An Experimental Analysis of Accuracy and Precision

of a High-speed Strain-gage System Based on

the Direct-resistance Method
by P. Cappa and Z. Del Prete
ABSTRACT -An experimental study about the relative merits
of using a high-speed digital-acquisition system to measure
directly the strain-gage resistance rather than using a con-
ventional Wheatstone bridge, is carried out.
8oth strain gages, with a nominai resistance of 120 n and
1 kO, are simulated with precision resistors and the output
signals were acquired aver a time of 48 and 144 hours;
furthermore, the effects in metrological performances caused
by a statistica! filtering are evaluated.
The results show that the implementation of the statistica!
filtering gains a considerable improvement in gathering strain-
gage-resistance readings. On the other hand such a procedure
causes, obviously, a loss of performance with regard to the
acquisition rate, therefore lo the dynamic data-collecting
capabilities. In any case the intrinsic resolution of the 12-bit
a/d converter,. utilized in the present experimental analysis,
causes a limitation for measurement accuracy in the range of
hundreds ~ t m l m
lntroduction
The utilization of computer-controlled data-acquisition
systems has increased, as it is well known, both in the
laboratory'' and in field testing situations.
6

Some of the proposed automatic multichannel sequentiai
strain measuring systems7-l' utilize intermediate circuitry
between the multiplexer and the a/d converter that is
capable of minimizing the errors caused by the random
variations of the voltage drops produced by switch and
wire resistance. The variations of these parasitic resistances
will determine nonreproducible readings, unstable zero
readings, and loss of calibration. These systems are also
capable of suppressfng thermocoupled voltages generated
at the switches.
Another manner to read successively a large number of
strain-gage data is, obviously, the utilization of a switch
unit so that one measuring iristrument may accommodate
severai gages. The following automated arrangement has
been described and tested in the literature: Wheatstone
bridge out of balance,
12

13
and a direct measurement of
the gage resistance with two- and four-wire connec-
tions.'-'
The purpose of this paper is the comparative examina-
tion of the limits of precision and accuracy of an auto-
matic system characterized by a high-speed data-acquisition
P. Cappa (SEM Member) is Assistant Professar, and Z. Del Prete (SEM
Member) is Research Associate, University of Rome "La Sapienza, "
Department of Mechanics and Aeronautics, Via Eudossiana 18, OQ/84
Rome, ltaly.
Paper was originally presented at the 1991 SEM Spring Conjerence on
Experimental Mechanics held in Milwaukee, Wl on lune 9-13.
Originai manuscript submitted: January 30, /991. Fina! manuscript
received: January /4, /992.
78 March 1992
rate (up to 100,000 readings/s) based on a direct-resistance
measurement. The strain gages are linked to the digitai
multi-meter (DMM) using a four-wire-connection wiring
scheme.
The DMM is inserted in a data-acquisition and control
unit (DAC) that is interfaced by means of the IEEE-488
bus'
9

