Strain measurement resource website.

The new BSSM website is now live! 

Packed with useful features and resources, visitors to the British Society for Strain Measurement (BSSM) site may book events and training courses, look through event archives, learn about their corporate members, 'Ask an Expert' and much, much more. 

Details of their offer for early career development may be accessed also and registration for conference and other additional upcoming features such as their Strain Resource Centre.

@BSSMStrain #PAuto 

Young stress analysis!

The Young Stress Analyst Competition (YSA20) will take place as an independent event, online via Zoom on Wednesday 16th September 2020.

Although the British Society for Strain Measurement (BSSM) had to cancel their conference this year, they are opening the Young Stress Analyst of the year 2020 competition (YSA20) and will run this as a purely online event this year.

They want to give a forum for early career researchers to share their work in this annual competition, despite the ongoing and understandable restrictions on face-to-face conferences.

Many were hoping to compete this year and so they decided to run an online event in September for the finalists of YSA20.

To enter applications should be submitted by 10th August, ready for peer review. A shortlist of 4 finalists will be invited to present their work during an online event held in September.

@BSSMStrain #YSA20 

New stress analysis service

Having built their first transducer in 1991, Applied Measurements of Reading (GB) now offer an ISO 9001 compliant stress analysis service to complement existing in-house manufacturing of strain gauge based sensors for the measurement of load, force, pressure, torque and linear displacement.

Increasingly measurements are required on parts that either cannot be moved or the application is for research and long term monitoring is required. This might include bonding of strain gauges directly to components, structures or machines.  The service can be tuned to suit specific customer requirements that may include installation and calibration only, design of bespoke transducers to run a test or full installation, testing and reporting on completion.

Applied Measurements can accommodate all measurement parameters including short as well as long term tests, harsh or potentially explosive environments, multiple measurement channels and extremes of temperatures. These include both fixed and rotating applications where wireless signal transmission may be required.

Typical applications include:

• Torque measurement on drives & PTO’s
• Static tests such as structural monitoring with remote data acquisition
• Fatigue tests for life estimations & equipment failure investigation
• Gravimetric level control of silos and hoppers
• Press force monitoring
• Residual stress analysis and crack propagation
• Custom sensors for automotive, marine, aerospace etc

Applied Measurements’ field service team travel throughout Britain and overseas and there are few applications the team haven’t seen before. “We are already highly experienced in the supply of sensors into industries as diverse as medical, marine and motor racing. We understand the needs of bespoke applications and what it takes to get reliable measurements in conditions that are often less than ideal,” stated David Johnson, Head of Business Development.

As Senior Structural Engineer Adrian Robinson at Wright Group says about the service supplied, “we find them to be very flexible and reliable in meeting our demanding needs. We would have no hesitation in recommending them to other companies”
And Airbus UK Launch Manager endorses these services further by saying “they have supported every aspect required of this program in a prompt, efficient and innovative manner whilst playing an integral part in supporting the most successful FTI program in Airbus UK’s history”

The British Society of Strain Measurement (BSSM) underpins installation standards, as the quality of the strain gauge application is vital to reliable long-term measurements. “As one of the most experienced manufacturers of strain gauge transducers in the country, we are grateful for this opportunity to partner Sensor Solutions Ltd - specialists in this type of work, as it is integral to the expansion of our skills base and adds to our continuing success. Additionally, launching of this service coincides with the increased traffic being seen amongst insightful engineering organisations for a service to qualify the actual performance of equipment against predicted, as well as audit of aging plant,” concluded Johnson.

Young Stress Analyst competition

The BSSM’s (British Society for Strain Measurement) annual Young Stress Analyst Competition, is scheduled to take place alongside the 7th BSSM International Conference on Advances in Experimental Mechanics, to be held in Liverpool (GB) from the 7-9 September 2010.

The competition is sponsored by Airbus, AWE and Imetrum Non-Contact Precision Measurement and will give four finalists the opportunity to present their work at a special session at the Conference.

The first prize winner will receive Imetrum Non-Contact Precision Strain Measurement software and a cash prize of £200; cash prizes will also be awarded to the other three finalists. All four finalists will receive free conference registration, a contribution towards B&B accommodation, lunches and refreshments over the three days of the conference and will be invited to attend the conference dinner free of charge on Wednesday 8 September to receive their prizes. Other entries of merit will be invited to produce a poster for display at the conference, which will also be entered into a competition.

The competition is open to final year undergraduate (or equivalent) students, MSc students, PhD students who have not submitted their final thesis and industry based personnel. The closing date for receipt of entries is 29 June 2010. Full details about the competition and an application form can be found online.

Last year’s competition was a great success by all reports and they would like this year’s event to be even better. This is a great way of getting young, enthusiastic people interested in experimental mechanics and the BSSM.