Fabrication of cost effective and high sensitivity resistive strain gauge using DIW technique

Abstract

Tremendous increase in the number of sold micro sensing units have been reported in recent years. This research presented a resistance strain gauge of conductive carbon paste printed on flexible substrate through Micro-dispensing direct write (MDDW) technique. A high resistive strain gauge is reported that can measure large mechanical deformation with higher sensitivity. The printed structure is the same as common for strain gauge. The electrical characterization is carried out followed by gauge factor (G.F) calculation. Besides formal testing for strain, the strain gauge sensitivity were tested towards humid and warm environment. Microscopic characterization is carried out for surface morphology and particle sizing. A strain gauge for tensile test application is also presented in this work. The research concluded with the fabrication of a low cost high gauge factor strain gauge with sensitivity towards humid and warm environment.