Standard steel tubes cannot be welded directly. Does OFSCN® offer any ready-made fixing parts that I can use right away?
In fiber optic sensing engineering applications, micro-metal tube encapsulation (such as stainless steel tubes or elastic alloy tubes with an outer diameter of 0.6\ \text{mm} \sim 2.0\ \text{mm} and a wall thickness typically only 0.1\ \text{mm} \sim 0.3\ \text{mm}) absolutely cannot be directly arc welded or spot welded on the tube body. Direct welding will instantly puncture the extremely thin metal tube wall, and the high-temperature thermal shock will cause the fragile fiber coating inside the tube to char, the micro-structure of the fiber Bragg grating to fail, or even the fiber to break completely.
To solve the engineering fixation problem of micro-steel tubes on the surface of metal components, OFSCN® provides ready-made supporting mechanical parts—mounting fixtures/clamps.
I. Working Principle and Function of OFSCN® Mounting Fixtures
- Thermal and Mechanical Isolation: The fixture adopts a metal component with certain mechanical strength and thickness. The micro-steel tube sensor is fixed inside the fixture through pre-set guide slots, pressure blocks, or mechanical limiting structures. During construction, welding heat and fastening force only act on the fixture body, effectively isolating the damage to the sensor body from the welding area.
- Strain and Displacement Transmission: In tubular strain or displacement measurements, the fixtures at both ends of the sensor serve as gauge anchors. When the measured substrate deforms in tension or compression, the deformation is accurately transmitted through the rigid fixation at both ends of the fixture to the micro-alloy tube and the internal fiber, ensuring the fidelity and linearity of strain transmission.
- Standard Fastening Interface: The fixture usually has spot welding flanges or standard bolt holes, supporting on-site capacitive energy storage spot welding, laser welding, argon arc welding, or bolt assembly.
II. Ready-made Product: OFSCN® Installation Fixture
For various tubular sensors (such as elastic alloy tube sensor components with specifications like outer diameter \le 1.1\ \text{mm} or 2.0\ \text{mm}), OFSCN® offers ready-made mounting fixture products:
- Product Name and Official Link: OFSCN® Installation Fixture
The official standard reference structure of this component is as follows:
Commonly matched tubular sensors include OFSCN® Alloy Tube Packaged Fiber Bragg Grating strain sensor, etc. During construction, install the sensor at both ends into the fixture, and then weld or bolt the fixture to the steel beam, pipeline, or component to be measured.
III. Supplementary Solution: Integrated Weldable Metal Strain Gauge
If the measurement substrate is flat, the measurement range is small, and direct welding is desired without the need for additional fixtures, flake sensors with an integrated metal base can also be used:
- Product Name and Official Link: OFSCN® Fiber Bragg Grating Strain Gauge
This sensor has the fiber Bragg grating encapsulated directly on an I-shaped stainless steel or aluminum alloy flake (available in lengths of 3.6\ \text{cm}, 7.2\ \text{cm}, and 10.8\ \text{cm}) ex-factory. The four corners of the metal flake are pre-reserved with spot welding areas, allowing for direct spot welding construction on the metal surface to be measured.