Story ID: 477 PCB
PCB Piezotronics Updates Testing and Measurement Instruments
By: AIN Staff
Caption: The company has developed new crystal technology for use of instruments in high temperatures.
Word Count: 285
Engineering and maintenance instrument specialist PCB Piezotronics has developed a new crystal technology for use in certain of its instruments in high temperature applications.  The technology is among several new developments that the Depew, N.Y., company brought to Heli-Expo 2017.

 PCB Piezotronics (Booth 4206) is a designer, manufacturer and supplier of instrumentation that is used by design engineers and predictive maintenance professionals for testing, measurement, monitoring and control requirements in numerous industries, including aerospace. Among its products are accelerometers, microphones and force, torque, load, strain and pressure sensors.

At Heli-Expo the company announced the UHT-12 (for ultra-high temperature 1,200-deg F) new crystal technology. Accelerometers designed with UHT-12 provide more accurate measurements and lower noise during large temperature variations, the company said. This solves the problem of “pyroelectric noise,” which is encountered by gas turbine engine manufacturers during test and vibration monitoring.

The company also announced its new line of Strain Gage Dual Bridge, fatigue-rated load cells, designed specifically for airframe structural, lifetime and fatigue testing. The product is available with standard capacities ranging from 5,000 pounds to 100,000 pounds.

PCB’s Automotive Sensors Division announced the addition of a new series of MEMS DC response accelerometers. These are designed to improve the precision of low-frequency vibration and motion in aerospace applications.

Finally, IMI Sensors, a manufacturer of industrial vibration instrumentation and a division of PCB Piezotronics, announced the release of Model 357A100, a very high temperature differential charge accelerometer with a UHT-12 sensing element. The sensor is designed to be used in condition monitoring of gas turbines for aviation and power generation, for machinery protection in high-temperature environments and in the commissioning of nuclear power plants.