A pneumatic force transducer
John A. Marchant · Journal of Physics E Scientific Instruments · 1977
A pneumatic, horizontal force transducer has been developed and calibrated in the range 0-100 N. An approximate analysis shows that the calibration depends on two of its dimensions only. Tests were carried out to determine the effects of supply pressure and ambient temperature variations. It was found that a 25% change in supply pressure and a 28 degrees C change in ambient temperature caused the calibration to change by 4.0% and 2.2% respectively. The transducer is extremely stiff (a movement of 43 mu m was measured at full load), is easy to manufacture, requires no complex readout devices, and is capable of measuring forces over a wide range. The device operates at a supply pressure of 400 kPa with an air consumption of approximately 1.3*10 -3 m 3 s -1 .