MARINE 

The same technology which Kulite developed and refined in the course of revolutionizing the aircraft pressure transducer industry, is also ideally suited to solve the problems posed by the harsh shipboard environment. Kulite produces pressure transducers that are fully compliant with several different U.S. Navy Pressure Transducer Specifications. These transducers have been fully tested for such compliance. Reports on the testing have been written, submitted and approved.

The Kulite all-welded, hermetically sealed, true vented gage pressure transducer meets the strictest Navy requirements with regard to enclosure, splash-proofness, salt spray and humidity. The extremely low mass of the solid-state, monocrystalline silicon diaphragm yields a device with excellent tolerance of environmental shock and vibration. This same characteristic of the Kulite sensor also accounts for its extremely fast response. The stiffness of the monocrystalline silicon material renders the device insensitive to changes in inclination for all but the lowest pressure ranges.

The fabrication techniques employed by Kulite allow strict control of the geometrical relationships among the four arms of the Wheatstone Bridge, as well as between this bridge and the active, monocrystalline silicon diaphragm. This control results in a device with a combined non-linearity, hysteresis and non-repeatablility error of no more than 0.1% of full scale. Because the device is a true solid-state component, the output characteristics of a completed Kulite transducer will not change over time by more than 0.1% per year on a random, non-cumulative basis. This silicon sensor, with its high natural gage factor, has infinite resolution. It provides an analog output, which changes in direct proportion to the smallest changes in system pressure.

The extremely accurate and stable Kulite sensor is coupled with an electronics assembly. This assembly contains a precision voltage reference to the Wheatstone bridge, appropriate signal conditioning (voltage amplification, voltage to current conversion or voltage to frequency conversion) and RFI/EMI protection to the transducer circuit.

In addition to transducers for shipboard use, Kulite also manufactures transducers which are fully submersible to 3000 meters for use in subsea applications.