No. A special strip of spring steel, an Almen strip, is clamped onto a flat
block and then subjected to the blast stream. When the strip is unclamped
it will curve since the top surface has been dimpled and stretched. The
amount of curvature, the arc height, is what is read on the special Almen
gage. Your spec range of .008-.012 inch is the range of curvature that the
strip may exhibit. The curvature of the strip is proportional to the blast
stream energy.
You have to submit a minimum of 4 (fresh) strips for increasingly longer
exposure times and construct a "Saturation Curve". The knee of the
arc-height curve is then the intensity. This knee is defined as the first
point on the curve that, when the exposure time is doubled, only goes up an
additional 10%.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Jack
