Abstract

A dynamometer was designed and constructed to measure three directional forces and moments of pull type implement with eliminating the interference between the forces. The dynamometer consists of a linear motion bearing, self-aligning bearings, universal joints, and cantilevers where strain gages were attached. A data acuquisition system was developed to collect data and to analyze them. The data acuquisition system consists of the dynamometer, a potentiometer to measure the implement depth, strain amplifiers, a A/D converter, and an IBM-AT compatible microcomputer. Program, written in C language, was developed to read data from tranducers with given interval, to calculate forces and moments, to display them on screen, and to store them on disk. The calibration results showed that cantilevers had good linearity and there was no interference among directional forces. When applied loads were reduced with constant rate, hysteresis was appeared on the dynamometer. It might to be reduced by using ball bearings instead of self-aligning bearings.

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