The potential of the SAW devices as sensors has not been fully exploited. New SAW sensors are developed to sense the shear stress and the normal stress in turbulent flows. These devices are extremely sensitive to changes in the environment. The surface wave velocity is hence changed when forces are applied on the sensor. The direction of the surface wave can be changed and by suitable manipulation, the effect of each stress can be isolated. Experiments are conducted with a low‐frequency SAW oscillator sensor and the frequency shift is measured. The values obtained agree with the expected values for the experimental setup. As the frequency of operation is increased, the sensors become smaller and the values can be determined more accurately eliminating the effect of spatial variation of the stresses.