DirectShear Control Unit H2U

Product Description

The CSU-1001-H2U AC/DC Capacitive Sensor Unit (CSU) is a fully integrated analog synchronous modulation/demodulation system that provides the ability to measure mean and fluctuating quantities of interest, e.g., wall shear stress or pressure, using a capacitive sensor. The CSU provides low-noise power to the sensor head and conditions the analog voltage signal received from the sensor head for output to a data acquisition system. Capacitive sensing at DC is achieved by shifting the sensor baseband frequencies to a modulated signal and demodulating the returned signal from the sensor, enabling simultaneous real-time measurement of both mean and dynamic components.

Additional Required Equipment

The following additional components and specifications are recommended for AC and DC testing/calibration with the capacitive sensor control unit:

CSU-compatible capacitive sensor head and cable
RG58 coaxial cable with BNC connectors
Data acquisition system (DAQ) – ac/dc measurement
Sensing Range: ±1, ±5, ±10V – sensor dependent (see datasheet)
Resolution: 18+ bits
Sampling frequency:
- Sensor dependent w/ analog filter between sensor output and analog-to-digital converter (ADC)
- 100+ kS/s w/o analog filter
Digital multimeter – DC measurement only
- 6.5 digits with power line cycle (PLC) integration
- DAQ or PC connection (e.g., GPIB)

What is the typical application for DirectShear-Capacitive Sensors?

DirectShear-Capacitive Sensors are typically used in low-speed wind tunnel testing applications.

Does each sensor need its own control unit?

Yes. Each sensor requires a dedicated control unit and each unit supports a single sensor at a time; however, multiple sensors can be paired with a single control unit in cases where spares or different sensor types are desired. Engineering services are available for customers who desire custom configurations of control units to support multiple sensors.

DirectShear Control Unit