Experimentally measuring torque.

mech-pige

What experimental methods are there for measuring the static (and dynamic if possible) torque required to turn a simple tooth gear? This tooth gear is used to rotate 4 wheels, 2 of which are connected to the shaft and 2 are on another shaft with the two shaftes connected with a toothed belt to rotate both.

I know i could use a torque sensor but was wondering what other methods there was.

NdotA

In our testfield we used calibrated DC-motors. Calibrated means we had the motors on a braking rig first to assess velocity / power / current characteristics. DC-motors for the ability to run at diffeent speeds. Once you know the shaft power and speed required to rotate your gear, you can compute the torque easily.

greentlc

Depending on the accuracy you need to achieve, a simple torque wrench might be able to give you a reasonable value.