Recent advances in strain gauges

The basic principles of resistance strain gauges are described and recent developments in the fields of semiconductor strain gauges and high-temperature strain gauges are discussed. Semiconductor strain gauges are much more sensitive than the metal ones commonly used but special circuit arrangements are often necessary if high accuracy is to be retained. Techniques for the measurement of static strains up to about 400°C are well established. The introduction of two new strain gauge alloys offers the prospect of increasing this range to about 1000°C.