20
to a computer that controls the test sequence,
stores and analyzes the data.
The present investigation is the result of a request to
exarnine a simplified and less expensive system utilized in
dynamic tests carried out for the measurement of strain
fields in metailic strands or wire ropes subjected to rotating
bending fatigue at frequencies in the range of 5 to lO Hz.
21
In fact, for a mechanicai characterization of this new
fatigue test machine it is necessary to monitor simul-
taneously up to 20 strain gages.
Experimental Apparatus and Test Procedure
The experimentai test setup is schematized in Fig. l.
The strain gages were simulated with precision resistors,
R.g, of nominai values equal to 120 O and 1000 O. The
tolerance is 0.01 percent; the temperature coefficient is
l ppm/C; and the maximum drift is 25 ppm/year. We
decided to use these fixed resistors to gain accuracy and
stability of the system input, reaching better values than
those obtainable with strain gages. The connections were
carried out utilizing leadwires with a length equal to
0.5 m; the lead diameter was 0.4 mm.
The precision resistor, Rg was connected by four
leadwires to the rear panel of the DMM which was fitted
into o n ~ sleigh of the DAC as shown in Fig. l. The 'H. L.'
connect1ons were for the current source which drove a
constant current of l mA through the gage resistance
while the 'H L' were the sense connections which measure
the voltage drops that develop on the resistance Rg
The instrument used as an ohmmeter is a high speed.
DMM with a powerful set of commands available, and a
maximum acquisition rate of 100,000 readings/s. It is
equipped with a 12-bit successive approximation a/d con-
verter with a resistance resolution of 0.0781 O, when
automaticaily set in the 320- O range to measure strain-
gage signais with a nominai resistance of 120 O, and of
0.6810 O when set in the 2560-0 range to measure
strain-gage signals with nominai resistance of l k O. These
resolutions, with a gage factor F of 2, are equai to 325
l-'m/m and to 340 l-'m/m for a n01ninai resistance of
120 O and l kO, respectively.
The DAC can accommodate severai digitai measure-
ment instruments and has a certain capability to process
the data acquired either to help the speed of measurement
or to facilitate the management of the data addressed to
the controller via the interface bus.
The DMM was connected to the DAC mainframe via a
backplane 1/0 bus. The DAC unit was connected to a
computer that controls measurement operation through
the IEEE-488 interface bus. Data archives were stored on
a DB hard disk.
Test-area temperature was subjected only to small
changes (2C) in the neighborhood of 24C. The tem-
perature was controlled by a resistive thermometer with
an uncertainty of 0.1 o C.
The tests were organized so that a set of 100 or 100,000
measurements were taken with a sample rate of 80 kHz.
The data rows were collected every 10 minutes, for the
tests with a time length of 48 hours, and every 20 minutes,
for the tests with a time length of 144 hours. The different
number of data collected were determined by the choice
to examine comparatively the effects caused by the
simulation of a filter feature available on some modern
solid-state DMM. By means of this filter only the weighted
average of the chosen number of readings is displayed on
the digitai read-out and sent to the data bus. In such a
manner a partial decrease of the scatter caused by the
random errors can be achieved.
18
It was hypothesized that the measurements were sub-
jected to many small sources of random error and
negligible systematic errors. One way to overcome this
randomness of errors is to use a statistica! approach.
Thus, these tests are conducted in two different ways:
with the 'filter on' and with the 'filter off' simulation.
During the 'filter on' simulation, the reading presented
to the computer is the weighted average of a number of
readings. In this case, 100 readings (R1 R2 ... R1oo) were
chosen for use in the weighted average. Then 100 weighted
averages (Rn,l Rn,2 .. . Rn,loo), computed by the DAC
Unit, were read by the controller; from these data a mean
(RMn) and a standard deviation (oRMn) were obtained.
This averaging scheme, outlined in Fig. 2, was repeated
every 10 minutes for the 48-hour test and every 20 minutes
for the 144-hour test. For the 'filter off' simulation case
only one direct reading (R,) was used in piace of the
average of 100 readings (Rn,
1
). Anyway, only a single
mean resistance and a single standard deviation were
recorded in the archives for each time period. Every 100
Precision Resistance R,
9
,..,
(

(
r-
l l l l
H Hc L
Lo l
Free Sleighs
l
Di;i tal Hul timeter J::tl\l
l
l
l __________ _j
O I/O Backplane Bus
Dl\C mai.nframe
Fig. 1-Schematic of the experimental test
setup for the directresistance
measurement method
readings a DMM autozeroing was carried out both in
'filter on' and in 'filter off' averaging schemes.
For every 144-hour test, an artificial strain step of
-2000 m! m was simulated after 48 hours and halted for
the successive 48 hours by connecting respectively two
calibrating precisi o n resistance in parallel with the 120- O
and the 1-kO gages. The calibrating resistance applied to
120 O had the same metrological characteristics of the
ones used for the electrical strain-gage resistance, while
the other one applied to 1000 O differed only in the
tolerance which was equal to 0.02 percent.
According to the chosen measurement schemes, the
resistance value obtained with the frrst 100 or 10,000
readings (RM 1 ) was taken as a reference; then the zero-
shift value for the nth reading is calculated from the
relationship:
(l)
w h ere RM, is the first reading (or the first averaged
reading), RMn is the nth reading (or the nth averaged
reading) and a gage factor F of two (2) is assumed.
The value of the standard deviation was calculated in
accordance with the more conservative, i.e., larger,
definition:
(2)
where oF indicates the gage-factor interval of uncertainty,
assumed equal to l percent, o Ru 1 is the standard
l u
"loo
u,,
l "1,100
"loo
FILTER ON
FILTER OFF
n t h data acquisi tiCil rcw
n=2,3, 100
., l
'\.,100
">oo
Reference value n t h data row
l't data acquisitioo row n=2,3, 100
'loo "loo
Fig. 2-Averaging schemes for filter on
and for filter off. R = mean resistance,
oR = standard deviation
Experimental Mechanics 79
deviation of the first reference reading and 5RM" is the
standard deviation of the nth reading. The eq (2) was
obtained by means of the error-propagation theory.
22
Supposing that the Gaussian statistica! distribution
should describe the data distribution quite well, this was
checked by means of the x
2
test.
Test Results
Sixteen different sets of tests were carried out. The
relative experimental procedure is summarized in Table l.
The first eight were the 48-hour tests with a constant gage
signal simulation, while the last eight were the 144-hour
tests with a - 2000 l'm/m constant step simulation from
the 48th to the 96th hour.
The DMM has got an auto-zeroing feature that zeros
the meter automatically before every acquisition time
period. This feature is, obviously, important in reducing
data scatter and drift. Moreover, the auto-zero feature
500
400
"
E 3oo

