Invited Article: Local shear stress transduction

Chanyut Kolitawong, A. Jeffrey Giacomin, and Leann M. Johnson

Citation: Review of Scientific Instruments 81, 021301 (2010); doi: 10.1063/1.3314284
View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3314284
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REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 81, 021301 2010

Invited Article: Local shear stress transduction

Chanyut Kolitawong,1 A. Jeffrey Giacomin,2,a and Leann M. Johnson2
1

Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Mongkuts University of Technology North Bangkok,

1518 Piboolsongkram Rd., Bangkok 10800, Thailand
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Material Science Program and Rheology Research Center,
University of Wisconsin, 1513 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1572, USA

Received 4 July 2006; accepted 19 January 2010; published online 24 February 2010
This is a comprehensive review of local direct measurement shear stress transducers. Transducers
are first classified by their movement, measuring mode, and mechanism. These categories are then
subclassified into active or passive movement, static or dynamic measuring mode, and rotational or
translational mechanisms. Over 80 transducers are reviewed and tabulated. Finally, sources of
transducer error are analyzed. Primary sources of error are transducer and housing misalignment,
material ingress around the active face, active face roughness, and the effects of temperature
gradients when making measurements on surfaces where temperature gradients develop. 2010
American Institute of Physics. doi:10.1063/1.3314284

P p0 .

I. INTRODUCTION

Local shear stress transducers are widely used to measure wall effects for gases, liquids, solids, and granular solids. Engineers and scientists have measured shear stress on
the surface of rockets, the inner walls of grain silos, in plastics extrusion dies, and even on the soles of running shoes.
Each combination of material type and flow field can require
a unique shear stress transducer design and a distinct mathematical model. Hence specific transducers are often required for each application and in reviewing the technical
literature, we find a wealth of disparate information. The
purpose of this paper is to help practitioners make sense of
that information. We offer this paper as 1 a logical starting
point to learn about shear stress transduction and 2 a reference for those conducting research with shear stress transducers. We believe that this paper is the first comprehensive
review on shear stress transduction
Wall shear stress has been deduced indirectly from measurements of heat flux, mass flux, or the velocity gradient
near the wall. For example, when a fluids constitutive behavior is known, one can deduce shear stress indirectly from
the velocity gradient near the wall. When the constitutive
behavior is simple, such deduction is straightforward. In
Newtonian liquids, for example, the shear stress is proportional to the velocity gradient.
For gases, one approach to measurement of such gradients is hot-wire anemometry. The pitot tube is another classic
indirect shear stress measurement. Preston,1 for example,
cleverly compared the pressures measured by pitot tubes see
Fig. 1 mounted directly across from one another to measure
wall shear stress in gas flows the dimensionless Reynolds
number shown below. One tube was flushed with the wall
po and the other lay along the channel wall pointing upstream P.2 He discovered that
a

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

0034-6748/2010/812/021301/20/$30.00

This pressure difference scales nearly linearly with wall

shear stress as

w P p07/8,

Re 2 104 .

Using this method, Preston deduced the wall shear stress

from the pressure difference.
The difficulty with such indirect measurement techniques is that they can disrupt the flow field. This is particularly important when studying the flow near walls. Heat or
mass transfer flush mounted probes24 or laser-Doppler velocimetry can circumvent such flow disruptions, but accuracy is lost near the walls.
This paper reviews local direct shear stress measurements in which the shear forces on the transducers active
face are measured directly. In direct shear stress measurements, an active face is flush mounted parallel to the flow
field. This active face feels the friction force caused by the
movement of material, the wall shear stresses, and moves in
the direction of the flow. In most cases, the active face movement is directly proportional to the wall shear stress; therefore, a direct shear stress measurement can be obtained without prior knowledge of the flow characteristics. This
summarizes both the distinction we make between indirect
and direct shear stress measurements and the reason why
fluid mechanicians often turn to direct shear stress measurement.
Many indirect measurement methods have been used in
boundary layer experiments on gas flow; however, a direct
method using a floating transducer active face is preferred.5
A floating transducer head, for instance, has been used to
validate suppositions about velocity profiles near walls, such
as the law of the wall, in turbulent gas boundary layers.68
Winter,9 Hanratty and Campbell,2 Dickinson,10 and
Haritonidis11 reviewed such direct measurements and cataloged the corresponding sources of error, including those
caused by floating head motion.

81, 021301-1

2010 American Institute of Physics

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A. Static or dynamic

FIG. 1. Preston tube showing the Pitot tube mounted against the flow direction Ref. 1.

Some shear stress transducers respond slowly to changes

in shear stress. Such transducers are useful in static measurements and time-steady flows. They are also useful for measuring the time averaged value of the shear stress in a fully
developed turbulent boundary layer. Measurement of the corresponding turbulent fluctuations in the shear stress requires
a dynamic measurement in which the transducer closely
tracks the time varying part of the shear stress.
Another case where the transducer must close track the
shear stress is in the evaluation of viscoelastic properties;
this requires measurement of the dynamic response of the
shear stress in response to the shear strain. There are a limited number of dynamic shear stress transducers.
B. Deflecting or null

This paper focuses on transducers used for direct shear

stress measurements; classifying them and illustrating their
weaknesses and errors. Since the optimal design of a shear
stress transducer depends very much on the type of materials
involved, Tables IIV summarize our literature review on
shear stress transducers for fluids, gases, and granular and
nongranular solids, respectively. The mechanism employed
by each transducer is given and defined in Table V.

II. TRANSDUCER CLASSIFICATION

In steady flow, the transducers active face is almost motionless since the wall shear stress is constant static transduction; however, for unsteady flow, the active face displacement varies with the shear stress dynamic
transduction. Whether static or dynamic, shear stress can be
deduced from the measured active face movement in a deflecting or passive system, or by measuring the forces holding the active face nearly stationary in a nulling or active
system. Either deflecting or nulling systems can be utilized
in any transducer mechanism to sense the shear stress response. For a given mechanical design, the null system approach yields greater shear stress transducer sensitivity than
the deflecting system, although it yields poorer dynamic response. The active face movement in all transducers employing the rotation mechanism active face tilts slightly when
displaced is composed of contributions from both shear
stress and normal stress. Transducers employing translation
mechanisms active face cannot tilt decouple these forces.
Transducers employing rotation mechanisms must balance
both moments and forces on the active face. Transducers
employing only translation need only balance forces on the
active face.
There are six simple mechanical designs that encompass
essentially all direct shear stress transducers: single pivot,
parallel linkage, diaphragm, pendulum arm, sliding, and
tether. Let us now detail the classification of transducers in
terms of static/dynamic, deflecting/null, and operational
mechanisms.

