Force measurement
The instrument that decides whether a test is true.
A load cell converts force into an electrical signal — a conversion that is indirect and happens in stages, which is why the device is properly called a precision electronic force measurement unit. It is the component that decides what a testing machine actually knows about the specimen in its grips.
Standard capacity
0.05 kN to 600 kN
Safe overload
150% of capacity
Protected to
At least 300% of rated capacity
Dak load cells are designed to meet or exceed the requirements of ASTM E-83, BS 3846, ISO 9513 and EN 10002-4, alongside the operating requirements of the Dak machine they are fitted to. Their function is to measure the force applied to the specimen precisely, and they work with any Dak readout or data acquisition system.
The range is built to cover a testing programme rather than a single test: capacities from 0.05 kN to 600 kN, in tension only, compression only, or both.
What is inside the housing, and why it matters
Six things that separate a load cell you can trust over years from one that merely reads a number today.
Strain gauges, bonded and sealed
Each cell is built from high-quality materials with strain gauges applied, permanently bonded and sealed. Force is measured in one of three configurations — tension only, compression only, or tension and compression together.
Two body types, by capacity
Below 20 kN the cells are S-type. At 20 kN and above they are Low Profile Universal — the pancake form — which is what allows a high-capacity cell to sit in the load train without adding height to it.
Overload protection as standard
Every cell is safe to 150% of its capacity and protected against at least 300% of its rated capacity without mechanical damage. Overload protection is automatic, not a setting somebody has to remember.
The cell identifies itself
Each cell carries non-changing coding memory in its connecting plug, holding its calibration and limit parameters. Fit a different cell and the system knows what has been fitted, along with everything it needs to read it correctly.
Calibration is entirely digital
There are no presets and no trim pots — the components a conventional cell relies on and the ones that drift. Calibration being digital is what removes the effect of voltage and temperature variation from the measurement.
Built for the measurement chain
Higher load accuracy and an increased data rate carry through to the console, where up to four transducer control channels can be integrated — so load, strain and a further two measurements are acquired together rather than in separate passes.
Below 20 kN
S-type
The S-beam form, used across the lower capacities where the load train has room for it.
20 kN and above
Low Profile Universal
The pancake form — a high-capacity cell that sits in the load train without adding height to it.
How far down the range the figure holds
Accuracy on a load cell is two numbers, not one: the error, and the fraction of capacity it still applies at. A cell that is accurate at full scale and vague at a tenth of it is no use for a programme that tests both.
±0.005% of full capacity
±0.5% down to 1/100th of capacity
Self-identification and digital auto-calibration.
0.02% of full capacity
±0.5% down to 1/100th of capacity
Self-identification and digital auto-calibration.
Load cell and pre-amplifier classes
Every class holds ±0.5% of reading. What separates them is how far down the cell’s capacity that figure continues to apply.
Class A
±0.5% of reading
down to 1/500 of capacity
Class B
±0.5% of reading
down to 1/250 of capacity
Class C
±0.5% of reading
down to 1/100 of capacity
Class D
±0.5% of reading
down to 1/1000 of capacity
Resolution
What each capacity actually reads to
Both units are given because a laboratory works in one or the other, and converting in your head at the specification stage is how the wrong cell gets ordered.
10 kg (100 N)
- Display
- 10.0000 kg (100.000 N)
- Resolution
- 0.1 g (0.001 N)
100 kg (1 kN)
- Display
- 100.000 kg (1000.00 N)
- Resolution
- 1 g (0.01 N)
500 kg (5 kN)
- Display
- 500.000 kg (5000.00 N)
- Resolution
- 1 g (0.01 N)
5000 kg (50 kN)
- Display
- 5000.00 kg (50.0000 kN)
- Resolution
- 10 g (0.1 N)
10 ton (100 kN)
- Display
- 10000.0 kg (100.000 kN)
- Resolution
- 0.1 kg (1 N)
20 ton (200 kN)
- Display
- 20000.0 kg (200.000 kN)
- Resolution
- 0.1 kg (1 N)
40 ton (400 kN)
- Display
- 40000.0 kg (400.000 kN)
- Resolution
- 0.1 kg (1 N)
Force verification
Meets or exceeds:
- ASTM
- ASTM E-4
- ISO
- ISO 7500/1
- EN
- EN 10002-2
- BS
- BS 1610
- DIN
- DIN 51221
- JIS
- JIS B7721
Strain measurement
Strain measurement accuracy of ±0.5% of reading down to 1/100 of full scale conforms to ASTM E-83 class B, or ISO 9513 class 1 extensometer.
- ASTM
- ASTM E-83
- ISO
- ISO 9513
- EN
- EN 10002-4
- BS
- BS 3846
Not sure which capacity your programme needs, or whether one cell will cover it? Tell us the forces you expect and we will specify it.
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