E 2oo
<D
l
o
100
-100
J::
(f] -200
l
2 -300
(!)
N -400
Filter aff
-------- Filter an

o 12 24 36 48
Time (hours
Fig. 3(a)-Zero-drift versus t ime for tests #1 and #3.
Nominai R = 120 !l. Comparison of filter off and filter on
features
500
400

E 3oo

E 2oo
<D
l
o
100
o
-100
J::
(f] -200
l
2-300
(!)
N -400
Filter off
-------- Filter on
12 24 36 48
Ti me (hou rs)
Fig. 3(b)-Zero-drift versus ti me for tests #2 and #4.
Nominai R = 120 !l. Comparison of filter off and filter on
features
80 March 1992
allows to consider the reading to be significant without
waiting hours for 'warm-up' processes.
Bach kind of test was repeated twlce. Figures 3(a) and
3(b), with regard to 120-0 strain-gage signals, and Figs.
4(a) and 4(b), with regard to 1-kO strain-gage signals,
show that implementing the 'filter on' option results in a
noticeable improvement of the zero reading. The mean
reading is highly influenced by the value obtained for the
first reading. However, there is no appreciable slope
during ali the test time, an d the 1-k O measurements seem
anyway to present less scatter.
In Table 2 the obtained rninimum and maximum
siandard-deviation values (od are summarized. From the
examination of this table it can be seen that the standard-
deviation values have been reduced roughly up to 115 by
simulating the 'filter on'. In any case, values of 120-0
readings are two times higher than those of 1-kO readings.
In Figs. 5(a) .and 5(b) the results obtained with 'filter
off' and 'filter on' averaging schemes, relative to 120-0
500
400
E 3oo

E 2oo
'f 100
-, Filter off
Filter an

IJJ -200
l
2 -300
(!)
N -400

o 12 24 36 48
Time (hours)
Fig. 4(a)-Zero-drift versus t ime for tests #5 and #7.
Nominai R = 1 k!l. Comparison of filter off and filter on
features
500
400

E 3oo

E 2oo
'f 100
Filter off
-------- Filter on

(f] -200
l
2-300
Q)
N -400

' o l z 24 36 48
Ti me (hours)
Fig. 4(b)-Zero-drift versus t ime for tests #6 and #8.
Nominai R = 1 k!l. Comparison of filter off and filter on
features
and 144-hour tests, are summarized. These figures indicate
the differences between the input values (O or -2000
p.m/m) and the measured ones. The results relative to
'fllter on' indicate, in both the conducted tests, a shift of
about -200 p.m/m when an input of -2000 p.m/m is
applied. The reason of this drift appears to be the intrinsic
accuracy of the utilized ohmmeter; in fact, a shift of
-200 p.m/m converted in .lR = RM"- RMt. eq (1), is
equal to 0.0480 O, which is less than the ohmmeter resolu-
tion previously indicated ( 0.0781 O). When the 'filter
off' is simulated, a drift always in the range of -200 +
-500 p. m/m was observed. These values, converted in
.lR, are in the range of 0.0480 x 0.1200 O, and are
surely caused both by the ohmmeter resolution and the
random error effect, which are not so minimized as in
'filter on' tests.
In Figs. 6(a) and 6(b) are indicated the results relative to
the 1000-0 and 144-hour tests. From an examination of
these figures no noticeable drift is observed during ali the
test length. The better accuracy observed for 1000-0
results, than those measured for 120- O ones, are mainly
caused by the operating modality of the a/d converter and
TABLE 1-EXPERIMENTAL TEST PROCEDURE
Nominai Test
Resistance Filter Length
Test (!1} Simulation (h)
#1 120 OFF
#2 120 OFF
#3 120 ON
#4 120 ON 48
#5 1000 OFF
#6 1000 OFF
#7 1000 ON
#8 1000 ON
#9 120 OFF
#10 120 OFF
#11 120 ON
#12 120 ON 144
#13 1000 OFF
#14 1000 OFF
#15 1000 ON
#16 1000 ON
TABLE 2-STANDARD-DEVIATION VALUES
Test
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
#11
#12
#13
#14
#15
#16
Minimum
650
700
125
140
400
425
70
60
380
325
140
180
400
240
95
70
lnput
Signal

