A stiff and compact impact-force transducer based on strain measurement

Abstract

A stiff and compact transducer for both static and impact compressive forces has been developed. The principle of the transducer is based on measurement of tangential strain around the periphery of an axially loaded short and axixymmetric body. It is shown that for an appropriate choice of transducer geometry the output is nearly insensitive to the distribution of the force over the loaded surface. In an experimental investigation, a prototype of the transducer was subjected to both static and impact loads of different distributions. The results show only a few percent variation in transducer sensitivity for the load distributions used. The transducer consists essentially of a homogeneous body and is simple to male. The size and material can be chosen to fit special applications. © 1985 Society for Experimental Mechanics, Inc.