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Plastic is not used as a material in this kind of sensors because it wouldn’t cope with the massive pressure. Metal is harder and can take the pressure so it is a good material to use in this case. Ceramics and crystal are easier to get piezoelectric that’s why they are in common use.
Kistler PiezoStar® Pressure Sensor has about 200 manufacturing steps before it will reliable sensor and ready to use. First phase of manufacturing process is X-raying and it is used to determine factor in the properties of the sensor element.
All components are checked and measured extremely precise: after milling it is cutted, lapped and coated. Lastly it is re-coated. Quartz and crystal components can be cutted and measured precisely. Then it is easy to design how small the sensor will be. [16.]
Sources
- Pressure definition, http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/pressure.htm#.U1ilsRDFJ8E
- Archimedes' Law, http://www.auburn.edu/~nzk0001/pub/phys1600/10_archimedes.pdf
- Determining the density, http://physics.about.com/od/fluidmechanics/f/density.htm
- Preeti Jain, Pressure Sensors, http://www.engineersgarage.com/articles/pressure-sensors-types-working
- Robert E. Bicking, Fundamentals of Pressure Sensor Technology 1998, http://www.sensorsmag.com/sensors/pressure/fundamentals-pressure-sensor-technology-846
- PiezoStar® Pressure Sensor Datasheet by Kistler
- Piezoelectric Transducers and Applications, editor: Antonio Arnau Vives
- Eduardo Bartolome, Signal conditioning for piezoelectric sensors, http://www.ti.com/lit/an/slyt369/slyt369.pdf
- CONVENTIONAL CHARGE OUTPUT SENSORS, http://www.pcb.com/TechSupport/tech_signal
- Calibration services, http://www.pcb.com/SensorCalibrationServices/CalibrationServices
- Accuracy and Calibration, http://www.mmf.de/accuracy_and_calibration.htm
- Composite materials, https://www.americanpiezo.com/products-services/composite-materials.html
- New Piezoelectric Materials Improve Sensor Performance, https://www.sem.org/PDF/kistler_PiezoStar.pdf
- Manufacturing and materials of piezoelectric sensor http://www.ama-science.org/proceedings/getFile/AQx2
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- Manufacturing steps http://www.kistler.com/medias/sys_master/8812119097374/100-460e-12.10.pdf