Microforce materials tester based on the levitation mass method

摘要

The present status and the future prospects of the levitation mass method(LMM), which has been proposed and developed by the author as a precision mechanical measurement method and has been applied to dynamic force calibration and material testing, are reviewed. In the LMM, the inertial force of a mass levitated using a pneumatic linear bearing is used as the reference force applied to the objects under test, such as force transducers, materials or structures. The inertial force of the levitated mass is measured using an optical interferometer. As an example, mechanical responses of a gel block against small impact loads were evaluated using the LMM.