| 摘要 |
<p>A probe for use in determining the thickness of an interface gap between two parts is disclosed. The probe includes a wave spring (13) formed in one end of a thin, flat, elongate piece of resilient steel (11). The wave spring (13) includes three sinusoidal waves having a peak-to-peak separation that is greater than the maximum thickness of the gaps to be measured. Mounted on the wave spring (13), at the bottom of the concave depression (-) formed by each of the sinusoids are strain sensors (43a-d or 61a, b) positioned to sense the radial and circumferential strain applied to the wave spring (13) when the wave spring is positioned in a gap such that the wave spring sinusoids are compressed. Two or four strain sensors may be used to create a half or a full strain gauge bridge at the bottom of each concave depression. In the case of the half strain bridge arrangement, the remaining legs of the bridge are formed by "dummy" resistors located in a controlled environment remote from the wave spring. In a conventional manner, the strain gauge bridges control the magnitude of an electrical signal to provide a strain measurement that is indicative of the compression of the wave spring and, thus, thickness of the gap. Because the wave spring (13) has three sinusoids, information is provided by three strain bridges, allowing two-dimensional taper as well as single dimension thickness information to be produced.</p> |