ali 48 hours
O l'm/m:
hours 148
-2000 l'm/m:
hours 49-96

hours 97-144
Maximum
900
950
160
185
550
600
105
90
650
590
180
230
620
430
140
120
by the resistance value measured. Moreover, the accuracy
could be different when different inputs were applied.
Comparing test-area temperature and zero-shift values,
a relevant correlation does not emerge.
Finally the x
2
test indicates that only the averaged
readings resulting from the 'fter on' simulation could
have a certain probability to follow the Gaussian distribu-
tion. In fact, the mean values of the probability for the
observed distribution to be a Gaussian distribution are
nearly 40 percent (120-0 readings) and 15 percent (1-kO
readings) for the 'fllter on' scheme; they are less than
10 percent (120-0 readings) and than l percent (1-kO
readings) for the 'filter off' averaging scheme.
Conclusions
The observed values of the zero drift obtained by using
direct-resistance measurements and by controlling test-
500
400
'""
E 3oo

E 2oo
"'
100
l
o
-100
_c
(/) -200
l
2 -300
Q)
N -400
-- Filter off
-------- Filter on
-
o 24 48 72 96 120 144
Time (hours)
Fig. 5(a)-Zero-drift versus ti me for tests #9 and #11.
Nominai R = 120 !1. Comparison of filter off and filter on
features by reading a constant step of -2000 m/ m in
48-96 hours
500
400
E 3oo

E 2oo
"'
100
l
o
o
-100
_c
(/) -200
l
2 -300
Q)
N -400
-- Filter off
-------- Filter on
- 5Q0i-crTTTTTrrr.,-rrTTTTTTTTT]TTTTTTTTTTT]"TTTTTTTTTTTfTTTTTTTTTTT]TTTrTTTTTTT]
o 24 48 72 96 120 144
Time (hours)
Fig. 5(b)-Zero-drift versus ti me for tests #10 and #12.
Nominai R = 120 n. Comparison of filter off and filter on
features by reading a constant step of -2000 m/ m in
48-96 hours
Experimenta/ Mechanics 81
area temperature (24 2C} do not confirm the results
available in the literature for other nonspecialzed auto-
matic acquisition systems.
13

14
On the other hand, none of
those results had been collected with high speed acquisi-
ticin techniques.
The relevant zero shift of the mean readings observable
from the frrst data row is surely influenced by the resistance
value obtained for the first reading. The unsatisfactory
resolution of the automatic data-acquisition system
utilized for strain measurement is caused by the fact that
the principal measurement instrument is a general-purpose
high-speed DMM, and not a specialized ohmmeter. Thus,
partially sacrificing the speed performance, it is possible
to obtain relative small zero-shift values by collecting a
relevant number of data and doing a statistica! filtering.
The evaluation of zero-shift allows a comparative
examination of the obtained results so that the possible
U)
l
o
_c
[f)-
l
o
L
Q)
N
Filter off
Filter on
Fig. 6(a)-Zero-drift versus ti me for tests #13 and #15.
Nominai R = 1 kO. Comparison of filter off and filter on
features by reading a constant step of -2000 m/m in
48-96 hours
500
400

E 3oo

E 2oo
"' l
100
o
-100
_c
UJ -200
l
2-300
Q)
N -400
Fil\er off
Filter on
-
o 24 48 72 96 120 144
Time (hours)
Fig. 6(b)-Zero-drift versus time for tests #14 and #16.
Nominai R = 1 kO. Comparison of filter off and filter on
features by reading a constant step of -2000 m/m in
48-96 hours
82 March 1992
utilization of the examined system for long-term strain
measurement in a controlled-temperature test environment
can be decided. Specifically, the acquisition rate, available
in the 'filter off' scheme, could allow the utilization of the
examined experimental setup to monitor extensively the
strain fields in wire ropes tested by means of a new
machine for accelerated rotating bending fatigue tests,
considering that the peak to peak values are around
500 m! m or even 7000 + 8000
2
'
Acknowledgments
The authors appreciate the support of Italian National
Research Council (Strategie Project: lnstrumentation) that
provided the financial support to conduct this research.
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