Multi-Sine is a new type of Sine test which facilitates multiple sine tones sweeping simultaneously at once. In automotive testing, engine mounted components such as fuel lines, turbos, headers, sensors, heatshield… are all subjected to high vibration levels during their operational life cycle. High cycle fatigue testing of engine mounted components is often done with a standard Swept Sine test. By performing a Swept Sine test, all resonances within the frequency ranges are excited and measured. Since the greatest fatigue damage happens at the excitation frequency and is also potentially high near these resonances, it is important to measure the vibration level at these frequencies. The standard Swept Sine only sweeps one frequency at a time with a single tracking filter. To test for fatigue, multiple sweeps need to be carried out for the entire frequency range at multiple times during a multiple sweeping rate.

Shock Response Spectrum (SRS) Analysis is one of the most often-used methods in Shock and pyro-shock analysis. Recently, Virgin Orbit, a newly formed company under Virgin Groups that target at advanced small satellite business, started to use Crystal Instruments’ Spider-80X to acquire the shock vibration and SRS analysis.

The phrase “Good things come in small packages” is true! Small satellites, also known as CubeSats, are being launched at a record pace with the successful February 15, 2017 launch of 104 satellites of which 88 were Planet Labs’ Dove satellites collectively known as Flock‐3p, aboard an Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India. This amazing launch followed the successful June 22, 2016 launch of 12 Planet Labs’ Flock‐2p satellites from the Satish Dhawan Space Center. These spacecraft are shoebox‐sized satellites placed into lower Earth orbit to provide imaging data.

Crystal Instruments Corporation recently received a large order from SpaceX for multiple high channel count vibration control systems. Each vibration control system will be bundled with advanced application software. This is thus far the biggest contract awarded to Crystal Instruments by SpaceX. During the procurement process, SpaceX engineers conducted detailed reviews of products from Crystal Instruments and compared those with options from several different providers. The final decision made was based on the availability of functions, actual testing performance, and the capability of onsite support.