Open AccessThe Use of a Beryllium Hopkinson Bar to Characterize In-Axis and Cross-Axis Accelerometer Response in Shock Environments
Author(s) -
V.I. Bateman,
F.A. Brown
Publication year - 1999
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/3195
Subject(s) - accelerometer , piezoresistive effect , split hopkinson pressure bar , shock (circulatory) , laser doppler vibrometer , materials science , beryllium , bar (unit) , acoustics , structural engineering , physics , engineering , strain rate , composite material , optoelectronics , medicine , wavelength , quantum mechanics , meteorology , distributed feedback laser , nuclear physics
The characteristics of a piezoresistive accelerometer in shock environments have been studied at Sandia National Laboratories in the Mechanical Shock Laboratory. A beryllium Hopkinson bar capability with diameters of 0.75 in. and 2.0 in has been developed to extend our understanding of the piezoresistive accelerometer, in two mechanical configurations, in the high frequency, high shock environments where measurements are being made. The in-axis performance of the piezoresistive accelerometer determined from measurements with a beryllium Hopkinson bar and a certified laser doppler vibrometer as the reference measurement is presented. The cross-axis performance of the accelerometer subjected to static compression on a beryllium cylinder, static strain on a steel beam, dynamic strain on a steel beam (ISA-RP 37.2, Paragraph 6.6), and compressive shocks in a split beryllium Hopkinson bar configuration is also presented. The performance of the accelerometer in a combined in-axis and cross-axis shock environment is shown for one configuration. Finally, a failure analysis conducted in cooperation with ENDEVCO gives a cause for the occasional unexplained failures that have occurred in some applications