Strain Gauging Assistance Required

[george1989]

Hi All

I am a mechanical engineering student and require to attach a full Wheatstone bridge to the underside of a cantilever beam, 103x27x5 mm LxWxH. Where would be the best location to mount the gauges?, also in which orientation should I mount them? All parallel to the length of the beam? All perpendicular? 2 parallel, 2 perpendicular? Also I have been reading a bit about I-Y-I tabs used for strain gauging and am a bit lost.

Any help / direction to relevant information would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

George

[dlgoff]

This may help.

http://www.omega.com/techref/pdf/StrainGage_Measurement.pdf

[triden]

Are you using a rosette or a single gauge? If you are using a single gauge, you will notice that it is designed to work in one direction. Using two gauges are mounted in the single gauge solution because they are very sensitive to temperature changes. The angle that it is bonded to the surface is very critical for reliable results. I recommend using a triple gauge rosette to get rid of any errors associated with mounting angle.