The development of a dual-warhead impact system for dynamic linearity measurement of a high-g micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) accelerometer

Despite its extreme significance, dynamic linearity measurement for high-g accelerometers has not been discussed experimentally in previous research. In this study, we developed a novel method using a dual-warhead Hopkinson bar to measure the dynamic linearity of a high-g acceleration sensor with a laser interference impact experiment. First, we theoretically determined that dynamic linearity is a performance indicator that can be used to assess the quality merits of high-g accelerometers and is the basis of the frequency response. We also found that the dynamic linearity of the dual-warhead Hopkinson bar without an accelerometer is 2.5% experimentally. Further, we verify that dynamic linearity of the accelerometer is 3.88% after calibrating the Hopkinson bar with the accelerometer. The results confirm the reliability and feasibility of measuring dynamic linearity for high-g accelerometers using this method.