Uncertainty evaluation of a primary shock calibration method for accelerometers

Abstract

The uncertainty is evaluated of a calibration method allowing the determination of complex sensitivities of accelerometers in an acceleration range of 102 m s-2 to 106 m s-2 and a frequency band of 103 Hz to 104 Hz. The method uses elastic waves in a thin circular bar to generate input acceleration and an optical interferometer to evaluate the input. The uncertainty in the magnitude of the complex sensitivities is estimated to be of the order of 10-2 and that in the phase shift of the order of 10-2 rad, in the frequency range where the accelerometer signal and the interferometer signal have sufficient spectral intensity. Note that this paper deals with a special case of the calibration of a back-to-back accelerometer, in the frequency domain rather than in the time domain.