Calibration of Accelerometers at Extended Frequencies Utilizing Piezoelectric Shakers

Published

October 6, 2014

Author(s)

Beverly F. Payne

Abstract

Piezoelectric shakers are well suited to generate motion suitable for use with laser interferometric methods at frequencies of 3 kHz and above. One advantage of piezoelectric shakers is the higher achievable accelerations and displacement amplitudes as compared to electrodynamic (ED) shakers. Another advantage is the use of a solid ceramic construction rather than a compliant suspension system which results in much lower mechanical noise. Piezoelectric shakers have been developed and used at NIST for many years for high frequency calibration of accelerometers. Previous papers have documented the performance of these shakers for the calibration of accelerometers over the range of 3 kHz to 25 kHz using interferometric calibration methods. Piezoelectric shakers with solid ceramic construction coupled with new high resolution data acquisition systems have made it possible to extend the calibration of accelerometers to smaller amplitudes and a broader range of frequencies. These factors have also allowed calibrations to be performed over a wide range of accelerations, rather than over a relatively limited range of accelerations. This paper presents these topics and gives examples of calibrations over a frequency range of 5 kHz to 100 kHz, using a piezoelectric shaker and a high resolution data acquisition system.

Proceedings Title

84th Shock and Vibration Symposium

Conference Dates

November 4-7, 2013

Conference Location

Atlanta, GA

Conference Title

Shock and Vibration Symposium

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

accelerometers, calibration, interferometric, laser, shakers, vibration

Citation

Payne, B. (2014), Calibration of Accelerometers at Extended Frequencies Utilizing Piezoelectric Shakers, 84th Shock and Vibration Symposium, Atlanta, GA, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=915433 (Accessed October 11, 2025)