The effect of co-firing on the characteristics of thick-film strain gauges on stainless steel substrates

Abstract The characteristics of thick-film strain gauges fabricated using conventional techniques are compared with those produced with co-fired layers. Three layers have been co-fired — two dielectric and one conductor. Various strain gauge parameters are analysed, including linearity, hysteresis, repeatability, creep and temperature effects. It has been observed that the strain sensor with co-fired layers exhibits very similar characteristics to the one printed with no co-firing. However, the co-fired gauge exhibits slightly lower sensitivity to strain. The minor degradation in performance of the co-fired sensor is attributed to weak bonding between the co-fired layers.