For measuring the angles of depression, elevation as well as slope or tilt of an object on the basis of gravity, the instrument called inclinometer is used. This instrument is also known as tilt meter or clinometer. The units used by inclinometer instrument are percent, degrees and topo and they do the measurement of positive as well as negative slopes or inclinations. The inclinometers have the ability to create an artificial horizon and with respect to it, the angular measurement is done by them. While Strain gauges are used for the measurement of strain of an object.
Inclinometers have this special purpose pipe that is used while installing them. This pipe is known as inclinometer casing. The function of this inclinometer casing is as follows:
The orientation of the probe with the help of internal grooves is done by it.
The surrounding ground movement is also managed by it
Access for the inclinometer probe is maintained, so that subsurface measurements can be obtained
easily.
Hence whenever, you are purchasing an inclinometer casing, do check for groove shape, coupling style and casing diameter.
Casing Diameter - Always choose a casing with larger diameter. This ensures longer life span of the casing due to the ability of it to accommodate deformation to a greater extent. So, go for 85mm/3.34 inch casing which is considered to be the highest amongst all. This is mostly used for long term monitoring, multiple shear zones monitoring as well as for landslides. A little smaller diameter is 70/2.75 inch casing which is used in construction projects. Lastly the smallest of all is 48mm/1.9 inch casing which is used where there are very small deformations that are spread over broad zones. This kind of casing cannot be installed in the soil.
Groove Shape - If the quality of the groove shape is best, then inclinometer measurements are bound to be accurate enough. A high quality groove will always have a regular flat surface for the wheels, though if it is slightly wider than the wheels, it will provide easy movement of the wheel from side to side when the probe passes through the curves. The reading is degraded if the grooves are very tight.
Coupling Style - The various types of casing includes QC casing, which is the most popular of all. The other is standard casing, EPIC casing, CPI casing and shear wire casing.
Inclinometers find their application in various fields like automobile security systems, specialty switches, flight controls, bridge instrumentation, cameras, aircraft flight controls as well as for boom angle indication and in applications that require tilt measurement. Strain gauges are used in experimental stress analysis, mechanical engineering research, etc.
