ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE STRAIN GAUGE

Introduction:
Strain is the amount of deformation of a body due to an applied force. More
specifically, strain () is defined as the fractional change in length with respect to original
length.. Strain can be positive (tensile) or negative (compressive). Although dimensionless,
strain is sometimes expressed in units such as in./in. or mm/mm. In practice, the magnitude of
measured strain is very small. Therefore, strain is often expressed as microstrain (), which
is 106.
Strain Gauge:
When a strain sensitive material is stretched, its length increases and its cross-section
decreases; consequently, there is an increase in its electrical resistance. This change in
resistance is a measure of its mechanical motion. Thus, a strain gauge is a device which uses
change in electrical resistance to measure strain. The electrical resistance strain gauge is
basically a piece of very thin foil or fine wire which exhibits a change in resistance
proportional to the mechanical strain imposed on it. In order to handle such a delicate
filament, it is either mounted on, encapsulated in, or bonded to some type of carrier material
and is known as the bonded strain gauge. Bonded strain gauges are available in a wide range
of sizes and resistances. Unbonded strain gauges, where the wire is free, are rarely used
because of their limited frequency range and lack of sensitivity.
Measurement of strain:
Since the handling method is comparatively easy, a strain gauge has widely been
used, enabling strain measurement to imply measurement with a strain gauge in most cases.
When a fine metallic wire is pulled, it has its electric resistance changed. It is experimentally
demonstrated that most metals have their electrical resistance changed in proportion to
elongation or contraction in the elastic region.
In the most basic sense, a typical strain gauge, as shown in Figure 1, is
comprised of a length of folded wire adhered to some type of suitable backing, often
plastic. The backing is then cemented to the surface of the test material with the folds
in the wire running parallel to the direction in which strain is to be measured in. For
example, in Figure 1 strain will be measured in the AB direction. When the test
material is then loaded, the surface to which the gauge is attached will either elongate
or shorten in the AB direction. If the material elongates, then the wire in the gauge
will increase in length and decrease in diameter, increasing the electrical resistance in
the wire. Conversely, if the material shortens, the wire in the gauge will decrease in
length and increase in diameter, decreasing the electrical resistance in the wire.
For a properly calibrated gauge, a simple measurement of this resistance will
yield an accurate measure of normal strain. The resistance wire should be 1/50 to
1/200mm in diameter and provide high specific resistance. Generally, a copper-nickel
alloy (Advance) wire is used. Usually, an instrument equipped with a bridge circuit
and amplifier is used to measure the resistance change.
Advantages:
With proper surface preparation and choice of adhesive, resistance strain gauges can
be used on most of the materials.

Electrical resistance strain gauges are relatively inexpensive to use.

they come in such a wide range of gauge configurations and lengths,
they are extremely accurate and have a sensitivity of about one micro-strain,
their small size enables them to be used in situations where other types of gauges
cannot be used,
as they have negligible mass their effect on the quantity being measured is
insignificant. They respond faithfully to rapidly fluctuating strains,
as the output is electrical remote observation is possible. The output can be displayed
recorded or processed as required.
Principle of working:

As mentioned above the basic principle of operation of a strain gauge is simple: when strain
is applied to a thin metallic wire, its dimension changes, thus changing the resistance of the
wire.. Lets express the principle as follows:
R = K. R
where, R: Original resistance of strain gage, (ohm)
R: Elongation- or contraction-initiated resistance change, (ohm)
K: Proportional constant (called gage factor)
: Strain
The Gauge Factor of metallic strain gauges varies in the range 1.8 to 2.6. However,
the semiconductor type strain gauges have a very large Gauge Factor, in the range of 100150. This is attained due to dominant piezo-resistance property of semiconductors. The
commercially available strain gauges have certain fixed resistance values, such as, 120, 350
, 1000 , etc. The manufacturer also specifies the Gauge Factor and the maximum gage
current to avoid self heating (normally in the range 15 mA to 100 mA). The gauge factor, K,
differs depending on the metallic materials. The copper-nickel alloy (Advance) provides a
gauge factor around 2. Thus, a strain gauge using this alloy for the sensing element enables
conversion of mechanical strain to a corresponding electrical resistance change. However,
since strain is an invisible infinitesimal phenomenon, the resistance change caused by strain
is extremely small.
Types of metal resistance gauges
Resistance strain gauges with a metallic sensing element may be broadly classified
into four groups
1)
2)
3)
4)

unbounded wire strain gauges

bonded wire strain gauges
foil strain gauges
weldable strain gauges
a) bonded filament type
b) Ailtech weldable type

Errors and compensation:

Zero Offset:
If the impedance of the four gauge arms are not exactly the same after bonding the gauge to
the force collector, there will be a zero offset which can be compensated by introducing a
parallel resistor to one or more of the gauge arms.
Temperature coefficient of Gauge Factor (TCGF):
This is the change of sensitivity of the device to strain with change in temperature. This is
generally compensated for by the introduction of a fixed resistance in the input leg, whereby
the effective supplied voltage will increase with temperature, compensating for the decrease
in sensitivity with temperature.
Zero Shift with temperature:
If the TCGF of each gauge is not the same, there will be a zero shift with temperature. This is
also caused by anomalies in the force collector. This is usually compensated for with one or
more resistors strategically placed in the compensation network.
Linearity:
This is an error whereby the sensitivity changes across the pressure range. This is commonly
a function of the force collection thickness selection for the intended pressure and/or the
quality of the bonding.

