Difference between revisions of "Load Cells"

Other types include '''piezoelectric load cells''' , and '''vibrating wire load cells''', which are useful in geomechanical applications due to low amounts of drift, and capacitive load cells where the capacitance of a capacitor changes as the load preses the two plates of a capacitor closer together. Every load cell is subject to ringing when subjected to abrupt load changes. This stems from the spring-like behavior of load cells. In order to measure the loads, they have to deform. As such, a load cell of finite stiffness must have spring-like behavior, exhibiting vibrations at its natural frequency. An oscillating data pattern can be the result of ringing. Ringing can be suppressed in a limited fashion by passive means. Alternatively, a control system can use an actuator to actively damp out the ringing of a load cell. This method offers better performance at a cost of significant increase in complexity. Load cells are used in several types of measuring instruments such as universal testing machines.