Use Cases 
Mechanical stresses and their direction must be determined for the structural design of many components with experimental stress analyses. The exact knowledge of the structural load-bearing capacity is particularly relevant for the development of components on construction machines that are later subjected to heavy loads. This application report shows how CSM measurement modules accurately measure stress at numerous locations during repeatable experimental stress analysis on telescopic crane booms.
Measurement setup for preparation (left) and testing (right).
Precise information on maximum loads, operating conditions and life cycle are essential for the safe use of construction machinery. For this reason, individual parts are also extensively tested in special test centers. In this example, experimental stress analysis is performed on six crane booms using strain gauges. On the basis of the data acquired, simulations are checked and the capacity and live cycle of the booms are determined.
Measurement task
Measurement of mechanical stresses for the verification of simulations.
The measurement technology used should allow an uncomplicated and fast testing process for all six crane booms. The measurements themselves should of course be very accurate in order to obtain the desired results. In order to be able to measure strains as accurately as possible, the data from many strain gauges must be recorded synchronously and each at a data rate of at least 200 Hz per channel. Since loads are applied to the booms to the point of material fatigue and short-term peaks are also to be recorded, it must be possible to scale the measuring range sufficiently.
A parallel sequence of preparation of the test specimens and execution of the measurement halves the time required. This is possible because in this example measurement technology for a total of 96 strain gauge measurement channels is used. This means that one part of the measurement technology can be used for configuration, while the other part is used on the test bench.
Due to the compact and robust design, the CSM measurement modules allow a parallel sequence of preparation and testing, as they can be easily transported to the test bench with the test specimen. The high bandwidth of the EtherCAT® measurement technology allows a time-synchronous acquisition of measurement data of up to 20 kHz, which enables precise analyses. This allows precise statements to be made about the need for optimisation and later possible applications of the crane booms.
Type STG6 pro BS20 | STG6 BK20
EtherCAT®-based measurement modules for decentralized use under demanding conditions: Robust, very compact and with six time-synchronous strain gauge inputs for quarter, half and full bridges.
XCP-Gateway is the interface between the data acquisition software (e. g. vMeasure, CANape®, INCA®, Vision® ...) and the EtherCAT® measurement modules from CSM. It includes an EtherCAT® master and an XCP-on-Ethernet slave.
vMeasure, developed by Vector Informatik, is an easy-to-use software tool for the acquisition and analysis of measurement data that can be used in combination with all CAN- and EtherCAT®-based CSM measurement modules. CSMconfig was integrated directly to ensure swift configuration.
Swift configuration of measurement chains: CSMconfig is the reliable configuration software for all CAN and EtherCAT® based measurement modules from CSM. The clearly arranged and easy-to-use user interface allows an easy setting of all measurement parameters. This helps speeding up the measurement setup considerably.