Analysis of the Impact of Environmental Symmetrical Weight Sensors

Analysis of the Impact of Environmental Symmetrical Weight Sensors

Load cells, as core components for precise weight measurement, are widely used in various fields such as industrial production, logistics and transportation, medical equipment, and food processing. Their working performance and service life highly depend on the operating environment. Once they are in some extreme or harsh environments, it will not only cause the sensor accuracy to fail but also may cause permanent damage, leading to a series of serious consequences and economic losses. The following will analyze the weighing environment in detail from different types of operating environments: the double "devastation" of high and low temperatures.
Temperature is one of the key factors affecting the performance of load cells. High-temperature or low-temperature environments beyond the sensor's tolerance range will directly cause fatal damage to its internal structure and core components.
From the perspective of high-temperature environments, when load cells are in scenarios with temperatures above 60°C or even higher for a long time (such as material weighing in steel smelting workshops, weight monitoring systems of high-temperature drying equipment, weighing devices around boilers, etc.), first, the strain gauges inside the sensor will be damaged. As the core component for sensing weight changes, the adhesive of the strain gauge will soften and fall off at high temperatures, resulting in the failure of the connection between the strain gauge and the elastic body, making it impossible to accurately convert the weight signal into an electrical signal, thereby causing serious deviations in weighing data. Secondly, the wire insulation layer inside the sensor will accelerate aging and carbonization in a high-temperature environment, causing wire short circuits or open circuits, making the sensor completely lose its working ability. In addition, high temperatures will also cause thermal deformation of the sensor's elastic body, which is often irreversible. Even if the temperature returns to normal, the elastic body cannot restore its original structural accuracy, and the measurement benchmark of the sensor is completely destroyed.
In low-temperature environments below -30°C (such as outdoor logistics weighing stations in cold regions, cold chain weighing equipment in frozen food processing plants, weight measuring instruments in polar scientific expeditions, etc.), the damage is equally fatal. Low temperatures will reduce the toughness and increase the brittleness of the elastic material inside the sensor. When bearing weight loads, cracks or even fractures are likely to occur, directly leading to the scrapping of the sensor. At the same time, low temperatures will cause the electrolyte inside the sensor (some types of sensors contain electrolyte) to solidify, making electrolyte ions unable to move normally, interrupting the transmission of electrochemical signals, and the sensor cannot output valid data.
The consequences and losses caused by extreme temperature environments are very significant. In the field of industrial production, if load cells fail due to high or low temperatures, it will lead to inaccurate material proportioning on the production line. For example, in chemical production, deviations in raw material weight measurement may cause chemical reactions to get out of control, resulting in unqualified products and even safety accidents, causing production lines to shut down. Each shutdown loss can range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan. In the logistics and transportation industry, the failure of load cells will make it impossible to accurately measure the weight of goods, which may lead to overloaded transportation, facing fines from traffic authorities. At the same time, overloading will also accelerate vehicle wear and increase maintenance costs. If goods are misdelivered or missed due to inaccurate weight measurement, additional transportation costs and customer claims will also be incurred. In the field of medical equipment, if the load cell in hemodialysis equipment fails, it will affect the precise control of drug dosage, posing a threat to patients' treatment safety. Hospitals may face medical disputes and compensation, and at the same time, high costs will be incurred for equipment repair and replacement.

