Centrifugal acceleration in torque measurement - often underestimated, however, very effective
What do a roller coaster, a spin dryer and a centrifuge have in common with rotating torque measurement technology? The answer is amazing: centrifugal acceleration. The combination of rotation and dimension results in acceleration. Multiplying acceleration by the existing mass causes high forces that require correspondingly safe structures.
Accelerations in a roller coaster, on the one hand, must not be too high to avoid potential health risks and, on the other hand, should be high enough to cancel out gravity and induce a feeling of weightlessness. Everyone knows how a spin dryer, which in fact is a centrifuge, works. Different materials are being separated.
However, the centrifugal acceleration occurring in everyday life is relatively low compared to that occurring during torque measurement.
- Centrifugal acceleration in a spin dryer is approximately 400 g ≈ 4,000 m/s² - depending on drum diameter and spin speed -,
- in a roller coaster it is approximately 5 g ≈ 50 m/s²,
- in rotating torque transducers, however, it amounts to several thousand g or m/s².