RESEARCH LEADING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A REMOTE OPTICAL NON-DEFORMABLE LOAD CELL IS PROPOSED.

RESEARCH LEADING TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A REMOTE OPTICAL NON-DEFORMABLE LOAD CELL IS PROPOSED. THIS INSTRUMENT WOULD CONSIST OF A FUSED SILICA LOAD TRANSDUCER, IN CONJUCTION WITH A 2-FREQUENCY LASER & ASSOCIATED ELECTRONICS. THE PROPOSED TRANSDUCER WOULD BECOME BIREFRINGENT UNDER AN APPLIED LOAD (DUE TO STRESS OPTIC EFFECT), AND THIS BIREFRINGENCE WOULD BE ACCURATELY MEASURED BY THE BEAM FROM A REMOTELY LOCATED 2-FREQUENCY LASER. THE DEFORMATION OF SUCH A TRANSDUCER UNDER LOAD IS EXTREMELY SMALL (E.G. LESS THAN 0.0001 INCHES FOR A 30,000 LB. LOAD) READINGS CAN BE MADE WITH NO PHYSICAL CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TRANSDUCER AND THE MEASUREMENT MODULE OTHER THAN EITHER A LASER BEAM OR AN OPTICAL FIBER. PRELIMINARY MEASUREMENTS INDICATE THAT THIS TYPE OF LOAD CELL WILL BE ACCURATE AND HAVE AN EXTREMELY LARGE DYNAMIC RANGE.