A study of some production parameter effects on the resistance-temperature characteristics of thick strain gauges

Experiments aimed at investigating the possible factors affecting the temperature performance of thick-film resistors are presented. Particular emphasis is given to the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of thick film strain gauges printed on both alumina and stainless steel substrates. The results confirmed that the resistance versus temperature curve is nearly parabolic, but showed that Tmin, the temperature at which the TCR changes to zero, is largely affected by the choice of resistor and substrate materials and also the thickness of the thick-film resistors. A possible explanation is proposed for the observed relationship between resistor thickness and TCR. Other factors, such as the thickness of the substrates, the choice of conductor materials, and whether single- or double-sided printing of the substrate was employed in fabrication were found to make little difference to the temperature performance of the thick-film resistors