Tiny transducer meets big challenge

摘要

High accuracy, miniature pressure transducer proves industry mettle For the past 20 years, industry has used base and cavity pressure measurements for wind tunnel test articles, flight tests, and other critical test areas using electrically scanned pressure modules (ESP), which entails a high cost of the measurement system and associated ESP operation, calibration, and repair. In response, the instrumentation community has demanded a measurement system that is accurate, easy to install, and relatively low cost. One miniature absolute pressure transducer can meet this instrumentation challenge, and test results show benefits in measurement accuracy and cost savings. ESP modules are relatively complex measurement systems, having a water-cooled enclosure, cooling water lines, pneumatic calibration and control tubes, thermocouples, and heaters. Each ESP module must be temperature controlled in order to function to product performance specifications. The high accuracy transducer design uses MEMS technologies for pressure sensor chip fabrication and packaging and is suitable for applications where size, accuracy, and environmental conditions are critical.