Transducers can be either deflecting passive or null

active devices.129 In deflecting transducers, the displacement is related to the shear stress being measured. In contrast, a null device keeps the active face nearly motionless by
applying a restoring force. The actuator used to apply this
force nulls the active face motion, and the power supplied to
the actuator is related to the shear stress being measured.
Active devices are very attractive because active transducer
sensitivity can be changed, usually by orders of magnitude,
by adjusting the actuator gain. The downside, of course, is
that for dynamic measurements the actuators must be able to
keep up with the variation and if they fail to do so, the
measurement will be compromised. The use of solid-state
actuators employing piezoelectric quartz crystals is one approach to providing fast response.
C. Mechanisms
1. Rotation

Single pivot. In a single pivot transducer, the active face

moves about a fixed point see Fig. 2. Figure 3a illustrates
the single pivot mechanism with its corresponding force balance. In this mechanism, when a normal force acts eccentrically on the active face, it causes a moment about the active
face center. This moment contributes to the beam deflection
and can cause transducer error. Such eccentric forces arise
when the stresses, either shear or normal, are heterogeneous
across the active face. Despite this, single pivot transducers
are widely used because of their construction simplicity.
The flexural, single pivot transducer can be easily constructed by cementing strain gauges to a cantilever see Fig.
3b. When the active face is subject to shear stress, the
cantilever bends in the shear direction, and the strain gauges
convert the transducer bending to electrical signals. In this
way, both uniaxial and biaxial shear stress measurements are
possible. In another implementation, the single pivot transducer can be constructed by pivoting a rigid cantilever to the
transducer case that senses the shear stress at the active face
by measuring the cantilever movements see Fig. 3c.
As examples, William et al.123 and Sanders group113117
used the single pivot transducers to study shear and normal
stresses when designing a prosthetic leg. To adequately support humans, prosthetic legs must fit properly. Otherwise,

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Rev. Sci. Instrum. 81, 021301 2010

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TABLE I. Application of local shear stress transducers on fluids.

Mechanism

Typea

Applicationb

Measurement

Maximum shear
stress Pa

Active face
mm2

Capacitance

Uniaxial

1500

70

Fotonic
Strain gauge /fotonic
Strain gauge
Proximeter /LVDT

Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial

Proximeter

Uniaxial

Sensor type

g / D 103

Single pivot
Garringer and Saltzman, Paros,
Mabey et al., Mabey and Gaudet,
Fisher and Saltzman, and Allend
Soonge
Dealy and Soongf
Dealyg
Dealyh

N
D
D
D
D/N

Giacomini

Kempfj
MacArthurk
Owen et al.l

N
D
N

Pickett and Cochranem

Dealy et al.n

D
D

Koran and Dealyo

Kistlerp

D
N

Tcheng and Suppleeq

White and Frankliner

Boulanger et al.s
Dealyh

N
N
D/N

High temperature,
high pressure
High temperature
/dyn.
Dyn.
Dyn.
Dyn.
High temperature,
high pressure, dyn.

100 000

100130
13
10

518
110
50
0.11.0 mm gap

100

40

310 000

13 000

0.2

Parallel linkage

Dyn.
Dyn.
High temperature,
high pressure, dyn.
High temperature

Piezoelectric
LVDT

Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial

Diaphragm
Strain gauges
Proximeter

Biaxial
Triaxial

Proximeter
Capacitance
Pendulum arm
LVDT

High pressure
Dyn.

Sliding
LVDT
LVDT
Proximeter /LVDT

Uniaxial

Biaxial

Uniaxial
Biaxial
Uniaxial

1302000
0.11.0 mm gap

Tether
Schmidt and co-workerst
Pan et al.u
Goldberg et al.v

D
D/N
D

High temperature,
high pressure
High temperature,
high pressure, dyn.

Piezoelective
Capacitance

Uniaxial
Uniaxial

100 000
5

0.002
6300

Piezoelective

Uniaxial

1000

0.020.3

40
5

N is null and D is deflecting.

Dyn. is the dynamic use.
c
g / D is the gap divided by active face diameter use hydraulic diameter
when it is not round Ref. 12.
d
References 1318, respectively.
e
Reference 19.
f
Reference 20.
g
Reference 21.
h
Reference 22.
i
Reference 23.
j
References 24 and 25.
k
References 26 and 27.

blisters, cysts, or ulcers can arise where the limbs and the
prosthetic legs touch. Shear stresses, where the residual limb
and the prosthetic socket interface, govern the pain and discomfort. To measure these, strain gauges were cemented
onto a cantilever in a single pivot design to measure these
biaxial shear stresses. To measure normal stress, a diaphragm
strain gauge was affixed to the inside face cap under the
active face see Fig. 4.
Another example is measuring underground soil shear

and normal stresses to evaluate skyscraper foundations. For

this, the transducer was incorporated in a supporting column.
Agarwal and Venkatesan110 measured wall stresses on the
columns submerged section by attaching strain gauges to the
cantilever in a single pivot transducer see Fig. 5. Once
driven into the earth, shear and normal stress were measured
simultaneously, although only static measurements were
reported.
In another case, Gent et al.112 built a single pivot trans-

Reference 28.
Reference 29.
n
References 3032.
o
References 33 and 34.
p
Reference 35.
q
Reference 36.
r
Reference 37.
s
Reference 38.
t
References 3941.
u
References 42 and 43.
v
Reference 44.

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Rev. Sci. Instrum. 81, 021301 2010

Kolitawong, Giacomin, and Johnson

TABLE II. Application of local shear stress transducers on gases.

Mechanism

Moore and McVeyd

Fowkee
Bruno et al.f
Schetz and Nerneyg
Tennant et al.h
Acharya et al.i
Gaudetj
Macvean and Alyk
Morsyl
Garringer and Saltzman,
Paros, and Mabey et al.m
DeTurris and Schetz,
and Chadwick et al.n

Typea

N
N
N
D
N
N
D
D
D

Applicationb

High temperature
High temperature
High temperature

Sensor type
Single pivot
Capacitance/
LVDT
LVDT
LVDT
Strain gauge
Proximeter
Electro-optical

Measurement

Maximum shear
stress Pa

g / D 103

Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Triaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial

200 000 000

160

Uniaxial

1500

70

Biaxial

2 000 000

30

17

LVDT
LVDT
LVDT
Piezoelectric

Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial

130
2

10
20
3

Piezoelectric
LVDT
LVDT
LVDT
LVDT
LVDT
LVDT

Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial

500
240
2000
280
13 000
130
500

Strain gauge
Potentiometer
LVDT

Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial

Dyn.
High temperature

Diaphragm
Strain gauges
Capacitance

Biaxial

Dyn.

