After several years of a development Intellifast GmbH has ventured into a new area in determining the clamp load with testing of bolts subjected to temperature. The high-temperature transducer recently registered for patent application was originally developed for the Rolls-Royce Lift Fan System used in the JSF STOVL version and nuclear power stations. It is also used in the plastic technology and additionally offers important qualities for low temperature space applications.

The Federal State of Rhineland-Palatinate supported the intensive research and development: The qualities achieved by the transducer are: reliability of the permanent transducer repeatedly being exposed to temperatures up to 320 degrees centigrade. At temperatures up to 200 degrees centigrade it allows an accurate check to be made of the load exerted by the bolt.

The new transducer can also be applied freely in the aerospace industry, as the previous transducer was for development and components not being exposed to aerospace, as used for the fuel tanks in the Ariane 4. By replacing tin (the electrode material of the standard sensor which develops unwanted whiskers under zero gravity in space) the new material in the high-temperature transducer does not exhibit any negative qualities under space conditions. The transducer also releases none of its components at high temperatures and therefore does not impair any components in its surroundings. Operation at minimum temperature (5 K) remains unchanged. The last successful measurement took place in liquid nitrogen – at almost 200 degrees centigrade.

The transducer development is still not complete. Soon bolts will be tested in turbines with temperatures up to 550 degrees centigrade – the next goal.