Latest strain gages integrate into fiber composite materials

HBM has developed a patented technology that directly embeds special strain gages into components made from fiber composite material ensuring an optimum design.

Fiber composite materials are widely used throughout industry because of their excellent material properties and precise load data is required for optimally designing these components. Conventional strain gages are usually unsuitable for this work because the high strain capability of fiber composite materials means they often reach their limits.

HBM's latest integrated strain gages are installed during manufacture by fixing them to the material using matrix resin. This allows the strain gages to be fitted in areas that are inaccessible once the components are fitted ensuring very accurate component stress measurement.

Handling the strain gages is easy and forms part of the production process. The contact pins are installed vertically on the strain gage and provide contact through the fiber composite material's layers. Measurement lines do not need to be run inside the material.

For components subject to bending, the strain gage can be embedded at different levels; the deeper the strain gage is in the material, the smaller the measured strain.

Examples of enhanced applications for HBM's latest strain gages 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.