Pendulum arm
Optical manual
Inductive
transducer
LVDT
Piezoelectric
strain gauge

Dyn.

High temperature,
high pressure

High temperature, dyn.

Optical
LVDT
Capacitance
Piezoelective/
strain gauges

3g
170
100

Active face
mm2

13 000
320
640
310
18 000

10
0.1 mm gap
4
24.0
0.08 mm gap

Parallel linkage
Weiler and Hartwig,o Weiler,p
McDill,q Lyons,r Stalmach,s
ODonnell,t ODonnell
and Westkaemper,u
and Naleid and Thompsonv
Colesw
Smith and Walkerx
Roche et al.y
Allenz
MacArthuraa
Young, Young and Westkaemperab
Dershin et al.ac
Pierce and Krommenhoekad
Brown and Joubertae
Hastings and Sawyeraf
Furuya and Nakamuraag
Winter and Gaudet,
and Gaudet and Winterah
Montoya et al.ai
Tcheng and Suppleeaj

D
N
N
D
N
D
D
D
D
N
D
D

Pickett and Cochraneak

Kistleral

D
N

Schultz-Grunowam

Kovalenko and Nesterovichan

Hirt et al.ao

N
N

Marshakov et al.ap

Moulicaq
Ozarapoglu et al.,
and Vinh and Ozarapogluar
Dickinson and Vinhas
Squire and Savillat
Frei and Thomamm,
and Hirt et al.au
Dhawanav

Dyn.

High temperature

D
D
N

140

3
7
100

640
280
50
2800

170

100 000

10100
10
2
0.2 mm gap
4
4
16
4
0.6

Uniaxial

150 000

0.03

Uniaxial
Uniaxial

280

2000
2800

4
2

Uniaxial

1000

120

Sliding
LVDT

Uniaxial

32

N
N
N

LVDT
LVDT
LVDT

Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial

1
35 000
760

D
D

Piezoelectric
Reactant gauge

Uniaxial
Uniaxial

2800
200
11

100

13 000
3200
80

3
2
13

6300
40
730

5
42
9

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TABLE II. Continued.

Maximum shear
stress Pa

Active face
mm2

Uniaxial
Uniaxial

13
1

Capacitance

Uniaxial

0.3
0.01
0.3
0.02

Piezoelective

Uniaxial

1000
1000

0.02
0.3

Typea

Applicationb

Sensor type

Measurement

Harrisaw

High temperature

Force sensor

Biaxial

Schmidt et al.
Padmanabhan et al.ax

D
D

Tether
Capacitance
Photodiodes

Boyday

Mechanism

Goldberg et al.az

High temperature,
high pressure, dyn.

g / D 103

6
120
500
7

N is null and D is deflecting.

Dyn. is the dynamic use.
c
g / D is the gap divided by active face diameter use hydraulic diameter
when it is not round Ref. 12.
d
Reference 45.
e
Reference 46.
f
Reference 47.
g
Reference 48.
h
Reference 49.
i
Reference 50.
j
Reference 51.
k
Reference 52.
l
Reference 53.
m
References 1315, respectively.
n
References 54 and 55, respectively.
o
Reference 56.
p
References 57 and 58.
q
References 59 and 60.
r
References 61 and 62.
s
Reference 8.
t
Reference 63.
u
Reference 64.
v
Reference 7.
w
Reference 65.
x
Reference 66.
y
References 67 and 68.
z
Reference 69.

aa

ab

ducer with strain gauges cemented to the cantilever for measuring shear stresses on square and circular rubber slabs in
compression. This deformation is sometimes called barreling. Gent confirmed the transducers accuracy by comparing
with analytical solutions for this barreling following the
theory of linear elasticity.
Dealy21 made a square, simple beam bonded with strain
gauges to study steady state shear stress and stress relaxation
following cessation of steady shear of polyisobutylene at
room temperature. The steady state measurements agreed
with results from other instruments, but the transient data did
not. Soong19 and Dealy and Soong20 improved the transducers dynamic response by replacing the strain gauges with a
Fotonic proximeter that allowed them to substantially
stiffen the transducer. This reduced the damping caused by
the squeezing flow in the gap around the active face. The
Fotonic proximeter exploits fiber optics to measure the
light reflected off the deflecting cantilever see Fig. 6. Fotonic is a registered trademark of MTI Instruments Inc.130
The transient data from this modified transducer agreed with
those of other instruments. Later, Giacomin23,131 switched to
a cylindrical cantilever with a round active face and replaced

Fotonic with capacitance proximetry for higher temperature applications.

Wall shear stress in supersonic combustion flows with
hydrogen fuel has been measured over the Mach number
range 1 Ma 3.3 by a bending single pivot transducer.
This transducer design is used for complex flows in a compressible three-dimensional turbulent boundary layer, with
combustion and high heat flux.54,55 Simulating these flows is
difficult; therefore, measuring skin friction is essential to
validate fluid dynamics computations. Supersonic combustion flow is found to increase skin friction.
For turbulent boundary layer conditions, Schetz and
Nerney48 developed a single pivot transducer with strain
gauges for studying drag. This shear stress transducer had a
curved porous active face, conforming to a convex cylindrical surface. The active face porosity allowed them to pump
air through it, simulating an evaporative boundary. They
found that this positive mass flux decreased wall shear stress
in turbulent gas flows. This transducer is illustrated in Fig. 7;
suction can also be applied to the transducer, simulating a
condensing boundary rather than an evaporative boundary.
For investigating airflow over a cylindrical surface, an-

Reference 26.
References 70 and 71, respectively.
ac
Reference 72.
ad
Reference 6.
ae
Reference 73.
af
Reference 74.
ag
Reference 75.
ah
References 76 and 77, respectively.
ai
Reference 78.
aj
References 79 and 80.
ak
Reference 29.
al
Reference 35.
am
References 81 and 82.
an
References 83 and 84.
ao
References 85 and 86.
ap
Reference 87.
aq
Reference 88.
ar
References 89 and 90, respectively.
as
Reference 91.
at
References 92 and 93.
au
References 85 and 94, respectively.
av
Reference 95.
aw
Reference 96.
ax
Reference 97.
ay
Reference 98.
az
Reference 44.

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TABLE III. Application of local shear stress transducers on granular solids.

