Local stiffening effect of 'double deck' bending strain gauges: part 1

In stress measurement where it is difficult or impossible to access the inside surface of the structure, "double deck" (DD) or "sandwich" bending strain gauges can be used to measure both the membrane and bending strains. A DD gauge consists of a pair of constituent foil gauges which are bonded on the upper and lower surfaces of a plastic base or filling. It is mounted on the external surface of the test specimen to measure the external surface strain, and by extrapolation, the internal surface strain of the specimen. The sensitivity of the DD bending gauge increases when the separation between the pair of constituent foil gauges increases. However, this also increases the stiffness of the whole gauge. If the stiffness of the DD gauge is significant compared with that of the plate to which it is attached, the presence of the gauge may cause significant changes in local stiffness and result in errors of strain interpretation. This study is presented in two papers. Part I presents an approximate, analytical solution for the local stiffening effect of a DD gauge and quantifies the errors in the strain measurement. Part 2, to appear subsequently in Strain, will present the verification of the solution using a three dimensional finite element calculation, a parametric study and a correction method that can be applied easily. The extrapolation errors due to the stiffening effect and random reading noises are also explored.