Basic Difference Between a Force Transducer and a Load Cell
Before going into the differences between a force transducer and a load cell, it is important to know the function of a strain gauge. These are electrical conductors that are attached firmly to any film that has a meandering pattern. When you pull both the film and conductor, they get longer. This brings a change in the overall resistance of the electrical conductors that helps to determine the strain that you need to increase the resistance. To make the force transducer work, you will require a spring element along with strain gauges to make sure that the bonding is strong enough. Now that you have understood how a force transducer works, let’s take a deeper look into why it is different from a load cell.
One of the main reasons why force transducers are preferred over load cells is because of their construction process. Load cells are generally produced and then installed at the plant of the user. The calibration of the cell is done on the site itself. Force transducers do not operate like that. They are calibrated at the respective factory immediately after production. Moreover, the measurements of the transducer remain the same even if it is installed several times or removed from one place and installed in some other place. This makes them more robust than load cells.
Force transducers have the ability to measure both positive and negative forces along with compressive and tensile forces. This is a huge benefit for the technicians. However, when it comes to load cell, it measures only mass and that too in one single direction. Since mass will always be more than 0, the load cells are able to measure the mass easily. The trick is when you place something heavy on the load cell. This will stop it from measuring the negative weight and that is the reason why technicians do not want load cells anymore.
There are several legal regulations that transducers and load cells have to follow. The experts are of the opinion that because of the construction process of load cells, it becomes impossible to meet the standard regulations. This has become a major problem for all units that use load cells. They are failing to meet the legal-for-trade capability and that is why it is losing its market quickly. Force transducers, on the other hand, fulfills all the different regulations like ISO 376 and VDI 2365. This makes them usable in any unit and it is one of the reasons why they have gained so much ground in recent years.
Finding force transducers is not difficult anymore. They are virtually everywhere. If you are looking for quality force transducers at pocket-friendly prices, you can look into the website of Durham Instruments. They have a wide range of force transducers that come in a variety of sizes that will fit your unit well. Make sure that you choose from the ones that can measure across an air gap without any interruption.