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Instrumentation • Electronics


operation and control of equipment in service. The careful selection of an


accelerometer is essential to ensure its frequency response is matched to the application requirements. Products are available with bandwidths up to many kHz and some specialist low frequency accelerometers to measure down to DC levels (0Hz). Some typical examples of


accelerometer applications include:


l Aircraft Health Monitoring – acceleration levels applied to aircraft structures in service are monitored for determining the safe flying life of the aircraft.


compression and shear forces. The majority of today’s designs use strain gauges as the sensing element, whether foil or semiconductor, and feature low deflection and high frequency response characteristics, which are especially beneficial for both materials testing and high‐speed load measurement applications, particularly where peak forces are being monitored. Load cells are available in many


Fig. 2. Precision sensors are critical for many industries.


l Civil Engineering – low ‘g’ range accelerometers utilised to monitor accelerations induced into bridges and other structures to check design calculations and long term critical safety.


l Railway – control of braking and cornering of trains to ensure safety and passenger comfort.


l Flight Simulators – to control actuation systems to ensure the programmed ‘g’ levels are achieved.


l Accident Data Collection – acceleration data recording for future reference in the event of an accident or incident.


Load Cells


A load cell is a transducer that is used to convert a force into an electrical signal and offers measurement of tension,


physical shapes and forms to suit particular applications and forms of loading. Miniature form and very low force ranges are invariably available as custom designs where specific customer applications require them. Some of the major load cell applications


include:


l Aerospace - Fatigue testing of airframe structures, internal engine forces and ejector seat force measurements.


l Paper Mill – bearing force load cells to monitor and maintain correct roller tension.


l Marine - hoist loads, platform retention, towing forces and mooring loads and systems.


l Civil engineering – bridge lifting/weighing, vehicle/ crane load monitoring and earthquake force monitoring


l Pharmaceutical Industry – to control the compressive forces during tablet manufacture during many millions of cycles. l


Robin Butler is with Sherborne Sensors, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK. www.sherbornesensors.com


Ethernet switches for industrial equipment are immune to vibration


B


&B Electronics Manufacturing Co Inc has expanded its family of industrial Ethernet switches with the ELinx ESW100 series, featuring LC small-form-factor fibre connectors. The ESW100 joins the ESW200 series which offers the same industrial-hardened certifications, but uses standard ST and SC fibre connectors.


Housed in an IP30-rated metal case, the ultra- compact new ESW100 DIN Rail switches, which are also panel mountable, measure less than one inch wide. The five-port ESW105 and eight-port ESW108 models offer either all copper ports, or the option to replace one copper port with an LC multi- or single-mode


28 www.engineerlive.com


fibre port. The ESW105 and ESW108 are the basic all-copper switches with five and eight copper ports respectively. The ESW105-ML and


ESW108-ML models replace one copper port with a multi- mode fibre port, and the ESW105-SL and ESW108-SL models replace one copper port with a single-mode fibre port. Communication range is 2km for multi-mode fibre and 20 km for single-mode. Industrial-hardened with


61000-6-2 Level 3 Heavy Industrial Certifications, the switches are designed for rugged, noisy, dirty applications such as industrial automation, SCADA, traffic control,


water management, building control, and wind power. They are highly immune to the electrical fields generated by motors, pumps and relays, are shock and vibration tested, and offer broadcast storm protection. With dual power ports (12


to 36 VDC and 10 to 24 VAC), the switches run on either AC or DC power and consume 4 watts maximum power. They support IEEE 802.3, 802.3u and 802.3x standards, offer 2K MAC addresses and operate over a wide temperature range (-10 to 60˚C, 14 to 140˚F). l


Enter 28 or ✔ at www.engineerlive.com/ede


B&B Electronics Manufacturing Co, Inc is based in Oranmore, Galway, Ireland www.bb-europe.com


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