HIGH FREQUENCY HIGH TEMPERATURE LOW NOISE VIBRATION SENSOR AND CALIBRATORS

AS SHIPS BECOME QUIETER, IMPROVED CAPABILITIES FOR MEASURING VIBRATION IN HIGH-FREQUENCY, HIGH-TEMPERATURE, LOW-NOISE ENVIRONMENTS ARE NEEDED. TIDG PROPOSES A UNIFIED APPROACH TO THE MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY THAT INCLUDES IMPROVEMENTS IN SENSORS, MOUNTING TECHNIQUES, AND CALIBRATION. HIGH-FREQUENCY ACCELEROMETERS USEFUL TO 50DHZ ALREADY EXIST, BUT THEIR MOSFET CIRCUITS SUFFER FROM HIGH NOISE AND A MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 400 DEG F. TIDG PROPOSES TO EMPLOY AN INNOVATIVE PREAMPLIFIER DESIGN TO REDUCE NOISE BY 40 DB AND INCREASE THE TEMPERATURE RANGE TO 600 DEG F. THE ACCELEROMETER WILL HAVE DRAMATICALLY IMPROVED DYNAMIC RANGE, AND, AS AN ADDED BENEFIT, WILL ALSO HAVE IMPROVED LOW-FREQUENCY PERFORMANCE. SPECIAL MOUNTING TECHNIQUES FOR HIGH FREQUENCY MEASURMENTS ARE KNOWN BUT NEED TO BE VERIFIED IN PHASE I. FINALLY, WE PROPOSE TWO INNOVATIVE LOW-COST APPROACHES TO HIGH-FREQUENCY CALIBRATION THAT WILL USE OFF-THE-SHELF HARDWARE. PHASE I WILL INVESTIGATE THE FEASIBILITY OF CALIBRATING ACCELEROMETERS WITH THESE APPROACHES. PHASE I WILL DEMONSTRATE PERFORMANCE AND FEASIBILITY OF THE IMPROVED SENSOR AND THE CALIBRATION TECHNIQUES. PHASE II WILL PROVIDE HARDWARE FOR TEST, DEMONSTRATION AND FLEET USE.