| Abstract: | A method for generating and measuring varying force by means of levitating a rigid object is discussed in this paper. The inertial force is accurately measured using an optical interferometer and an electric frequency counter. The performance of the three-point bending tester based on the proposed idea is investigated. The 12 sets of three-point bending tests have been conducted against aluminum bars. The combined standard uncertainty in measuring the instantaneous value of the reaction force, with the sampling interval of approximately 1–2 ms, is approximately 0.11 N. This corresponds to approximately 3×10−3 (0.3%) of the maximum inertial force in the experiments. |
