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March/AprilaOOO EXPERIMENTALTECHNIQUES 19
input). It is necessary, for dynamic pressures, to make the nal thermocouples. During the test the A-A and the B-B con-
tubing length to both ports the same. nections are checked. Any output from those alert the ex-
perimenter to connector problems, EMI, RFI, ground loops
It is only the imagination of the Measurement Engineer and a whole family of problems to which thermocouples are
which limits the possibilities for these kinds of checks. heir. Dr. Ray Reed of Sandia National Labs (now retired) has
used such checks extensively to document the validity of his
TYPICAL CHECK CHANNELS thermocouple channels. (Ref. 1)
There are two basic types of check channels: CHANNELS NOT EXPOSEDTOTHE DESIRED
ENVIRONMENT
1. Those which do not respond to the desired environment,
but do to the undesired ones. J u s t a few examples: A strain gage of the same Lot No. a s
2. Those which are not exposed to the desired environment, the measuring gage is mounted on a coupon of the same
but are exposed to all other environmental factors. material a s the test specimen and in the same hrection a s
the measuring gage. The coupon is attached to the test speci-
NON-RESPONSIVE TRANSDUCERS men in such a manner that the coupon is not strained (i.e. a t
one point). It is then in the same environment a s the mea-
The Unpolarized Ferroelectic Ceramic Transducer suring gage but not under strain - this is also known as a
“dummy” gage, although it is the smartest member of the
In order to become piezoelectric, a ferroelectric ceramic must test apparatus.
be polarized (or poled) after being fired to assume solid, ma-
chinable form. If it remains unpolarized it will not generate A pressure transducer mounted i n a blind hole but which is
charges under mechanical inputs. I t occurred to Pierre vented to atmosphere, right next to the measuring trans-
Fusilier, Head of t h e Transducer Group a t Lawrence ducer which goes into the pipe. Both are under similar envi-
Livermore National Laboratories (LLNL) (then Lawrence ronments but only one is subjected to pressure. (See Case
Radiation Lab) in the very early 1960s, to ask Endevco to Study No. 9 and Ref. 7)
produce the same kind of transducers which the Lab was
using, but not to polarize them. After considerable persua- An accelerometer suspended from rubber bands, hand-held
sion Endevco produced these and has produced them for their near each measuring accelerometer on a specimen on an elec-
customers, on demand, ever since. Endevco is the only manu- tromagnetically excited vibration table. Dominic “ D i c k
facturer of which I am aware, who does this regularly, hence DeMichele, founder of the International Modal Analysis Con-
the mention of the name. At LLNL they even send such check ferences (IMAC) relates this practice from his 40 years as
channel accelerometers to their calibration lab to make sure Head, Instrumentation Development a t General Electric Co.
they don’t respond to acceleration. Schenectady, NY.
These check channels do respond to many - but not all - of Again, only the imagination of the Measurement Engineer
the other environmental factors which may be present dur- limits the application of these princip1es.l
ing a test.
TO BE CONTINUED
THE Z-CUT QUARTZ CRYSTAL This article will be continued in the May/June issue of ET.
THE FOUR-TERMINALTHERMOCOUPLE
20 EXPERIMENTALTECHNIQUES MarchlApril2000