Mechanism

Typea

Applicationb

Sensor type

Measurement

Maximum shear
stress Pa

Active face
mm2

g / D 103

Single pivot
Delaplained

Tuzun and Nedderman,

and Tuzan et al.e
Arthur and Roscoef
Smid and Novasad,
and Smidg
Bica and Claytonh

Dyn.

D
D
D

Uniaxial and
normal stress

Statham transducer

Dyn.

Parallel linkage
Uniaxial and
Strain gauge
normal stress
Uniaxial and
Strain gauge
normal stress
Uniaxial shear and
Strain gauge
normal stress
Magnetoresistive
Uniaxial

800

6000

650

170 000

1900

250 000

Diaphragm
Broersmai

Biaxial and
normal stress

Strain gauge

N is null and D is deflecting.

Dyn. is the dynamic use.
c
g / D is the gap divided by active face diameter use hydraulic diameter
when it is not round Ref. 12.
d
References 99 and 100.

9 300 000

1200

References 101 and 102, respectively.

Reference 103.
g
References 104 and 105 and Ref. 106, respectively.
h
Reference 107.
i
References 108 and 109.

TABLE IV. Application of local shear stress transducers on solids.

Mechanism

Typea

Applicationb

Sensor type

Measurement

Maximum shear
stress Pa

Active face
mm2

690 000
29 000
75 000 000

8100
35
32
32

1200
27

25 000

18

18

1400

200 000
250 000
250 000
450 000
130 000

200
200
200
79
180

g / D 103

Single pivot
Agarwal and Venkatesand
Novake
Gent et al.f
Sanders and Daly, and Sanders et al.g

D
D
D
D

Appoldt et al.h

Uniaxial and
normal stress
Triaxial
Uniaxial
Triaxial

Dyn.

Strain gauge
Capacitance
Strain gauge
Strain gauge

Dyn.

Parallel linkage
Strain gauge

Blair-Fish and Bransbyi

Dyn.

Strain gauge

Uniaxial
Uniaxial and
normal stress

Pickett and Cochranej

Dyn.

Diaphragm
Strain gauges

Biaxial

Dyn.

Sliding
Tappin et al., Pollard et al.,
and Tappin and Robertsonk
Williams et al.l
Lord et al.m
Laing et al.n
Leber et al.o
Reissp

D
D
D
D
D
N

Dyn.
Dyn.
Dyn.
Dyn
Dyn.

Magnetoresistive
Magnetoresistive
Magnetoresistive
Magnetoresistive
Electro-optical
Proximeter

N is null and D is deflecting.

Dyn. is the dynamic use.
c
g / D is the gap divided by active face diameter use hydraulic diameter
when it is not round Ref. 12.
d
Reference 110.
e
Reference 111.
f
Reference 112.
g
References 113 and 114 and Refs. 115117, respectively.
h
Reference 118.

Uniaxial
Triaxial
Biaxial
Uniaxial
Uniaxial
Triaxial

38
38
33

Reference 119.
Reference 29.
k
References 120122, respectively.
l
Reference 123.
m
Reference 124.
n
Reference 125.
o
References 126 and 127.
p
Reference 128.

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TABLE V. Mechanism classification.

Mechanism
Rotation
A. Single pivot

Definition

Picture

Active face rotating

about a point

12

B. Parallel linkage

Active face rotating

about an infinitely
distant point

12

C. Diaphragm

Beam pivoting about

elastic disk

12
FIG. 2. A schematic of a single pivot transducer shows its installation in a
measuring site where the active face moves about a fixed point.

D. Pendulum arm

Active face parallel

to the linkage arm,
which creates
moments about the
linkage arms end

12
Mechanism
Translation
E. Sliding

F. Tether

Definition

Picture

12

Active face moving on

a groove or slot

Four small legs

holding active face

13

12

other single pivot transducer used a long slender active

face.52 Called a blade, this rectangular active face was
roughly 3 50 mm2 and oriented along the cylinder axis.53
For a given apparatus, the noise present in the signal increased with blade length. The shear stress profile over the
cylinders surface can be investigated by changing the
blades angular position see Fig. 8.
In contrast, Delaplaine99,100 used a single pivot transducer whose active face conforms to a concave cylindrical
surface. This device is used to measure the wall shear stress
for a time-steady gravity flow of granular solid in a vertical

FIG. 3. Single pivot mechanisms. a shows the relevant moment on the

cantilever and the active face thickness l; b shows a flexure beam with
strain gauges; c shows rigid beam with a resistant spring.

FIG. 4. A shear stress transducer showing strain gauges for studying normal
and shear stresses between a prosthetic leg and limb Refs. 113 and 114.

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FIG. 8. Color online Blade transducer a in its housing b for measuring

airflow over a cylindrical surface Ref. 53.

FIG. 5. Agarwal and Venkatesans shear and normal stress transducer for
studying stresses under the ground by attaching the transducer with a pile
Ref. 110.

FIG. 6. Shear stress transducer used by Dealy and Soong for polymer melts
Ref. 19.

FIG. 7. Single pivot transducer measuring shear stress on mass transfer

surfaces suction or injection Ref. 48.

cylinder see Fig. 9. Shear stresses at the vessels wall, as

well as radial and axial normal stresses, are measured. To
prevent granules from clogging the transducer, a small gap
was used around the active face. Gap-to-particle diameter
ratios between 7.0 104 and 1.1 102 and active face diameter to particle ratios between 2.2 and 52.6 were used.
For moderate heat transfer and adiabatic wall conditions,
Bruno et al.47 successfully designed a single pivot null type
transducer with a cooled or heated jacket for working temperatures between 100 and 345 K. They measured wall shear
stresses under thermal boundary conditions ranging from
moderate heat flux to nearly adiabatic conditions at Mach
number 4.8 with and without pressure gradient. His transducer design eliminates base line shift caused by thermal
expansion or contraction.
Shear and normal stresses on human fingertips are studied in biomedical engineering132,133 and robotics. An interesting transducer for robotic hand fingertips employs an elastic
dielectric disk as an active face. With known elastic properties of the dielectric disk, the components of stresses on the
active face were proportional to the deforming strains, these
being in turn proportional to electrical signals. Applying linear elastic mechanics to the disk, one infers shear and normal
stresses. However, the transducer was hard to fabricate, nonuniformity in disk thickness and improper electrode alignment impaired the dynamic response, and poor adhesion of
the dielectric to the robotic fingertip caused errors in normal
stress measurement.111 This robotic fingertip provides capabilities beyond human fingertips, which can sense pressure
but apparently not shear stress. The dielectric material sensor
has also been developed for measuring both shear and normal stresses of an elastomer in a parallel plate rheometer.134
Parallel linkage. Another popular transducer design is
the parallel linkage see Fig. 10. The active face rotates
about a point that can be considered infinitely distant. Thus,

FIG. 9. Delaplaines concave shear and normal stress transducer for granular solids Refs. 99 and 100.

