TFG: DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ELECTRONIC MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR DEFORMATIONS ON MATERIALS

Currently there are various systems to measure deformations such as optical systems of video or laser as well as direct contact systems,  which can be classified in mechanical and electrical systems. The strain gauges belong to this last group. These gauges are devices that resemble a rectangular sheet whose dimensions typically span just a few centimeters length. In its interior there is a conductive or semiconducting wire with the form of a grid which has the ability to vary its electrical resistance when it is deformed. Compared to other technologies, strain gauges offer a much more affordable price and its use is very simple. Given their increasing perfection, they can offer benefits similar to other technologies and that is why the interest they receive has been increasing considerably, giving rise to a wide gauge market with a great variety of features and prices.

This work was born with the goal of developing a system that measures deformations based on its use for different materials with certain levels of precision, accuracy and reliability, as well as designing it as generic as possible to allow the use of any gauge that is offered in the market.

The design of the system consists of a Discovery board that tries to sample the signal coming from the gauges for its later transformation and processing. The data are sended and displayed on the computer screen through a program that reads the USB port.

The study covers different measurement techniques based on the use of different configurations that connect the gauges to the Discovery board for a comparison of results and effectiveness with each method. It also seeks to analyze the performance of different types of strain gauges with different characteristics.