Hysteresis:
This is an error of return to zero after pressure excursion.
Repeatability:
This error is sometimes tied-in with hysteresis but is across the pressure range.
EMI induced errors:
As strain gauges output voltage are in the millivolt range, even microvolt, if the Wheatstone
bridge voltage drive is kept low to avoid self-heating of the element, special care must be
taken in output signal amplification to avoid amplifying also the superimposed noise. A
solution which is frequently adopted is to use "carrier frequency" amplifiers which convert
the voltage variation into a frequency variation and have a narrow bandwidth thus reducing
out of band EMI.
Overloading:

If a strain gauge is loaded beyond its design limit (measured in microstrain) its performance
degrades and can not be recovered. Normally good engineering practice suggests not to stress
strain gauges beyond +/-3000 microstrain.
Humidity:
If the wires connecting the strain gauge to the signal conditioner are not protected against
humidity (bare wire) a parasitic resistance creates between the wires and the substrate to
which the strain gauge is glued, or between the two wires themselves. This resistance
introduces an error which is proportional to the resistance of the strain gauge. For this reason
low resistance strain gauges (120 ohm) are less prone to this type of error. To avoid this error
it is sufficient to protect the strain gauges wires with insulating enamel (e.g., epoxy or
polyurethanic type). Strain gauges with unprotected wires may be used only in a dry
laboratory environment but not in an industrial one.
In some applications, strain gauges add mass and damping to the vibration profiles of the
hardware they are intended to measure. In the turbomachinery industry, one used alternative
to strain gauge technology in the measurement of vibrations on rotating hardware is the NonIntrusive Stress Measurement System, which allows measurement of blade vibrations without
any blade or disc-mounted hardware.
Materials used:
Materials used for strain gauges should have the following features
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

High gauge factor

High specific resistance
Low temperature coefficient of resistance
High elastic limit
High fatigue strength
Good workability, solderability, weldability
Low mechanical hysteresis
Low thermal emf when joined with other materials
Good corrosion resistance

Following are the alloys used as foil grid

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Constantan or Advance
Annealed constantan
Iso-elastic
Nichrome V
Karma(Ni-Cr-Al with Iron)
Iron chromium aluminium alloy(Armor D)
Platinum tungsten alloy

Most widely used alloy for grid is copper-nickel alloy known under the trade name as
Constantan. They have the best possible combination of desirable features for grid materials.
They have reasonably high strain sensitivity or gauge factor, which is relatively insensitive to
strain level and temperature. Its specific resistance is sufficiently high as to yield decide
resistance value in even very small gauge length. They have a good fatigue limit and a
relatively high elongation capability.
Applications:

1) strain gauge rosettes

For completely defining the strain or stress at a point on the surface of a component or
structure generally it is necessary to measure strain along three different directions at that
point. Multiple element strain gauges or rosettes with stain gauges oriented along fixed
directions are used for this purpose. When both the magnitudes and directions of the principal
strains at a point are unknown a thee element strain gauge rosette is needed for the complete
definition of strain at that point.
A wire strain gage can effectively measure strain in only one direction. To determine
the three independent components of plane strain, three linearly independent strain
measures are needed, i.e., three strain gages positioned in a rosette-like layout.
Consider a strain rosette attached on the surface with an angle from the x-axis. The
rosette itself contains three strain gages with the internal angles and , as illustrated
on the right.
Suppose that the strain measured from these
three strain gages are a, b, and c,
respectively.
The
following coordinate
transformation equation is used to convert
the longitudinal strain from each strain gage
into strain expressed in the x-y coordinates,

Applying this equation to each of the three strain gages results in the following system
of equations,

These equations are then used to solve for the three unknowns, x, y, and xy.
Note: 1 The above formulas use the strain measure xy as opposed to the
.
engineering shear strain xy,
. To use xy, the above
equations should be adjusted accordingly.
2 The free surface on which the strain rosette is attached is actually in a
. state of plane stress, while the formulas used above are for plane strain.

However, the normal direction of the free surface is indeed a principal

axis for strain. Therefore, the strain transform in the free surface plane can
be applied.
Special Cases of Strain Rosette Layouts

Case 1: 45 strain rosette aligned with the x-y axes, i.e., = 0, = = 45.

Case 2: 60 strain rosette, the middle of which is aligned with the y-axis, i.e., =
30, = = 60.

Several multiple element rosettes with gauges oriented along specified directions are
commercially available. These rosettes are denoted by the angles along which the gauges are
oriented in them as the three element rectangular rosette, delta rosette, four element
rectangular rosette and tee delta rosette.