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FIG. 10. A schematic of a parallel linkage transducer shows its installation

in a measuring site where the active face rotates about a point that can be
assumed to be infinitely distant.

the active face tilt can be nearly eliminated. Furthermore, we

can independently balance forces on the beam either perpendicular to or along the flow direction. This way, shear and
normal stresses can be measured at the same time. Figure 11
illustrates the parallel linkage mechanism with its corresponding force balances.
In aerodynamics parallel linkage transducers are used to
study drag on objects in turbulent boundary layers in both
real flights and in wind tunnels. As we expect, surface characteristics affect drag on vehicles and aircraft. Rivet heads,
surface textures, and surface finishes affect the air stream
flow over vehicles.
For studying airflow over an aircraft skin, Weiler57,58 and
Lyons61,62 developed an acceleration insensitive shear stress
transducer to be used in missiles, rockets, or even in supersonic flight see Fig. 12. The transducer was tested in flights
with up to 15g linear accelerations and 13g linear decelerations with base line drifts below 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively, while angular accelerations of 80 rad/ s2 gave only
0.5% base line drift. Four of these transducers were used in
NASA rockets twice in Aerobee-Hi rockets and twice in
Viking rockets.
McDill59,60 used parallel linkage transducers to study the
effects of heat transfer on wall shear stress in turbulent
boundary layers at Mach 5 in a wind tunnel. His transducer
gave a satisfactory repeatability for the adiabatic tests, but
failed to measure the wall shear stress for airflow with heat
flux.

FIG. 11. Parallel linkage mechanisms with relevant forces.

Rev. Sci. Instrum. 81, 021301 2010

FIG. 12. An acceleration insensitive shear stress transducer used in Viking

and Aerobee-Hi rockets Refs. 61 and 62.

Conversely, Young70 used a parallel linkage transducer

to study the effect of surface roughness on turbulent boundary layer skin friction with heat transfer in airflow at Mach 5.
The transducers active face and the surrounding plate were
V-grooved for controlled roughness perpendicular to the airflow. For Reynolds number approaching 10 106, they
showed that the wall shear stress increased with roughness
height, but decreased with heat flux.
Many other researchers also used the parallel linkage
transducers to study supersonic airflow on flat plates.26 For
example, at Mach 4.5 and a Reynolds number of 107, the
effect of compressibility decreased the turbulent skin friction
by half.65 Later, Dershin et al.72 used a parallel linkage transducer with an elliptic porous active face to see how nitrogen
mass flux affects wall shear stress. In this way, they confirmed Schetz and Nerneys48 findings see Sec. II C 1 a that
skin friction reduced with mass flux.
Smith and Walkers parallel linkage transducer measurements of airflow over smooth flat plates without pressure
gradient agreed with indirect, Preston tube measurements
see Sec. I. The results were within 4% of one another for
Reynolds numbers of 2 6 106.66 However, when the
shear stress varies rapidly in the streamwise direction, discrepancies of 15% arose. Secondary flows from the varying
pressure gradients impaired the Preston tube measurements,
and ingress around the active face of the shear stress transducer also contributed to the discrepancy.73
Parallel linkage transducers were also used for studying
shear stresses in granular materials, such as mustard seeds
and polyethylene pellets in a bunker.102 Active face diameter
to particle ratio can affect transducer measurements. Accurate shear stress measurements required minimal stress fluctuation due to individual particles. Tuzun and Nedderman101
studied wall shear stress near the onset of flow in granular
media. They found that a parallel linkage transducer with an
active face diameter to particle ratio between 6 and 14 contacts 80100 particles. This will minimize stress fluctuations
due to individual particles see Fig. 13. On the other hand, if
this ratio is too large, the active face will fail to capture the
local peak stress near nascent rupture zones on the bunker
walls.119 Here, rupture means when the granular solid departs
from a solid body motion by deforming.
In addition, Roche et al.67,68,135 designed a waterproof
transducer using piezoelectric bimorphs to support the transducers active face see Fig. 14. A bimorph is a combination
of two piezoelectric plates with a 50 m thick copper foil.

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FIG. 13. Tuzun and Neddermans shear stress transducer for granular solids
Ref. 101.

Bending in piezoelectric bimorphs generates electricity proportional to the stresses on the active face. Stacks of two,
four, and eight bimorphs oscillating at 10 Hz10 kHz were
studied. The larger stacks produced more sensitive and more
expensive transducers. Finite element modeling of the shear
stress transducer agreed with its measuring behavior.
At Cambridge University, Arthur and Roscoe103 applied
strain gauges to the four bars supporting the corners of a
rectangular active face to measure normal stress in soils see
Fig. 15. They then glued strain gauges to thin horizontal
webs connecting a pillar to the active face center to measure
shear stresses. Hence, normal load and its eccentricity on the
active face can also be measured simultaneously with shear
stress. Figure 15 illustrates the normal stress loaded at the
dimensionless eccentricity x / L and shear stress 12. They
found that this eccentricity interfered with shear stress measurements. Bransby136 reviewed this and other Cambridge
developments.
Smid and co-workers104,106 designed another interesting
parallel linkage transducer for granular flows. They constructed a shear stress transducer using a circular active face
on a flexible ring cemented by strain gauges to measure both
the shear and normal stresses simultaneously see Fig. 16.
This transducer can be used for both static and dynamic
measurements.105,137,138
In addition to determining the force balance on the active face transducer, Brown and Joubert73 used dimensional
analysis to correlate the force F on the active face with several parameters in a parallel linkage transducer for liquids
and gases,

FIG. 14. A waterproof transducer using a two piezoelectric bimorph as a

spring resistance Refs. 67 and 68.

FIG. 15. A transducer developed at Cambridge University for granular solids Ref. 103.

uA A
F
=f
, 2 ,
,
0A

u A

where 0 is the wall shear stress, A is the active face area,

is the kinematics viscosity, = 1 / dp / dx is the kinematics pressure gradient, is the active face displacement, and
u = 0 / has units of velocity called friction velocity.
Later, Winter9 proposed to include the liquid ingress
thickness or active face thickness for gas flow around the
active face in the dimensional analysis. In addition to the
transducer force balance, parallel linkage transducers have
been used to study errors in misalignment, gap, and active
face thickness.69 Figure 33 below shows the effects of misalignment for several Mach numbers.64 This figure also
shows that equal amounts of active face protrusion or recession give equal errors. When the active face is recessed in a
single pivot transducer, the measured values of shear stress
are systematically high. In contrast, the parallel linkage
transducer measures systematically low values of shear stress
when the active face is recessed. Allen69 compared misalignments of single pivot curve A with parallel linkage transducers curve B in Fig. 35. He found that the normal stress
affects the wall shear stress measurement in single pivot but
not in parallel linkage.

