       Pages 171-176

   11. Strain Gauge Balances for Testing Car and Flight Models in Wind Tunnel Applications

       • Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

       Pages 177-188

Part I introduces the basic “Principles and Methods of Force Measurement” according to a classification into a dozen of force transducerstypes: resistive, inductive, capacitive, piezoelectric, electromagnetic, electrodynamic, magnetoelastic, galvanomagnetic (Hall-effect), vibrating wires, (micro)resonators, acoustic and gyroscopic. Two special chapters refer to force balance techniques and to combined methods in force measurement.

Part II discusses the “(Strain Gauge) Force Transducers Components”, evolving from the classical force transducer to the digital / intelligent one, with the incorporation of three subsystems (sensors, electromechanics and informatics). The elastic element (EE) is the “heart” of the force transducer and basically determines its performance. A 12-type elastic element classification is proposed (stretched / compressed column or tube, bending beam, bending and/or torsion shaft, middle bent bar with fixed ends, shear beam, bending ring, yoke or frame, diaphragm, axial-stressed torus, axisymmetrical and voluminous EE), with emphasis on the optimum place of the strain gauges. The main properties of the associated Wheatstone bridge, best suited for the parametrical transducers, are examined, together with the appropriate electronic circuits for SGFTs. The handbook fills a gap in the field of Force Measurement, both experts and newcomers, no matter of their particular interest, finding a lot of useful and valuable subjects in the area of Force Transducers; in fact, it is the first specialized monograph in this inter- and multidisciplinary field.

• force transducer
• strain gauge
• electrical methods
• measurement
• elastic elements
• mechanical testing
• Wheatstone bridge
• virtual instrumentation

• Romanian Measurement Society, Bucharest, Romania

  Dan Mihai Ştefănescu

Dan Mihai Ştefănescu, born in Bucharest on 6 April 1946, received BS (1969) in Applied Electronics, MS (1983) in Experimental Stress Analysis and PhD cum laude (1999) in Electrical Engineering, all from the “Politehnica” University of Bucharest. He worked as Senior Researcher in Measurement Techniques with the National Institute for Aerospace Research in Bucharest (1969 – 2003). He completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship (NATO grant) on Knowledge-based Intelligent Systems for Selecting Industrial Sensors at Twente University of Enschede, The Netherlands (2002). He was Visiting Scientist within Korean Research Institute of Standards and Science, conducting a project on Force Transducers Optimization by Numerical Methods (2004) and then within Center for Measurement Standards in Taiwan, R.O.C., leading a project on Improved Portable Truck Scales (2005). Now, he is Senior Consultant for the Romanian Measurement Society. His current research interests: electrical measurement of mechanical quantities, material testing installations and metrological procedures for multicomponent transducers. He delivered 46 conferences and published 4 books, 2 book chapters and 192 papers in 40 countries on all continents (minus Antarctica). He is member of the Verband Deutscher Electrotechniker (1987) and Romanian representative (1988) as well as member of the General Council of IMEKO – International Measurement Confederation (2015).

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