Blogs
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) of Concrete Structures
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) of Concrete Structures Customer Case Our customer needs to perform Non Destructive Testing (NDT) to test concrete. The testing method involves using a special hammer mounted with a geophone, which serves as a transducer. They strike the concrete structure with the hammer and record the results for analysis. A definitive echo in the signal will be appear should there be a crack or a weak point in the concrete. GaGe Case Solution The customer was looking for a low-cost board that would be able to sample at 20 MHz or more, so we recommended the CompuScope [...]
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) for Steel Manufacturing
Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) for Steel Manufacturing Customer Case The customer is a custom-built contractor of Non-Destructive Test (NDT) instruments for steel manufacturing. NDT uses ultrasonic pulses to scan through thick sheets of metals for possible causes of early wear, such as cracks or impurities. The stimulus is a stream of ultrasonic pulses. The response is their reflection from various depths. The center frequencies used by this customer are in the range of 250 KHz to 2.25 MHz and pulses are about 10 microseconds. The pulse repeat frequency (PRF) is less than 1 KHz. The thickness of steel sheets is [...]
How to Measure Dielectric Separator Thickness in EV Batteries GalleryHow to Measure Dielectric Separator Thickness in EV Batteries
Application Notes-MTI, Brand-MTI, Industry-Automotive, Industry-Compliance Testing, Industry-Consumer Products, Industry-Electronics, Industry-Government/Military, Industry-Manufacturing, Industry: Transportation, News-MTI, News-MTI-Instrumentation, Products-MTI-Capacitance, Products-MTI-Laser/Fiber Optic, Products-MTI-Signal Generators, Z-REPUB, z1
How to Measure Dielectric Separator Thickness in EV Batteries
The International Energy Agency predicts that as many as 125 million electric vehicles (EVs) will be on the road by 2030. At the heart of these electric cars, trucks, and buses is the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery, a type of rechargeable battery with high energy density and low self-discharge. The plates in Li-ion batteries consist of lithium compounds that are applied to either a copper plate substrate (cathode) or an aluminum substrate (anode). In turn, these two plates are separated by a dielectric separator. All of the layers in an EV battery are extremely thin. In fact, the cathode and [...]
Galvannealing Phosphor Thermometry
Galvannealing Phosphor Thermometry Customer Case During the process of galvanizing, steel is dipped in a bath of liquid tin to increase its resistance to oxidation and moisture. After galvanizing, a precise heat treatment allows control of the mechanical properties of the final galvanized steel. This heat treatment is known as galvannealing. During galvannealing, precise temperature control is necessary to promote the desired grain growth in the steel's tin-rich coating. Galvanneal thermometry is difficult. The rolling of the hot steel makes contact thermocouples and optical pyrometry impractical. A customer's galvanneal furnace is equipped for phosphor thermometry. This novel technique uses [...]
Capacitance Sensing for Non-Contact Thickness Measurements of Insulating Materials
Capacitance sensing can be used to make non-contact thickness measurements for most insulating materials. Capacitance sensors are known for their ability to precisely measure the thickness and position of conductive targets, but what’s less known is that these sensors can also measure the thickness of non-conductive materials. Examples include glass, sapphire, and plastics, as well as semi-insulating semiconductor materials such as GaAs and silicon nitride. Analog vs. Digital Technologies MTI Instruments, a global supplier of precision measurement technologies, takes the guesswork out of what used to be a complex measurement for non-conductive materials. MTI's Digital Accumeasure system features a [...]
SEPTA Case Study: Major Metropolitan Transit System Uses Vitrek Power Analyzer to Monitor High-Power DC Feeders
- - - Challenges Personnel needed a reliable, portable instrument to accurately measure and record the current on each feeder over a selected time period. - Overview The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) operates the transit system throughout the city of Philadelphia, extending into the surrounding counties in Pennsylvania and across the Delaware River into New Jersey. A major component of this system is the network of subways and commuter trains. Power for the operation of these trains is provided by an array of substations distributed throughout the region. One [...]
Machine Tools Characterization
Machine Tools Characterization Customer Case This customer is involved in characterizing machine tools. In order to do this, they need five simultaneous channels capturing 12-bit samples at 50 KSPS, with a 20 us sample width. A total of 5 seconds of data is required. GaGe Case Solution The solution to this problem is a three-card Master/Slave CompuScope 512 system, with each card having 512 Kilosamples of on-board memory. The CompuScope 512 is a 12-bit 5 MSPS A/D card for the ISA bus. As each CompuScope 512 has two channels, this system would provide 6 channels for the customer's application. [...]
Pulsed Electric Field Food Processing
Pulsed Electric Field Food Processing Customer Case Pulsed Electric Field Food Processing is a continuous food processing system in which beverages (with a known conductivity) are pumped through a chamber containing an electrode. Pulses of high voltage electricity are passed across the electrode, thus through the liquid as well. It is a pasteurization technique being studied at Ohio State University. The need is to be able to monitor, display, and record to hard drive storage, voltage and current waveforms. They need to be able to draw information about the pulse duration, peak voltage, etc. from the recorded waveforms. Waveforms [...]
Capacitance Sensing Provides Two Ways to Measure EV Battery Plate Thickness GalleryCapacitance Sensing Provides Two Ways to Measure EV Battery Plate Thickness
Application Notes-MTI, Brand-MTI, Industry-Automotive, Industry-Energy, Industry-Manufacturing, News-MTI, News-MTI-Instrumentation, News-MTI-Metrology, News-Product Updates, Products-MTI-Capacitance, Products-MTI-Laser/Fiber Optic, Products-MTI-Semiconductor/Metrology, Z-REPUB, z1
Capacitance Sensing Provides Two Ways to Measure EV Battery Plate Thickness
MTI Instruments has released an application note that explains how to use capacitance to measure the thickness of the lithium battery plates in electric vehicles (EVs). Manufacturers need to check these plates for thickness before calendaring them together to ensure that the overall battery diameter is within specifications. In EV batteries, lithium ion compounds are applied to either a copper plate substrate (cathode) or an aluminum substrate (anode plate). These conductive plates are separated by a dielectric. MTI Instruments, a global supplier of precision measurement solutions, makes capacitance sensors that can measure thicknesses materials down to nanometers. Moreover, MTI [...]
White Paper: Fundamentals of Electrical Safety Testing – Tech Briefs Whitepaper
Part 1 - Functions & Features of Advanced Hipot Testers Introduction Electrical safety testers - often referred to as "hipot" testers - are an integral part of electrical and electronic equipment manufacturing. Hipot testers get their name from the high potential (high voltage) they produce to perform dielectric withstand and insulation resistance tests. In addition to these tests, many hipot testers provide accurate low-resistance measurements and low-resistance/high-current outputs to test ground resistance and ground bond integrity. Hipot testing has long been a standard procedure for assuring the electrical safety of electronic equipment. Early commercial hipot testers were actually not [...]