FIG. 16. Strain gauges attached to a ring to measure both normal and shear
stresses on the wall of bunkers simultaneously Refs. 104106.

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FIG. 17. A schematic of a diaphragm transducer shows its installation in a

measuring site.

Diaphragm. A diaphragm has at least two cantilevers, or

sometimes a metal sheet, attached to the active face and pivots about it. Shear stress and normal stress on the active face
will deform the diaphragm differently see Fig. 17. Thus,
the diaphragm transducer is able to measure both shear and
normal stresses independently.
When the cantilever is nearly rigid, the diaphragm works
as a disk spring. A rigid pointer, attached behind the diaphragm mechanically, amplifies the measured displacement.
This minimizes active face displacement, thus minimizing
damping due to squeezing the liquid ingress around the active face. The resulting dynamic response suffices to measure
rapid shear stress transients.32,139 For example, a diaphragm
transducer in a commercial sliding plate rheometer see Fig.
18140,141 was used to study large, rapid transient shear responses of polymer melts and concentrated solutions by tracing the beam movement.30,31
To measure the viscoelastic properties of highly viscous
liquids, a shear stress transducer is incorporated in a shearing
fixture.23,131 The transducer, flush mounted and centered on
the fixed plate, serves to circumvent uncontrollable flows
near the samples edges. Figure 19 shows the transducer
mounted in the sliding plate rheometer. The transducers active face touches the polymer melt. Cantilever displacement,
measured by capacitance proximetry, is proportional to the
shear stress on the active face. Recently, high pressure versions of this transducer have also been invented for
measuring the effect of pressure on the viscoelastic
properties33 and on shear induced crystallization in molten
plastics.34 Another high pressure version is used in an online
rheometer that is mounted directly on plastics manufacturing
equipment.139,143,144

FIG. 18. Static calibration for the shear stress transducer in a sliding plate
rheometer Ref. 140. The calibration weight related to the shear stress at the
active face and proportional to the output voltage.

FIG. 19. Cross section showing the essential elements of a sliding plate
rheometer incorporating an elastic type shear stress transducer Ref. 142:
1 sample; 2 moving plate; 3 back support; 4 stationary plate; 5 end
frame; 6 gap spacer; 7 shear stress transducer incorporating a rigid beam
supported by a steel diaphragm; 8 linear actuator; 9 oven.

Instead of measuring beam movement, the diaphragm

deflection can be measured. For simultaneously measuring
wall pressure and wall shear stress of dry granular materials,
Broersma108,109 reported on a Dutch patent by Boot, Jacobs,
and Poot. Attaching strain gauges to the diaphragm see Fig.
20, they extracted both shear and normal stress
measurements.
For shear stress measurements on skyscrapers in extreme

FIG. 20. A diaphragm transducer for simultaneously measuring shear and

normal stresses of granular solids Refs. 108 and 109.

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FIG. 21. Pickett and Cochranes diaphragm shear stress transducer insensitive to inertia effect Ref. 29.

weather, earthquakes, or during explosions, Pickett and

Cochrane29 made an acceleration insensitive shear stress
transducer by making the transducer symmetric about the
diaphragm. Here, strain gauges are attached to both cantilevers. The cantilever attached to the active face confounds the
transducer inertia with the wall shear stress in the fluid, while
the strain gauges on the other dummy cantilever quantify the
transducer inertia only. Subtracting these values gives an acceleration insensitive result see Fig. 21.
The Kistler Instrument Corporation Ref. 145 commercialized a linear acceleration insensitive shear stress transducer using crossed flexural strips.13,14,17,35 This transducer is
used to measure air drag on airplane skins during take-off
and landing see Fig. 22. The transducer active face is counterbalanced by an electromagnetic force generated by current
flowing in a servo loop and energizing a coil free to move in
a magnetic field. This transducer has even detected the drag

FIG. 22. Commercial transducer from Kistler for measuring air drag on
airplane skins during take-off and landing Ref. 14.

Rev. Sci. Instrum. 81, 021301 2010

FIG. 23. A schematic of a pendulum arm transducer shows a front view

and b side view of its installation in a measuring site.

effects of screw heads, either recessed or protruding, which

fasten the airplanes skin to its frame.
Pendulum arm. A pendulum arm transducer see Fig.
23 has its active face parallel to the linkage arm, creating
moments perpendicular to the active face about the linkage
arms end. Row D in Table V contains side views of a pendulum arm transducer showing how shear and normal
stresses can be measured independently.
To measure biaxial shear stress, Tcheng and Supplee36
patented a pendulum transducer having two L-shaped arms
connected to each other. One arm is connected to a pivot and
the other to the active face see Fig. 24. Schutz and
co-workers87 also developed a pendulum arm transducer to
measure the shear stress on a suction surface of a gas turbine
blade. These skin friction measurements matched computa-

FIG. 24. Two L-shape arms connect together to measure biaxial shear stress
of fluids Ref. 36.

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FIG. 25. Schutz-Grunows shear stress transducer for measuring air in wind
tunnel. The sensor unit uses an element floating in a liquid as a resistance.

tional
fluid
dynamics
predictions.
In
addition,
Schutz-Grunow81,82 measured wall shear stress on a smooth
plate in wind tunnel, using the pendulum arm transducer see
Fig. 25. This work was the first to validate the logarithmic
law of the wall see Sec. I and also discover the universal
constants for this system.

2. Translation

Sliding. A sliding transducer has its active face translate

along the shear stress direction, uncoupling the shear stress
from the normal stress see Fig. 26. This transducers shape
makes it thin and light.
In the study of shoe mechanics, a thin transducer is required to measure the shear and normal stresses on the
insole.125127 Thus, a sliding transducer was constructed using a thin disk for its active face, which slides longitudinally
in a groove.120122 A magnetic counterbalance to the shear
stress nearly immobilizes the active face see Fig. 27. Similarly, a biaxial transducer, approximately 4 mm thick by 16
mm diameter, was made for shoes using two perpendicular
grooves, each on a separate disk.124 The transducer was
mounted into an inlay located in the metatarsal head region
to measure stresses under the plantar surface of the foot inshoe during walking. Figure 28 shows the biaxial shear
stresses during footsteps from the sliding transducer. In the
figure, the anteroposterior solid line and mediolateral
dashed line shear stresses were recorded for eight footsteps
without socks. The heel switch is shown for reference to the
glit cycle. As an alternative, Lebars group126,127 constructed
a unidirectional sliding transducer for use on an insole by
using two plates to mechanically resist disk displacement
see Fig. 29. However, their design is complicated by the

FIG. 26. A schematic of a sliding transducer shows its installation in a

measuring site.

