Analysis of thick film strain resistors on stainless steel and ceramic substrates

Abstract Strain sensors printed on ceramic substrates and bonded to steel, are compared with those printed directly on steel. Various strain gauge characteristics are analysed, including linearity, hysteresis, creep and temperature effects. It has been observed that strain sensors printed directly on steel perform much belter than those printed on ceramics (and bonded to steel). The degraded performance of the ceramic sensor is attributed to the adhesive and the inferior mechanical properties of the ceramic itself.