Evaluation of Accelerometer Transducer Mounting as per ISO 6487-A Case Study

There are many types of transducers mounted at different locations on-board the vehicle or test items being subjected to dynamic impact tests including full vehicle crash tests. The natural frequency of the sensors as mounted on vehicle structure is location dependant. This in turn can influence the data quality as the impact event is of very small duration with high shock levels and the sampling rates and frequency content of signals is generally high. Considering this, the mounting brackets and mounting location of all the transducers have to be stiff enough to avoid any influence on actual signals. Low natural frequency of sensors as mounted could result in poor quality of data thereby leading to wrong evaluation of the test.

This paper explains the methodology for evaluation as per ISO 6487 [1]. These implantation tests have been conducted on a test vehicle at different intended mounting locations and with different types of mounting brackets. The sensitivity of various parameters such as natural frequency that affects the data quality has also been analyzed.