The objective of this study is the design, fabrication and calibration of piezoelectric multiple component force transducers that can measure the dynamic forces and monents transmitted to structures.
In the design of single component force transducers, the effects of six design variables on the charge sensitivity, resolution and range are investigated by using Taguchi Method. The height and number of PZT stack, and epoxy treatment are found to be the dominent factors. Based on the knowledge associated with the design and fabrication of single component force transducers, three and six component force transducers are also designed and fabricated. Comparison calibration method is adopted to calibrate single component force transducers by using commercial accelerometers, and three and six component force transducers are calibrated by using a single component force transducer and the calibration jig.
Calibration results show that force transducers developed can be used from about 1.3 Hz to 10KHz in case of single component transducers and up to about 1KHz in case of three and six component transducers with maximum 0.45 dB error.
