MALVERN, Pa. — Sept. 24, 2015 — To meet the growing demand for precise and reliable strain gages and accessories operating in harsh environments, Micro-Measurements®, a Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (VPG) brand, today announced that it has launched a new strain gage bundle designed for high-temperature applications above +700°F (+400°C).
These gages are optimized for a wide variety of hostile environment applications, including geothermal measuring equipment, turbine engine control, and environmental test chambers in military, industrial, automotive, and down-hole drilling systems. Many analog circuits in these applications require components such as strain gages capable of surviving temperatures up to +2100°F (+1150°C).
The bundle introduced today is offered with a choice of two strain gage series: ZC-Series free-filament strain gages with etched Kanthal foil alloy grids and weldable LZ-Series wire strain gages with Nichrome V and Pt8W alloys. Installation options for the ZC series include GC, H, PBX, and Sauereisen DKS-8 ceramic cements, and lead wire options include spot-welded Nichrome V ribbon in widths of 1.6 mm and 3.2 mm and with thicknesses of 0.05 mm and 0.08 mm, respectively. The LZ series has two pre-attached leadwire options: M (Inconel tubing) and F (fiberglass insulation).
For weldable strain gages, the bundle includes the Model 700 Portable Strain Gage Welding and Soldering Unit with continuously adjustable weld energy from 3 J to 50 J. An available addition, the 2200 Signal Conditioning System provides constant current excitation, typically required for high-temperature measurements, and precise conditioning of strain gage inputs in the most severe high-temperature operating environments. The bundle comes with technical guidelines and is backed by support from the technical experts at Micro-Measurements.
“Strain gages are the passive building blocks for all strain measurement systems; and devices utilizing foil technology provide unmatched control over grid element design for specific applications,” said Tom Rummage, Micro-Measurements Applications Engineering department manager. “To achieve the best results, the right accessories are essential — from installation materials to conditioning systems. When an application requires strain measurements at temperatures above +700°F (+400°C), Micro-Measurements strain gages and accessories have all the right attributes.
“Our high-temperature bundle is among the very few strain measurement bundles on the market capable of withstanding high temperatures, which allows us to deliver strain measurements for extremely challenging applications,” added Rummage.
