Waterproofing Strain Gages for Low Ambient Temperatures.

摘要

Due to recent problems experienced with strain-gage based transducers immersed in water at below-freezing ambient temperatures, a test program was conducted to determine if commercially available strain-gage waterproofing systems could withstand these conditions. A total of 96 combinations of eight waterproofing systems, three beam materials, and four strain gage adhesives were evaluated. Test environments included strain cycling at temperatures from +32 F to +75 F and freeze-thaw cycling from -35 to +90 F. Only one waterproofing system withstood all tests with no failures. Other results ranged from one installation failure on three systems to the failure of all 12 installations of one system. (Author)