Acceleration compensation of load sensors

1. An apparatus to compensate for acceleration induced load error in a load sensor, the apparatus comprising:

a movement detector in mechanical communication with a component of a mechanical test system, the movement detector configured to measure an acceleration of the component in response to at least one waveform being applied to a test sample to obtain an acceleration measurement;

a load sensor in mechanical communication with the component, the load sensor configured to measure a force applied by the mechanical test system in response to at least one waveform being applied to the test sample in substantially a same direction as the acceleration, to obtain a force measurement; and

a processor configured to modify the force measurement with a transfer function that includes at least one of a gain correction and a phase delay filter to compensate for an error in the force measurement attributed to movement of at least the load sensor when the force is applied to the test sample, wherein the gain correction and phase delay filter are calculated based on a Fourier Transform of a plurality of acceleration measurements and a plurality of force measurements recorded for a period of time for at least one waveform applied to the test sample.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the transfer function by:

applying at least one waveform to the test sample;

recording for a period of time, a plurality of acceleration measurements and a plurality of force measurements for each waveform;

converting, for each waveform, the plurality of acceleration measurements with a Fourier Transform to create an acceleration frequency response;

converting, for each waveform, the plurality of force measurements with a Fourier Transform to create a force frequency response;

determining, for each acceleration frequency response of each waveform, an input gain;

determining, for each force frequency response of each waveform, an output gain;

determining, for each waveform, a fundamental gain by dividing the output gain by the input gain; and

averaging the fundamental gain from each waveform to determine a gain correction.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the transfer function by:

applying at least one waveform to the test sample;

recording for a period of time, a plurality of acceleration measurements and a plurality of force measurements for each waveform;

converting, for each waveform, the plurality of acceleration measurements with a Fourier Transform to create an acceleration frequency response;

converting, for each waveform, the plurality of force measurements with a Fourier Transform to create a force frequency response;

determining, for each acceleration frequency response of each waveform, an input phase;

determining, for each force frequency response of each waveform, an output phase;

determining, for each waveform, a phase difference by subtracting the input phase from the output phase; and

converting the phase difference into the phase delay filter.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine the transfer function by:

applying at least one waveform to the test sample;

recording for a period of time, a plurality of acceleration measurements and a plurality of force measurements for each waveform;

converting, for each waveform, the plurality of acceleration measurements with a Fourier Transform to create an acceleration frequency response;

converting, for each waveform, the plurality of force measurements with a Fourier Transform to create a force frequency response;

determining, for each acceleration frequency response of each waveform, an input gain and an input phase;

determining, for each force frequency response of each waveform, an output gain and an output phase;

averaging the fundamental gain from each waveform to determine a gain correction; and

converting the phase difference into the phase delay filter.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to attach substantially half of a mass of the test sample to the mechanical test system while the transfer function is determined.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to record substantially half of a mass of the test sample while the transfer function is determined.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one waveform includes three monotone waveforms; and the processor is further configured, for each of the three monotone waveforms, to ramp an excitation amplitude to a desired amplitude, record the plurality of acceleration measurements and the plurality of force measurements for the period of time, and decrease the excitation amplitude until the force measurement is substantially zero.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the Fourier Transform includes a Discrete Fourier Transform.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the period of time is at least two seconds.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one waveform includes three monotone waveforms.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to filter the acceleration measurement with a High Pass Filter (HPF).

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein filtering with the HPF includes filtering with a Butterworth filter.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the movement detector is further configured to measure a second acceleration of a second component to obtain a second acceleration measurement, the second component being in mechanical communication with the load sensor and being part of the mechanical test system.

14. An apparatus to compensate for acceleration induced load error in a load sensor, the apparatus comprising:

a movement detector configured to measure an acceleration of the component to obtain an acceleration measurement;

a load sensor configured to measure a force applied to a test sample in substantially a same direction as the acceleration, to obtain a force measurement; and

a processor configured to modify the force measurement with a transfer function that includes at least one of a gain correction and a phase correction to compensate for an error value in the force measurement attributed to movement of at least the load sensor when the force is applied to the test sample, wherein the transfer function determined by:

mechanically applying at least one waveform to the test sample;

recording for a period of time, a plurality of acceleration measurements and a plurality of force measurements for each waveform;

converting, for each waveform, the plurality of acceleration measurements with a Fourier Transform to create an acceleration frequency response;

converting, for each waveform, the plurality of force measurements with a Fourier Transform to create a force frequency response;

determining, for each acceleration frequency response of each waveform, an input gain and an input phase;

determining, for each force frequency response of each waveform, an output gain and an output phase;

determining, for each waveform, a fundamental gain by dividing the output gain by the input gain;

determining, for each waveform, a phase difference by subtracting the input phase from the output phase;

converting the fundamental gain from each waveform into a gain correction, the gain correction having a variable gain as a function of frequency; and

converting the phase difference from each waveform into a phase correction, the phase correction having a variable phase delay as a function of frequency.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the acceleration is an angular acceleration including a measurable portion of an axial acceleration being substantially in a same direction as an axial force when the axial force is applied to the test sample and a measurable portion of a torsional acceleration being substantially in a same direction as a torsional force when the torsional force is applied to the test sample.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to attach substantially half of a mass of the test sample to the mechanical test system while the transfer function is determined.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to record substantially half of a mass of the test sample while the transfer function is determined.

18. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the at least one waveform includes three monotone waveforms, and the processor is further configured for each of the three monotone waveforms to:

ramp an excitation amplitude to a desired amplitude;

record the plurality of acceleration measurements and the plurality of force measurements for the period of time; and

decrease the excitation amplitude until the force measurement is substantially zero.