FLANGED JOINT WITH INTERPOSED GASKET CARRYING STRAIN SENSORS ADJACENT BOLTS

摘要

PCT No. PCT/GB93/02175 Sec. 371 Date Apr. 20, 1995 Sec. 102(e) Date Apr. 20, 1995 PCT Filed Oct. 21, 1993 PCT Pub. No. WO94/11718 PCT Pub. Date May 26, 1994.A joint which comprises a first joint component having an axial aperture and a second joint component having an axial aperture arranged coaxially with the aperture in the first joint component. The joint components have a gasket ring interposed therebetween to act as a fluid seal. The components are joined by bolts and within the gasket ring are a number of stress or strain responsive elements equispaced around the entire periphery of the gasket ring, each comprising a pair of electrodes sandwiching a stress or strain responsive material. The responsive elements have opposed faces which are spaced from the opposed faces of the gasket ring and the electrodes and are connected to an output via leads to give an indication of the stress or strain within each individual element corresponding to the torque force applied to a proximate bolt.