Have you ever wanted to capture strain data in a location that is less than ideal? Maybe the location is subject to extreme temperatures, washdown procedures, or there are just too many contaminants in the area to install a traditional strain gage. If so, weldable strain gages may be the answer for you.
Recently, 6D upgraded their spot welder to a Vishay 700B. Powered by interchangeable Milwaukee M12 batteries, the machine can lay down spot welds at a rate of 1 per second. With the machine being so light weight, and having interchangeable batteries, a technician
can quickly and efficiently install a lot of gages.
6D’s investment in the 700B spot welder was driven by a unique project in which installation conditions and time constraints both ruled out the use of traditional foil-based gages. Underground, in an active mine where dust was always in the air, washdowns were common, and installation time was limited to downtime of the test specimen, weldable strain gages were the answer.
A waterproof model from Hitec was chosen for its ruggedness, ease of installation, and prewired feature, meaning we didn’t even need a soldering iron on site. Surface preparation for weldable gages is also a lot quicker when using weldable gages, as it does not require as much cleaning and use of chemicals.
A light abrasion with an angle grinder followed up with some 220-grit sandpaper and a wipe down with isopropyl alcohol is about all it requires. The waterproof gages from Hitec come sealed from the factory, but we went ahead and added some extra mechanical protection in the form of a foil backed putty, just for good measure.
The pre-tinned leads of the gages were easily routed and terminated into our National Instruments Compact Daq. Not having to make solder connections or tin leads on site is a huge time saver.
Weldable strain gages are also a great solution to high temperature strain measurements. In the past we have installed these gages on exhaust components, including turbo chargers, mufflers, and diesel particulate filters. They are also a great solution to long term measurements that will be outside and subject to weather conditions, like vehicles, agricultural infrastructure, ships, and all kinds of civil structures.
If you have a need for weldable strain gages, or even traditional strain gages, give us a call and we can have our team of highly skilled technicians and engineers get you taken care of!