Within the oil industry load measuring pins are widely used – from drill rigs, supply boats and sub-sea assemblies. They can also be used to replace an existing joint, where clevis pins, are used in cranes, winches, anchor chain stops, wedge sockets and shackles. The material from which pin is manufactured is usually a high-strength stainless-steel and sometimes a super alloy.

Strain gauges are used to measure the shear strain at the maximum shear section through the pin and arranged into a whetstone bridge circuit. By using the shear stress, the measurement is not dependant on load position and the supports as bending effects have very little effect on the measurement. To help with this 3D modelling is used that is then linked to a finite element analysis (FEA) package.

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