Patent ID: 7360437

Claim:
A device for measuring at least one property of a material sample, comprising two sensor elements which are formed by a direct write technique on a surface of the material sample, spaced from each other along a dimension of the surface, said sensor elements being connected to each other by an electrical conductor, which is capable of becoming energized; wherein the device further comprises means for detecting a change in an electrical characteristic of the conductor when it is energized, said change being indicative of a change in the distance between the two sensor elements, and wherein said change in distance is indicative of the at least one property of the material sample, and wherein at least one crack in the sample material is situated on the surface of the sample in a region between the two sensor elements, or in a region proximate to the region between the two sensor elements, and wherein the at least one property is selected from the group consisting of fatigue, creep characteristics, crack initiation, crack growth; electrical properties, sample temperature, stress characteristiacs, and strain characteristics; and wherein the two sensor elements comprise a deposit of a metallic, ceramic, or polymeric material.