Computational Experiments on the Step and Frequency Responses of a Three-Axis Thermal Accelerometer

The sensor response has been reported to become highly nonlinear when the acceleration added to a thermal accelerator is very large, so the same response can be observed for two accelerations with different magnitudes and opposite signs. Some papers have reported the frequency response for the horizontal acceleration to be a first-order system, while others have reported it to be a second-order system. The response for the vertical acceleration has not been studied. In this study, computational experiments were performed to examine the step and frequency responses of a three-axis thermal accelerometer. The results showed that monitoring the temperatures at two positions and making use of cross-axis sensitivity allow a unique acceleration to be determined even when the range of the vertical acceleration is very large (e.g., −10,000–10,000 g). The frequency response was proven to be a second-order system for horizontal acceleration and a third-order system for vertical acceleration.