Kistler North America (www.kistler.com), a worldwide supplier of precision sensors, systems and instrumentation for the dynamic measurement of pressure, force, torque and acceleration, has announced the introduction of Type 8766A, a family of lightweight, miniature triaxial PiezoStar® accelerometers, offering simultaneous shock and vibration measurements in three orthogonal axes with exceptional thermal stability and performance within aerospace, automotive and general testing applications.

With newly available ranges of ±250 g and ±500 g, the low-noise Type 8766A incorporates Kistler's own proprietary PiezoStar® shear element crystal technology, together with high-gain internal hybrid microelectronics, to produce a sensor that can reliably operate over a wide dynamic frequency range, yet offers very low temperature sensitivity over its operating temperature range with low base strain errors. The PiezoStar® sensing elements of the Kistler Type 8766A are housed within a 0.43-inch (10.9 mm) welded, hermetically sealed, low-mass titanium housing weighing less than 4.3 grams, with choice of an industry standard 4-pin, ?-28 style connector for automotive applications and a M4.5 mini four-pin connector for commercial aviation and space applications, or other testing environments where lowest possible mass with highest possible frequency response may be required. For high-temperature applications, a version to +329°F (+165°C) is available, as well as optional TEDS capabilities for larger channel count measurements. The Type 8766A also includes a ±50 g triaxial version, weighing 16 grams and occupying a 0.65 inch (16.5 mm) footprint with hermetically sealed titanium housing. Several mounting accessories are available to provide ease of installation, especially for space constrained environments.

With its unique performance characteristics, the Kistler Type 8766A is ideal for high-temperature NVH and structural analysis applications, such as those found in laboratory/road test, powertrain testing and subsystems testing, as well as other applications where sensors are required to withstand extreme conditions while still maintaining accurate data readings. In addition, these sensors can be used anywhere from ground to air within aerospace applications with minimal sensitivity shift over the full operating temperature range.