High-temperature strain instrumentation feasibility study

The problem of instrumenting the strain in all three coordinate directions on a body whose surface temperature is 1100 to 1650 C was addressed. No pre-existing satisfactory solution was found in the literature. A new needle and pivot point (NAPP) mechanism for strain instrumentation is therefore proposed. Calculations of the thermal and mechanical performance of the device indicate that it should satisfy the desired instrumentation characteristics. The device could be used to measure triaxial strains simultaneously at 40 or more different locations on a test structure.