Shunt calibration of strain gage measuring points for automatic long-term measurements

A calibration method for strain gages, which has been well proven over a number of years in marine engineer-ing, consists of switching in a known parallel shunt in the bridge circuit using a relay.

A calibration method for strain gages, which has been well proven over a number of years in marine engineer-ing, consists of switching in a known parallel shunt in the bridge circuit using a relay. This produces a defined bridge unbalance.
The technique is particularly effective for strain gages which are manually applied at poorly accessible points, such as for example ships' double bottoms which are often used as tanks. It is also possible to check the functional capability of the measuring point using this method.