Measurement of Force, Torque, and
Other Mechanical Variables With Strain
Gages
(continued...)
Page 30 of 46
Other Strain Gage Based Transducers
In general, any mechanical variable involving force or
torque can be measured with a strain-gage-instrumented
spring element. For example, a cantilever beam with a
mass attached to the free end becomes an accelerometer
when gages are installed and connected as shown below.
The force applied to the beam is, by Newton's
second law, equal to the product of the mass and
acceleration. Thus, the circuit output can be
calculated from
Eq.(3)
, where the force P = M x A. To produce a satisfactory
accelerometer it is necessary, of course, to consider
practical aspects of the design such as damping and the
system's natural frequency.