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Engineers have long been searching for reliable and repeatable methods to measure thin gaps between 0.010" (0.254mm) and 0.125" (3.18mm). Mechanical contact methods such as feeler gauges, shims and calipers had long been the only available method to measure gaps, even in areas where damage could be caused to polished or sensitive surfaces. Capacitec has eliminated the requirement for the operator's "feel" inherent in feeler gauges by developing a broad line of non contact industrial gap sensors as well as a new portable gap measurement tool named GAPMAN®. These modern Capacitec non contact methods now provide engineers with excellent repeatability with the added ease of digitally stored data for use in today's advanced quality control systems.
Maintaining the perfect alignment of a particle detector in a gap measuring only 0.050" (1.3mm), at 300°F (150°C) and in a chamber exposed to 2 tesla magnetic field along with 107 RADS of radiation is not a job for your average displacement sensor. Fortunately, Capacitec is not a supplier of average displacement sensors - our sensors thrive in harsh environments. Capacitec model HPB sensors were indeed installed directly in the chamber of this particle accelerator at CERN where the sensors have performed flawlessly since the late 1980s. Another nasty sensor environment can be found inside a gas turbine engine rotating from 30k to 150k rpm. Here again Capacitec sensors sustain this challenging environment while taking critical blade tip clearance measurements at 1600°F (871°C).
Significant scientific and engineering enhancements in advanced materials, Pre-and In-Process production methods and in-situ testing methods are driving the demand for displacement sensors that can handle extremely high temperatures up to 1832°F (1000°C). Contemporary producers of continuous flow steel, plate glass and plastics now use off-the-shelf high temperature Capacitec sensor solutions for in-process applications to control the quality of their production on a real time basis. Qualification testing of disc brakes, jet engine dynamics and high speed shaft rotations also rely on Capacitec sensors. Advanced materials for automobiles, structural components, and aircraft are also tested for strength and durability with the use of Capacitec's line of extensometers and clip gauges.
Microprocessor chips have found their way into a surprisingly high number of products that are around us every day in our home, car and office. This explosion in worldwide demand has forced semiconductor manufacturers to enhance quality and thru-put in ways never before imagined. Capacitec's microinch level positioning sensing systems assist chip processing and handling equipment manufacturers to sense silicon wafers for exact positioning prior to deposition, etching and other processing. This is accomplished without coming into contact or damaging their highly sensitive surfaces. Other industries where sensitive surfaces must be measured, damage free, are printing presses, photocopier rollers, computer hard disc drives and molten materials.
• Adhesive coatings
• Film manufacturing
• Plastic extrusions
• Automotive & Aircraft
assembly
• Packaging materials
• Nuclear fuel rod gaps
• Photocopiers / Printing
• Tooling dimensions
• Disc brake testing
• Silicon Wafer processing
• Metal and Glass forming
• Jet engine thermal
expansion
• Material strength testing
• Mold separation
• Turbine testing
• Particle accelerators
• Linear inductive motors
• Diesel fuel injectors
• Gas turbine blade tip
clearance
• Vibration measurements
to 200 kHz
• Turbochargers
• High vacuum and
Cryogenic Processes
• Silicon Wafer deposition
& etching
• Silicon Wafer proximity
• Wafer cutting/processing
• Robot arm control
• Computer hard disc drives
• Printing Press/Photocopiers
• Tooling
parallelism/alignment
Gap measurement
Out of round profile
Displacement
diameter
(one or two axes)
measurement
measurement
(amplitude & frequency)