Metrological characterization of strain gauges until superfluid helium temperature

In recent years the exceptional development of cryogenic technology in connection with applications in the fields of superconductivity in the spatial sector, of particle acceleration and of research concerning thermonuclear fusion, has clearly shown the necessity of characterizing materials and transducers suitable to operate in the range from room temperature to that of liquid helium (4,2 K) At the Istituto di Metrologia "G. Colonnetti" (IMGC), Torino, of the National Research Council of Italy (C.N.R), a laboratory was established with the purpose of carrying out such characterization work. The present paper describes the IMGC (now INRIM) facilities for strain gauge characterization from room temperature down to 1,53 K. Thermal outputs and Gauge Factors are given from 293 K to 1,55 K for two different kinds of strain gauges to be used at cryogenic temperatures.