This Article takes an In-depth look at Force-calibration
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Force calibration is a necessary process used for testing materials used for manufacturing equipment, machines, and other devices. All forms of metals and other materials can expand and contract during their use. Understanding their characteristics and durability is essential for the safety of consumers and industrial processes. The properties of materials are of major importance in product design since they determine the useful life of a product. Understanding the qualities of a material can assist in determining whether a product will be able to withstand forces it will face.
The testing of materials grew out of metal failures at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century when serious catastrophic disasters led to the destruction of property and serious casualties. At the time, the testing methods were not controlled or adequate to ensure the stability of equipment.
The original testing device was a Brinell tester that was used to test materials using a 10 mm. metal ball forced against the material. The mechanism used to drive the ball was a pneumatic piston. The readings from the Brinell tester were inaccurate since the force provided by the pneumatic drive was inconsistent and produced extremely varied readings.
The diverse results and inaccurate readings led to the development of more precise measuring devices that were developed in conjunction with the United States National Bureau of Standards. Since their original development, nearly a 100 years ago, the methods used for force calibration have steadily improved such that today’s force calibration instruments provide the most accurate and reliable data.
Sir Isaac Newton said that force controls motion. In order to control motion, it is necessary to control force. In physics, force is mass multiplied by acceleration. The intricacies of measuring force have to have parameters and baselines against which to determine the accuracy of instruments.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides calibration services for force measuring instruments. To produce accurate data, the experts at NIST apply force, compression, and tension to an elastic transducer and record the deformations. In a report, the relationship between the applied force and the deformation data is outlined.
When measurement and calibration companies complete a force calibration, they compare their readings against those produced by the NIST. A device is tested to ensure it produces accurate data. If the readings from the device do not match the standards produced by NIST, it is adjusted and calibrated until it does.
Force can be either push or pull and is mechanical in nature. A force calibration machine produces data regarding the amount of force being applied to an object, material, or device. Since force is applied to everything, force measurements are used to determine how much tension, compression, or impact an object can endure. The key to a successful calibration is dependent on the device being used, which must be properly plumbed, level, square, rigid, and have very low torsion. Without these factors being ideal, the data collected will be incorrect and have errors.
Though the concept of measuring force on products may seem very logical, what is more enlightening is the science and technology necessary to get the best possible readings with the greatest accuracy. In the case of force calibration, accuracy and reliability are the keys since safety and error prevention are at the center of the accumulated data.
Manufacturers and producers rely on force data such that they can create the parameters for their products. The information from force calibrations can be included in sales information data and product information guides. An example of necessary force calibration for safety reasons would be the amount of force or tension a cable on a shipping crane can endure and what are the limitations of its lifting power.
Every crane manufacturer sells their cranes to fit the needs of a customer’s application and choose the correct crane according to its force calibration. In this example, inaccurate data can lead to a wide range of disastrous and dangerous conditions, which can damage the integrity of a company. Force calibration offers the necessary information to prevent such situations and keep workers and materials safe.
Force is a known entity and has to be measured and cataloged to ensure the proper performance of a device or material. Over the nearly 100 years of the existence of force calibration, manufacturers have developed and perfected techniques and methods that precisely fit the needs of any type of object or material.
Tension calibration is the opposite of compression and can be envisioned as pulling, stretching, or elongating an object.
Compression calibration refers to something being compressed or squeezed. In general, it is a measurement of pushing or squeezing force. For this type of force calibration to be accurate, everything has to be aligned properly with the force being applied as straight and true as possible, or free from unconventional or angular forces.
The first principle of hardness is the resistance of a material against indentation. When a fixed force or load is applied to a material, the smaller the indentation, the harder is the material. The hardness value is determined by measuring the depth of the indentation or its area using one of several testing methods.
Impact testing is used to determine the toughness of a material under sudden impact. It is a technique for determining the characteristics of a material when the material experiences shock loading, such as bending, tension, or torsion. An impact test measures how a material performs after the application of sudden stress, which helps to determine its toughness and brittleness.
Force calibration involves several types of instruments, tools, equipment, and devices. The range of force calibration instruments includes hand held pull and stretch gauges to large press like equipment. The selection of the type of device is dependent on several factors, which include the material and testing standards.
Adapters are crucial to force calibration and are found in any force calibration device, regardless of its size. The purpose of an adapter is to direct the flow of force toward the object being tested. They are an essential and important part of force calibration and ensure the validity of calibrations by centering the forces applied to the object being tested. In tension calibrations, adapters include two ball nuts and two ball cups. With compression testing, ball seats and spherical adapters are used. Other aspects of adapters include pin tension links and alignment plugs.
Load cell calibration is the comparison of an unknown device to a known device to be able to describe the unknown device and categorize it. A load cell converts mechanical energy into electrical signals and displays force values when an indicator is attached to it. Load cell calibration is continually necessary to ensure that the load cell is performing accurately.
Ideal for push or pull tests for springs, metal wire, and gun triggers.
Manual and motorized test stands for testing materials and products.
Tension dynamometers measure force output.
Wheel pads are used to weigh vehicles.
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