II. Humid and Corrosive Environments: The "Invisible Killer" Spreading QuietlyHumid environments (with relative humidity exceeding 85% for a long time) and corrosive environments (such as environments containing acid-base gases, salt spray, and chemical solvents) are another major "invisible killer" of load cells. Such environments will gradually damage the internal and external structures of the sensors through penetration, chemical reactions, etc., and eventually lead to their scrapping.In humid environments (such as weighing systems in aquatic product processing plants, sewage treatment plants, and weight monitoring equipment in underground mines), moisture will penetrate into the interior through gaps in the sensor shell, terminal blocks, and other parts. First, moisture will cause short circuits in the internal circuit components of the sensor (such as resistors, capacitors, and integrated circuits) due to moisture, resulting in unstable output signals of the sensor and weighing data drift. As moisture continues to accumulate, the short-circuit situation will become more serious, eventually causing the sensor to be completely inoperable. Secondly, humid environments will accelerate the oxidation and rusting of metal parts of the sensor (such as elastic bodies and wire joints). The oxide layer will affect the deformation accuracy of the elastic body, leading to increased weighing errors. At the same time, rusted wire joints will increase contact resistance, hindering the transmission of electrical signals and further reducing the measurement accuracy of the sensor.In corrosive environments (such as the weighing of acid-base solutions in chemical enterprises, container weighing equipment in ocean transportation, and workpiece weighing systems in electroplating workshops), the destructive effect of corrosive media is more direct and severe. Acidic or alkaline gases and liquids react chemically with the metal shell and elastic body of the sensor, causing the metal surface to be corroded and peeled off, reducing the structural strength of the elastic body, and making it prone to permanent deformation when bearing weight. At the same time, corrosive media will penetrate into the interior of the sensor and react with components such as strain gauges and wires, damaging the sensitive grid of the strain gauges and causing irreversible changes in their resistance values, making the output signal of the sensor seriously inconsistent with the actual weight. For example, in a marine environment, salt spray will have a strong corrosive effect on the metal parts of the sensor, which may cause the sensor shell to perforate and internal components to be damaged within just a few months, making it lose its measurement function.The consequences and losses caused by humid and corrosive environments cannot be ignored. In the food processing industry, if the load cell of an aquatic product processing plant fails due to humidity, it will lead to inaccurate weight measurement of aquatic products, affecting the packaging specifications and pricing of products. If the product does not meet food safety standards due to weighing errors, it will also face penalties from regulatory authorities, the brand reputation will be affected, and then the market share will decline. In the chemical industry, the failure of sensors in corrosive environments will lead to weighing errors of acid-base raw materials, which may cause production accidents. For example, improper proportioning of acid-base solutions may cause leakage, causing harm to equipment and operators. The accident handling costs, equipment repair and replacement costs, and personnel medical expenses will bring a huge economic burden to enterprises. In the field of ocean transportation, the failure of load cells due to salt spray corrosion will make it impossible to accurately measure the weight of containers, which may cause the ship's loading to be unbalanced and affect navigation safety. If situations such as ship tilting and cargo shifting occur, it will not only cause cargo damage but also may cause maritime accidents, and the losses are incalculable.

III. Strong Mechanical Impact and Overload Environments: The "Violent Threat" of Instant DestructionStrong mechanical impacts (such as sudden impacts, vibrations, and falls) and long-term overloads (bearing weights exceeding 120% of the sensor's rated range) will cause instantaneous and serious physical damage to load cells, which are typical "violent threats" and often directly lead to sensor scrapping.In mechanical impact environments (such as the weighing links of lifting equipment in construction, cargo weighing equipment in logistics loading and unloading processes, and ore weighing systems in mining, etc.), when the sensor is subjected to sudden impacts or strong vibrations, its internal elastic body will exceed the elastic limit of the material due to instantly bearing huge impact forces, resulting in fractures or serious permanent deformation. For example, in construction, if the load cell of lifting equipment is accidentally hit by hoisted cargo, the elastic body may break directly, and the sensor will lose its function instantly. At the same time, strong impacts will also cause strain gauges inside the sensor to fall off, wires to break, and even integrated circuit boards to be damaged. The damage to these components is almost irreparable, and only new sensors can be replaced. In addition, long-term severe vibrations will loosen the sensor's terminal blocks, leading to unstable electrical signal transmission and further accelerating the damage speed of the sensor.Overload environments are more common, and their hazards are cumulative and sudden. In fields such as industrial production and logistics transportation, if operators misoperate and place heavy objects exceeding the sensor's rated range on the weighing platform, or if materials accumulate too much suddenly during production, the sensor will be in an overload state for a long time. In the short term, overload will cause the sensor's elastic body to deform beyond the design range. Although some deformations can be recovered, long-term repeated overloads will cause fatigue damage to the elastic body, and the deformation will gradually become irrecoverable, resulting in a significant drop in weighing accuracy. When the overload exceeds the sensor's bearing limit, it will instantly cause the elastic body to break and the strain gauges to be completely damaged, and the sensor will be completely scrapped. For example, in a logistics warehouse, if a forklift driver mistakenly forks cargo exceeding the load cell's range onto the weighing platform, it may damage the sensor instantly, affecting the entire warehouse's cargo receiving and dispatching work.The consequences and losses caused by mechanical impact and overload environments are extremely direct. In the construction field, the damage of load cells due to impact or overload will cause lifting equipment to be unable to accurately measure the hoisting weight, which may lead to hoisted cargo falling accidents, causing equipment damage and personnel casualties. The accident handling and compensation costs are high, and the construction progress will be seriously delayed. Each day of delay may cause economic losses of tens of thousands of yuan. In logistics warehouses, sensor damage will cause goods to be unable to be weighed and stored normally, affecting the normal operation of the supply chain. If customer orders are delayed due to the failure to deliver goods in time, enterprises also need to bear liquidated damages. At the same time, customer satisfaction will decrease, affecting long-term cooperation. In industrial production lines, sensor damage due to overload will cause the production line to stop. Production can only resume after replacing with a new sensor. The equipment idleness cost, labor cost, and order loss during the shutdown will bring huge pressure to the enterprise.

