Stretching effects of the diaphragm for differential pressure transducers are analyzed to improve the understanding of response and provide the basis for credible designs. The principal component is a polysilicon diaphragm with piezoresistive elements fabricated over a silicon substrate. The creation of a bridge over the opposite side facilitates the design of a differential pressure transducer with two-sided overload protection. Such bridges are constructed by the so-called LIGA process. A nonlinear contact analysis should be made because of the large deformation of the diaphragm when they come in contact due to overpressure. Thus, a numerical procedure has been performed for the mechanical interaction of the diaphragm with the metal overpressure bridge. A finite element code based on the mathematical programming (MP) method, an optimization technique, was developed for axisymmetric problems and assessed flexure, stretching and contact. As the gaps between the polysilicon diaphragm and the metal stop increase, the differences in stress and displacement results between cases with and without stretching effects increase.