Strain Effect of Manganin Transverse Piezoresistive Gauge and Measurement of Dynamic Transverse Stresses

Manganin piezoresistive gauges have been extensively used in dynamic stress measurement for decades. It is noted, however, that when used to measure transverse stresses, considerable strain effect is caused as the consequence of change of electrical resistance resulted from bending of wires in the longitudinal-strain-experiencing sensing element of the gauge, a phenomenon discussed in this paper theoretically as well as experimentally. This effect yields unwanted signals to blend with output piezoresistive signals and is not negligible, hence decreases measurement accuracy sizably if not properly handled. To overcome this drawback, a new type of manganin transverse piezoresistive gauge has been developed by authors of this paper, which can reduce the resistance increment to acceptable low level so as to effectively bring the adverse effect under control.