High Elasticity Strain Gauge Made from Conductive Silicone Rubber

The paper summarises the results of our investigations on the conductive silicone rubber as strain sensor. The dynamic behaviour of silicone rubber shows strong nonlinearity and because of the relaxation and creep the sensor can not be used for static measure. The greatest advantage of this material lies in its high elasticity. The commercial strain metallic or semiconductor gauges work in the range of 10-7<ε<10-3 . With the new silicone rubber sensor one can achieve elongations typically in the range of 10-2<ε<102 so this sensor offers new possibilities for the measure and control of high elasticity structures. The fatigue tests show that dynamic behaviour of the sensor silicone is stable.