FIG. 27. A sliding shear stress transducer for insole measurements. The
magnetic resistance nulls the shear stress on the active face disk Refs. 120
and 122.

stiffness difference in forward and backward shear

directions.
To minimize friction when studying a nonequilibrium
turbulent boundary layer, Dickinson and co-workers89,91 built
a sliding transducer by controlling the active faces unidirectional movement using an air bearing see Fig. 30.90 Later, a
biaxial shear stress transducer was developed using such an
air bearing with a removable plastic active face that could be
round or square.38
Using a sliding transducer, Moulic88 measured shear
stress near the sharp edge of an adiabatic plate in a wind
tunnel see Fig. 31. Using this method, he discovered slip
near the flat plate tip. Another interesting application of the
sliding transducer is to measure airflow shear stresses in annular gaps. White and Franklin37 mounted a sliding transducer on the inner cylinder of an annulus, while Frei and
Thomann94 mounted one on a tube wall to measure airflow
shear stresses on the tube.
Tethers. A square, floating element has been microfabricated and used as an active face shear stress sensor. The

FIG. 28. Lord and co-workers transducer is mounted into an inlay located
in the metatarsal head region to measure stresses under the plantar surface of
the foot in-shoe during walking. The anteroposterior solid line and mediolateral dashed line shear stress are recorded without socks on eight
footsteps by using a sliding shear stress transducer. The heel switch is shown
for reference to the glit cycle Ref. 124.

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FIG. 31. Moulics shear stress transducer for measuring wall shear stress at
a sharp leading edge of a flat plate Ref. 88.
FIG. 29. Lebers unidirectional sliding shear stress transducer for use on an
insole Refs. 126 and 127. Because of the rectangular wedge at the middle
of the sensor unit, the shear stress can only push the active face against the
resistant plate from left to right.

corners of the square-floating active face are tethered see

Fig. 32, minimizing shear stress transduction. Tethers can be
either transverse or in the shear direction. Unlike other transducers, the tether transducer has no support under the active
face, but rather four supporting legs parallel to its active face.
Since the wall pressure fluctuation per unit area is low, it is
not subjected to the uneven normal stress. Lfdahl and
Gad-el-Hak146 reviewed this.
Schmidt et al.147 pioneered microfabricating shear stress
transducers as thin as 30 m with a 500 500 m2 polyamide active face, which are tethered transversely to the shear
direction. Similarly, Haritonidis et al.148 designed a smaller,
200 200 m2 transducer for measuring shear stress fluc-

FIG. 30. A shear stress transducer using air bearings supports the active face
used in wind tunnel Refs. 8991.

tuations caused by turbulent eddies. Even smaller tethered

sliding transducers, 150 150 and 120 120 m2, were developed for measuring both shear and normal stresses in
wind tunnel experiments.97,98 Later, simple straight tethers
were replaced by folded beam suspensions, which increased
sensitivity.42,43,149
An application of the tether transducer is to measure the
shear and pressure of a polymer melt flow in an extruder.

FIG. 32. A schematic of a tether transducer shows a front view and b top
view of its installation in a measuring site.

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TABLE VI. Streamlines and forces on the active face under misalignments.
Protruding active face

Recessed active face

Flow pattern

Force

Schmidt and co-workers39,40,150 designed a microfabricated

shear stress transducer, aligning the tethers with the flow, for
measuring shear stress up to 100 kPa and pressures up to 41
MPa over a temperature range of 25 300 C. Static calibration was performed on a laboratory cone and plate
rheometer.44 Analytical models and finite element analyses
showed good agreement with measured extruder behavior;
however, the unit did not work when installed in the extruder
because of an influx of melt into the sensor.41
III. MEASUREMENT ERROR

Measurement error is unavoidable in any experiment,

but understanding the sources of error can help us to minimize it. The most common sources of error for local shear
stress transducer come from active face misalignment during
installation, fluid ingress in the transducer gap, active face
roughness, and temperature conditions. Misalignment during
installation of the transducer active face affects the streamlines near the transducer and causes extra forces to appear in
the transducer force balance see Table VI. In addition, all
local shear stress transducer designs require a tiny gap between the transducer active face and its housing. Dynamic
damping from fluid ingress in the gap, especially for unsteady highly viscous flow measurement, is unavoidable and
must be considered. Moreover, wall shear stress is dependent
on the type of flow and the active face roughness. In turbulent flow, these forces can cause excessive friction on the
transducer force balance and unwanted wall shear stress.
This results in unsteady heat flow condition around the transducer, which can also cause measurement error.
A. Misalignment

Measurement accuracy depends strongly on properly

aligning the transducers active face in its housing. In general, we try to avoid both recessed and protruding installations. The error for an active face, protruding by 0.01 mm, in
subsonic airflow was noticeable, but not when equally recessed by 0.01 m.66,151 Here, gas circulates around the active
face, entering the gap at the trailing edge and re-entering the
flow field at the leading edge. The resulting force on the
active face, called a lip force, impairs the shear stress measurement. Table VI shows examples of eddies for both pro-

truding and recessed cases. These eddies also cause normal

stresses. Table VI shows that the moments caused by the lip
forces are additive for protrusion, but they have opposite
signs for recession.
For supersonic airflow, ODonnell,63 and ODonnell and
Westkaemper64 used a parallel linkage transducer to show
that the error due to small transducer protrusion and recession lead to equally inaccurate results. For the protrusion,
shear stress measurements were too high, and for the recession, too low. Furthermore, these misalignment errors did not
depend on Mach or Reynolds numbers. Unlike the subsonic
case, both protrusion and recession give equal error, about
0.1% per micron of misalignment. Figure 33 shows the error
caused by the misalignment in parallel linkage transducers.
The sliding transducer behaved similarly.91 However, the
normal stress in the single pivot transducer raised the measured value of the shear stress for both the protrusion and
recession.18,69 This is called cross-talk see Figs. 34 and 35.
The effects of misalignment and gap were studied in a
single pivot transducer for supersonic airflow. Allen69 found
that small gaps are more susceptible to misalignment error
than larger ones. He recommended a lower limit of 0.005 gap
to active face diameter ratio. Allen also found that lip force
increases with active face thickness for both protrusion and
recession. Allen further recommended an upper limit of 0.04
for the active face thickness to diameter ratio.
B. Material ingress

