Measurement of the electrical and mechanical responses of a force transducer against impact forces

A method for measuring the electrical and mechanical responses of force transducers to impact loads is proposed. The levitation mass method (LMM) is used to generate and measure the reference impact force used. In the LMM, a mass that is levitated using an aerostatic linear bearing (and hence encounters negligible friction) is made to collide with the force transducer under test, and the force acting on the mass is measured using an optical interferometer. The electrical response is evaluated by comparing the output signal of the force transducer with the inertial force of the mass as measured using the optical interferometer. Simultaneously, the mechanical response is evaluated by comparing the displacement of the sensing point of the transducer, which is measured using another optical interferometer, with the inertial force of the mass. To demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method, the impact responses of a force transducer are accurately determined.