HBM has developed a patented technology that directly embeds special strain gauges into components made from fibre composite material ensuring an optimum design. Fibre composite materials are widely used throughout industry because of their excellent material properties, but precise load data is required to ensure optimum component design. Conventional strain gauges are usually unsuitable for this work because the high strain capability of fibre composite materials means they often reach their limits.
HBM’s latest integrated strain gauges are installed during manufacture by fixing them to the material using matrix resin. This allows the strain gauges to be fitted in areas that are inaccessible once the components are fitted ensuring very accurate component stress measurement.
Handling the strain gauges is easy and forms part of the production process. The contact pins are installed vertically on the strain gauge and provide contact through the fibre composite material’s layers. Measurement lines do not need to be run inside the material.
For components subject to bending, the strain gauge can be embedded at different levels; the deeper it is in the material, the smaller the measured strain. Examples of enhanced applications for HBM’s latest strain gauges include:
- Flow profile measurements without affecting the fluid flow
- Monitoring force flow between joining spots of structural glued joints
- Measurement on complex structures with difficult to access points.
More information is available at http://www.hbm.com/straingages