Q1.

A load cell is calibrated in an environment at a temperature of 21C and has the following
deflection/load characteristic:
Load (kg) 0 50 100 150 200
Deflection (mm) 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
When used in an environment at 35C, its characteristic changes to the following:
Load (kg) 0 50 100 150 200
Deflection (mm) 0.2 1.3 2.4 3.5 4.6
(i) Determine the sensitivity at 21C and 35C;
(ii) Calculate the total zero drift and sensitivity drift at 35C;
(iii) Determine the zero drift and sensitivity drift coefficients with respect to the
temperature change;
(iv) Discuss the methods of reducing environment effect.


Q2. (i) A 200 kg cantilever load cell is used to monitor the weight of moving vehicles at the
immigration checkpoint. When a step input is applied to the load cell, its period of
oscillation is observed to be 2 sec, and the ratio of consecutive amplitudes is 6.0 to 1.0.
Calculate the damping ratio, natural frequency and steady-state sensitivity for the load
cell. The damping ratio is related to the natural logarithmic decrement of the two
successive amplitudes as:
2
2
1
1
2
ln

=
|
|
.
|

\
|
x
x

(ii) A 5000 kg vehicle is suddenly placed onto the load cell. Derive an expression of the load
cell and sketch its resulting displacement with respect to time. The response, f
o
(t), of the
underdamped second-order element to a unit step input is:
(
(

+ =

t t e t f
n n
t
o
n
2
2
2
1 sin
1
1 cos 1 ) ( e

e
e


Q3: A piezoelectric force sensor with a mass of 0.5 kg is supported by a material having a
stiffness of 400 N/m and a damping constant of 12Ns/m.
(i) Calculate the steady-state sensitivity, undamped natural frequency and damping ratio for
the sensor.
(ii) Calculate the displacement of the sensor for a constant steady state load of 5 N.
(iii)Calculate the sensor dynamic error corresponding to the periodic input force signal
) 73 . 12 sin 25 . 0 37 . 6 (sin 83 . 31 ) ( t t t F t t t + =

Q4 A force measurement system consisting of a piezoelectric crystal, charge amplifier and
recorder is shown below.
(i) Calculate the system dynamic error corresponding to the unit step input with
) ( 1 . 0 ,
1
10 ) (
3
1
s
s
s
s F =
+
=

t
t
t
and
100 25
50
) (
2 2
+ +
=
s s
s F
(ii) Calculate the system dynamic error corresponding to the input signal of
t t 20 sin 50 10 sin 20 + with ) ( 1 . 0 ,
1
10 ) (
3
1
s
s
s
s F =
+
=

t
t
t
and
2 . 0 ), / ( 50 ,
1
2 1
50
) (
2
2
2
= =
+ +
= e
e

e
s rad
s s
s F
n
n n