Three-dimensional bearing load sensor design and numerical investigations

This paper presents the development of a bearing force sensor with on-line monitoring capabilities and its implementations. The purpose designed sensor is manufactured from a metal block with wire cutting machining technique. The formation of twin shear beams inside metal block is capable of measuring bearing load simultaneously in three translational directions. Full bridge electronic circuits, in three separate directions, are installed to obtain strain measurements. Finite element analysis (FEA) have been carried out, with four load cases, to investigate the distribution of strain and stress within sensor structures and key measurement areas identified. Discussions are made to explore the accuracies between model predictions and experiment measurements. The concept design and the prototype sensor had been validated by experimental studies in laboratory.