European cooperation for the measurement of very large forces up to 50 MN

In numerous industrial applications, the demand for the traceability of large forces is increasing. Hereby, different influence quantities have to be taken into account in order to attain the smallest possible measurement uncertainties. Force measurement in the meganewton range is to be improved within the scope of a European research project.

The research project SIB63 „Force traceability within the meganewton range“ which is funded within the scope of EMRP is coordinated by Department 1.2 "Solid Mechanics". Ten leading European metrology institutes, BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing, Berlin, various European manufacturers as well as industrial users are taking part in this project. Within the scope of the project, selected force measuring devices such as, e.g., large build-up systems will be investigated. The influence quantities occurring hereby due to parasitic influences from shearing forces and moments, as well as different temporal loading processes and the creep properties of the measuring instruments and their hysteresis will be investigated and described by means of models so that they can be taken into account in the measurement uncertainty budget. The project is divided into several work packages (WP). The first work package (WP1) deals with the extension of force measurement up to 50 MN via build-up systems. WP2 is dedicated to the aspect of multi-component force measurement, whereas WP3 investigates temporal and hysteresis influences. The results will enter into WP4 where the findings will be made available to the users in the form of software tools. WP5 aims to present the results within the scope of workshops and conferences and/or to use them in standardization bodies. The project will be coordinated by WP6 under the leadership of PTB.

The kick-off meeting took place at PTB on 4-5 September 2013 (see photo).

Figure 1: Participants of the kick-off meeting at PTB on 4-5 September 2013.

References:

[1] European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP), SI Broader Scope (SIB) call, Joint Research Project (JRP) 63: "Force traceability within the meganewton range" Link

Contact person:

Rolf Kumme, Dept 1.2, e-mail: rolf.kumme@ptb.de