The gap surrounding the transducers active face is unavoidable. This gap interrupts the no slip boundary condition
in the flow field under study. Thus, there is always material
ingress around the active face, causing error. Granular materials, for instance, may bridge the gap, impeding transducer
movement, which causes irreproducibility see Fig. 36.108
In addition, turbulent eddies can surge into the transducer gap in turbulent airflow, creating a reverse pressure
gradient across the active face see Fig. 37. The pressure is
higher than the mainstream pressure on the downstream edge
of the active face and lower on the upstream edge.152 Material can circulate into the gap at the downstream edge and
emerges from the upstream edge. This can cause the shear
stress to vary over the active face.10,90

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FIG. 35. Comparison of errors vs misalignments for single pivot and parallel linkage Ref. 69. The turbulent boundary thickness = 76 mm. On the
ordinate we have the ratio of the measured shear stress, measured, to its true
value, true. In the following quasitable, indicates g / D as a gap divided by
active face diameter while indicates l / D as an active face thickness divided by active face diameter.

Curve
A
B
C
D

FIG. 33. Effects of misalignment on shear stress measurement using parallel

linkage mechanism in supersonic gas flow for several Mach numbers at
Re= 9830 Ref. 63. On the ordinate we have the ratio of the measured shear
stress, measured, to its true value, true.

Moreover, ingress pressure acts on the active faces edge

called its lip.75,76 Minimizing the lip thickness reduces this
ingress pressure.50 This pressure influences the transducer
force balance and damps the transducer response, causing
phase error in dynamic measurements. To avoid fluid ingress,
we may seal the gap with a soft elastomer; however, the
elastomers viscoelasticity will impair the transducers dynamic response.
In airflow measurement, the gap was filled with glycerin,

Mechanism
Single pivot
Parallel linkage
Parallel linkage
Parallel linkage

g/D
0.001
0.001
0.10
0.10

l/D
0.05
0.05
0.05
0

a viscous liquid, which provided uninterrupted flow and

dampened transducer vibration.85 Frei and Thomann94
showed that the surface tension of this ingress could hold
itself in place even under strong pressure gradients. This, of
course, creates a fluid-air interface around the transducers
active face see Fig. 38. As a result, the active face displacement deforms the fluid-air interface. However, the force of
this deformation is negligible with respect to the shear stress
measurement with careful transducer design.
Sometimes a shear stress transducers dynamic response
can be deduced from a detailed analysis of the deformation
of the fluid ingress.142 Recent analysis of linear viscoelastic
ingress in a shear stress transducer for molten plastics revealed something surprising.153 By using bipolar cylindrical
coordinates, Kolitawong and Giacomin154,155 found that the
squeezing of the ingress does cause small phase shift, sometimes called phase error. They also found that imperfect centering of the cantilever is not a source of appreciable phase
error in oscillatory shear measurements.
C. Surface roughness

FIG. 34. Dimensionless total force in single pivot transducer for various
gaps Ref. 18. On the ordinate we have the ratio of the measured shear
stress, measured, to its true value, true.

The importance of active face surface roughness varies

greatly with the type of fluid and flow field. For example,
surface roughness increases the shear stress in turbulent gas
flow83,84 but not in laminar. Moreover, a highly roughened
active face introduces transverse flow. Therefore, the transducer active face must be relatively smooth. To study this,
active faces with V-grooves having various heights and
angles relative to the airflow direction were tested.51,77,92,93
Figure 39 shows the dimensionless shear stress on the
grooves versus the airflow direction. For airflow parallel to

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Kolitawong, Giacomin, and Johnson

FIG. 38. A transducer gap filled with glycerin making fluid-air interface
around the transducers active face Ref. 94.

D. Temperature

FIG. 36. Granular materials clogging the transducer gap Ref. 108.

In some systems we must track shear stress in the presence of widely varying temperatures. Since the transducer
gap insulates the active face from the surrounding surface,
the active face temperature may differ from that of the surrounding surface.8 Furthermore, in most transducers, the
shear stress base line shifts during heating due to transducer
thermal expansion.158 Westkaemper, among others, studied
these problems for shear stress measurements in gas flows.
He found that for a parallel linkage transducer, a 56 F
31 C difference between the active face and housing
caused errors up to 2%.159 Bruno et al.47 measured shear
stress on heat transfer surfaces by incorporating a temperature controller in the transducer.
Strain gauges are especially sensitive to temperature.
Hence, all shear stress transducers that incorporate strain
gauges must also incorporate a transducer temperature controller when these are used on heat transfer surfaces.96
IV. THE FUTURE

the grooves, the measured shear stress is lower than on the

smooth surface. For airflow perpendicular to the grooves, the
measured shear stress is higher than on the smooth surface.
When sand grains bond with the active face, increasing
roughness,70,71,156,157 the results match those for the
V-grooves active face perpendicular to the airflow.48

FIG. 37. In-and-out flow due to the pressure difference between the transducer case and the free stream Ref. 10. The case pressure is lower than the
mainstream pressure at the trailing edge and higher at the leading edge.

From the discussion above, it should be clear that different materials and flow fields require different and distinctive
shear stress transducer designs. The designs will differ in
their movement, measuring mode, and mechanisms and each
design, constructed for a specific task, will have its own advantages and disadvantages. The relevance of the primary
error sources misalignment, material ingress, surface roughness, and heating will vary from case to case.

FIG. 39. Influence of airflow direction on V-groove active face Ref. 51.
On the ordinate we have the ratio of the measured shear stress, measured, to
its minimum value, min.

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021301-18

The majority of the shear stress transducers reviewed in

this paper are useful for time-steady, isothermal, and twodimensional measurements. Shear stress transducers for transient, nonisothermal, and three-dimensional flows are still an
area of active research and deserve a review in their own
right at a future date.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

C.K. acknowledges the Royal Thai Government RTG

for his RTG Scholarship. The authors are also indebted to
John M. Dealy of McGill University for his invaluable help
with this manuscript. The authors gratefully acknowledge
James R. Matey of the U.S. Naval Academy and Contributing Editor for Invited Papers, RSI and Adam W. Mix of the
University of Wisconsin for their corrections to this manuscript. They are also indebted to the Placon Corporation of
Fitchburg Wisconsin for its sustaining sponsorship of the
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