Silicon Designs Inc., a developer of rugged high-accuracy MEMS accelerometers for commercial, industrial and military applications, explains how MEMS DC accelerometers are essential for testing, validating and improving aerospace systems. Read more >>
Aerospace systems operate within extremely tight tolerances and in environments far more demanding than standard mechanical systems. To ensure reliability and safety, engineers rely on precise test data that verifies material, subsystem, and component performance.
MEMS DC accelerometers play a foundational role in this validation process, providing critical measurements during both ground testing and flight qualification.
Accelerometers evaluate how systems withstand shock and vibration, as well as supporting subsequent design decisions. These sensors capture motion signatures, highlighting fatigue, structural resonance, and potential failure risks.
Measurements like these are essential during aircraft development for certifying flight safety, as well as verifying performance where post-launch access is impossible in spacecraft testing. Reliable, high-resolution, and repeatable data is vital to mission success.
Vibration & Shock Analysis for Flight-Critical Systems
Before entering service, every aircraft undergoes rigorous vibration and shock testing to simulate aerodynamic stress, engine resonance, ground handling impacts, and operational load cycles.
Accelerometers used in these tests must deliver low-noise output across wide bandwidths and withstand repeated exposure to harsh mechanical conditions. MEMS DC accelerometers offer high linearity, consistent thermal performance, and strong resistance to electromagnetic interference, making them ideal for capturing high-frequency vibration signatures in complex electromechanical environments.
Silicon Designs’ test and measurement accelerometers, paired with advanced data acquisition systems, support fatigue life assessment, modal frequency identification, and motion profile analysis, crucial data engineers use to make clearance determinations.
Validating Spacecraft Performance
Spacecraft components face extreme demands, including launch shock, temperature extremes, and zero-gravity operation. MEMS accelerometers help verify that payload separation, deployment sequences, and subsystem functions occur within defined tolerances.
Compact MEMS designs, unlike traditional piezoelectric accelerometers, provide accurate frequency measurement down to DC, while maintaining the bias stability needed for long-duration missions. Their thermal resilience and signal integrity make them well-suited for extended exposure to environmental extremes.
Data-Driven Aerospace Design
Accelerometer data has evolved from a pass/fail validation tool to a critical enabler of continuous design optimization in aerospace development. Real-world motion, vibration, and structural response data inform simulation models, test environments, and design refinement.
Modern MEMS DC accelerometers deliver consistent measurement performance under diverse static and dynamic loading conditions, ensuring accurate data across all stages of testing and engineering. As aerospace systems become more software-driven and data-reliant, high-fidelity motion data is essential for optimizing designs, reducing physical prototypes, and accelerating development cycles.
Testing & Certification
Every data point guiding aerospace engineering decisions begins with an accelerometer. In certification and validation programs, selecting the right sensor has program-wide implications.
Silicon Designs’ accelerometers are purpose-built for environments where long-term stability, noise performance, and resilience are essential. These sensors provide the measurement certainty required to move confidently from testing to certification during the validation of aerospace systems.
For engineers designing or validating aerospace components, Silicon Designs offers MEMS DC accelerometers engineered to meet the exacting standards of aerospace testing and qualification environments.