IV. Electromagnetic Interference Environment: "Accuracy Collapse" Under Invisible InterferenceWith the improvement of industrial automation, various electrical equipment and wireless communication devices are widely used, leading to increasingly serious electromagnetic interference in the environment where load cells are located. Although electromagnetic interference does not directly cause physical structural damage to the sensor, it will seriously interfere with its signal transmission and processing, leading to the collapse of measurement accuracy, which cannot meet the usage requirements and causes "fatal damage" at the functional level.The electromagnetic interference environment mainly comes from high-power motors, frequency converters, electric welders, high-voltage transmission lines, and wireless communication devices (such as mobile phones, walkie-talkies) in industrial sites. These devices generate strong electromagnetic radiation. When the signal cables and internal circuits of load cells are within the range of these electromagnetic radiations, electromagnetic signals will be superimposed on the measurement signals of the sensors, causing the electrical signals output by the sensors to have clutter and distortion, which in turn causes severe fluctuations and excessive deviations in weighing data. For example, in an industrial production line, if there is a high-power frequency converter working near a load cell, the electromagnetic interference generated by the frequency converter will cause the weighing data of the sensor to jump frequently, making it impossible to stably display the actual weight. In addition, strong electromagnetic interference may also damage the signal processing circuits inside the sensor, such as integrated circuit chips, causing the sensor to be unable to process measurement signals normally, outputting wrong data or no data.The consequences and losses caused by the electromagnetic interference environment are mainly reflected in fields with high dependence on accuracy. In the field of medical equipment, such as weight detection of surgical instruments after disinfection and dosage weighing in drug production, if the load cell's accuracy decreases due to electromagnetic interference, it will affect the judgment of the disinfection effect of surgical instruments (for example, abnormal weight may mean incomplete disinfection) and the precise control of drug dosage, posing a threat to patients' treatment safety. Hospitals may face medical disputes, and at the same time, pharmaceutical manufacturers may produce unqualified drugs, facing recalls and penalties from regulatory authorities, and their brand image will be seriously damaged. In the field of precision manufacturing, such as the weighing detection of aerospace components, if the sensor's accuracy is affected by electromagnetic interference, the weight of the components will not meet the design requirements. If these components are installed on aircraft, they may affect the performance and flight safety of the aircraft, causing serious safety hazards. At the same time, the production, inspection, and rework costs of unqualified components will increase significantly. In the food processing field, if the sensor's weight is inaccurate due to electromagnetic interference, the weight of food packaging will not meet national standards, facing penalties from regulatory authorities. At the same time, consumers may complain due to insufficient weight, affecting the enterprise's reputation and market sales.To sum up, environments such as extreme temperatures, humid corrosion, mechanical impact and overload, and electromagnetic interference will all cause fatal damage to load cells, leading to consequences such as measurement accuracy failure, structural damage, and functional scrapping, which in turn bring serious economic losses, safety hazards, and brand reputation damage to multiple fields such as industrial production, logistics and transportation, medical equipment, and food processing. Therefore, in practical applications, targeted protective measures (such as installing heat insulation devices, waterproof and anti-corrosion casings, shock absorption devices, electromagnetic shielding enclosures, etc.) should be taken according to the usage scenarios of load cells, and regular maintenance and calibration should be carried out to extend the service life of the sensors, ensure their stable and reliable operation, and reduce potential risks and losses.