Metrology

An engineer might design the components, but someone on the production floor eventually has to measure them precisely.

Series 3741 MEMS high-sensitivity dcresponse accelerometers can handle various crash-sled acceleration profiles with full-scale ranges from 2 to 20 g, up to 2-kHz measurement capability, and sensitivities up to 1 V/g.

Postage-stamp-sized microfluid chips that perform multiple chemical reactions in sequence may boost production of imaging tracers for biological research, drug discovery, and patient diagnostics, say developers at UCLA.

The monitoring of rotation can involve such sensor types as proximity, photoelectric, resolvers, encoders, and tachometer generators.

MITCalc is a multilanguage, technical-calculation package for gears, bearings, springs, bolt connections, belt and chain drives, and other mechanical parts.

fe-safe/TURBOlife incorporates creep-fatigue damage assessment into durability-analysis software for FE models.

CosmosMotion simulation is updated with mapping functions for geometry mates in the modeling of mechanical joints.

Software for durability assessment reveals whether or not designs will survive cyclic loading.

MSC.Fatigue 2005 r1 evaluates durability and damage tolerance of components and systems.

ToleranceCalc 3.0 is a tolerance stack-up and manufacturing quality-analysis wizard for AutoDesk Inventor and AutoCAD Mechanical applications.

Maintenance personnel and production teams can check and align their machine tools to improve operation and efficiency with the Microgage Universal Alignment kit.

The Microgage 2000 machinery-alignment kit is for checking stage and slide travel to measure straightness and run out.

Signal-conditioning IC simplifies strain-gage bridge sensor setup.

A clamp-on flow-monitoring system from Cidra Corp., Wallingford, Conn., uses an acoustic array and sonar technology to accurately calculate single and multiphase flows, including slurry flows, inside pipes.

A new technique developed by Purdue University uses vibrations to pinpoint damage in composite materials likely to be used in future military vehicles.