Engine Combustion Analysis – Engine Pressure Measurement for Research and Development - KISTLER - #5

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www.kistler.com 5 ...in 200 Steps This enables the company to offer specially optimized high-performance sensor packages with an extremely high level of accuracy and a long life. It all starts with an X-ray The orientation of the crystal lattice relative to the surfaces of a measuring element is the determining factor in the properties of the element. To ascertain the individual axes of the crystal and hence the planes on which the measuring elements are sliced, each crystal ingot is X-rayed before being processed. Only then is it sliced into thin wafers, an operation which takes up to 24 hours in itself. 100 % quality control at each step The small measuring elements come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and are formed from the wafers in numerous, mainly manual, intermediate steps. The crystal elements are cut, lapped, coated and re-lapped to the nearest micrometer. Kistler leaves nothing to chance. After each step, the measuring elements are cleaned and their dimensional accuracy and surface finish is checked. The same applies to all of the other individual parts, such as the case, diaphragm, insulator, contact spring, connector and so on. Assembly under cleanroom conditions The final assembly of the sensors amounts to precision engineering. It is performed under a microscope in a class 5 cleanroom environment. Here, precision and a steady hand are absolutely imperative as the smallest flaw makes a sensor unusable. Therefore each individual step has to be described with strict assembly instructions. Once the sensor has been completed, a laser is used to mark it with a "K" representing the brand, the type designation and the serial number. Final inspection then takes place before all of the data is saved under the sensor serial number in a database.