Designing an all-purpose force transducer

Many design and analysis situations require the determination of loads being transmitted to a structure. Since it is not always possible to insert a load cell, it is proposed that the structure itself and a set of strain gages be used to determine each of the applied loads (forces and moments) responsible for the measured strains. In essence, the structure becomes the transducer.Although a set of loads will uniquely deform a structure, the measurements can only be made at a finite number of points. However, in most situations, these data are sufficient to reveal the combination of loads that caused the deformation.The development of a technique for determining these loads is described. Limitations of the technique are discussed along with the associated error estimates. A worked example is given at the end.Paper was presented at the 1990 SEM Spring Conference on Experimental Mechanics held in Albuquerque, NM on June 3–6.