From oscillation to impact: the design of a new force calibration device at PTB

摘要

This article describes the design of a new facility which is under construction at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt for the calibration of force transducers with impulse forces. Force pulses of 1 ms duration and less are generated by the impact of two bodies of known mass, having their acceleration derived from velocity data taken with laser-Doppler interferometry. To minimize the influence of friction, linear air bearings are used as guideways for these bodies. Numerical simulations based on a non-linear mass-spring model are performed to obtain a prediction of the expected signals under the influence of hertz-like contacts as well as of the pulse duration and the amplitude. Finally, the major sources of measurement uncertainty are discussed.