Strain Gauge Adhesive - Small Role Big Responsibility In A Digital Scale

By Author: Alfred Ferrell
Total Articles: 39
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If you have seen a movie where a character who has a role that lasts just a few minutes is able to make a big impression on the audience then you will have an idea of the apparently minor but very important part some inputs can play.

And one such input in the manufacture of the digital scale is the adhesive that bonds the strain gauge to the load cells metal member that actually experiences the stress caused by the object to be weighed and gets strained as a result.

Let me describe to you in a few words how a digital scale works. First the weight of the object placed on the platform of the scale causes a load on the load cell. This load causes a metal component which is a part of the load cell to bend. The extent of the bending is proportional to the weight of the object placed on the platform. A strain gauge is fixed on to this metal component with the help of an adhesive and so along with the metal component the strain gauge bends too. It is possible to know how much the strain gauge has bent because it is designed for exactly that purpose. And once that is know the weight of the object can then be calculated.

Now ...
... even if you are using a high quality metal component and a high quality strain gauge, if the adhesive bonding the two together does not perform well, the accuracy and reliability of the scale will get compromised. If for example the bond starts to weaken then the strain gauge may not change shape as much as the metal component. Therefore the strain gauge adhesive too must retain the bond for the entire life time of the digital scale.

As you can see the adhesive plays a small but very important role. And it is in such inputs that a low quality manufacturer may end up in compromising too much. The best manufacturers use tried and tested products specially designed for the purpose. They make sure your digital scale such as a floor scale gives a strong durable performance. You can know more at http://www.opendiary.com/entryview.asp?authorcode=D943135&entry=10001&mode=