High Impact and Pyroshock Application

One system | No compromises.

Tackle High Impact Test Application with no Worries at Ease.
Pyroshock and mechanical shock events last milliseconds and destroy conventional measurement chains. MEQ delivers the complete system built from the ground up for this exact challenge.

Computer Methods develops and operates PhoenixKonnect, a powerful platform for data acquisition, control, and analysis, specifically designed for demanding shock and vibration testing in the aerospace and automotive industries.

PhoenixKonnect enables precise, synchronized acquisition of highly dynamic signals, ensuring reliable capture of critical test events.

The software integrates seamlessly with the Mecalc ALI25 data acquisition module, which features a sampling rate of 5 MSa/s at 24-bit resolution, an exceptionally flat frequency response up to 2 MHz, and a high slew rate for accurate recording of fast transient events.

In addition to data acquisition, PhoenixKonnect offers extensive post-processing capabilities. Custom Python scripts can be integrated directly into the workflow, while acquired data remains fully compatible with MATLAB-based analysis tools such as Kornucopia, which is specifically designed for evaluating noisy physical test data.

Existing high-speed systems, including the SD VX2824x and SD VX2805x, can continue to be utilized and integrated into modern test environments, protecting previous investments while extending system capabilities.

The MEQ offers the fully integrated, tested and proven system solution for Pyro Shock Testing
You want to record thousands of channel? No problem! The scalable Architecture enables for the most complex test setups you need.
A close partnership makes the difference. The combination of Computer Methods’ powerful software and Mecalc’s precision hardware provides a robust solution for testing turbines, engines, and structural components under dynamic loading conditions. PhoenixKonnect offers an intuitive software environment for system control, channel and signal validation, data acquisition, analysis, and long-term data management. It supports the simultaneous acquisition of both transient and streaming data from multiple sources, ensuring comprehensive test coverage and efficient workflows. For advanced post-processing and automation, custom Python scripts can be integrated directly into the analysis workflow. In addition, Kornucopia, a MATLAB-based analysis toolkit specifically developed for physical test data, can be used to further evaluate, process, and interpret measurement results.

Through every layer of integration we focus on the one problem

Get the Data & Getting it Right!

Hardware · DAQ

QuantusSeries module | Industry's first 5 MSa/s 24-bit digitiser for pyroshock. 21 M sample on-board buffer. Fire-and-forget autonomous operation. 2 to 1000+ channels synchronised via PTP.

Software · Acquisition

PhoenixKonnect by Computer Methods Touch-compliant control, channel validation, triggered capture, post-processing pipeline, and full data traceability from sensor to archive in one environment.

Analysis · Post-processing

Kornucopia by Bodie Technology Advanced shock analysis, PVSS computation, and salvage algorithms — including the VelDisp HP method for recovering valid velocity and displacement from shock data.

Sensing · Transducer

PCB / Endevco PR Piezoresistive sensors Super-lightweight piezoresistive accelerometers with no DC bias, no zero shift, and a DC-coupled bridge output that matches the ALI25's conditioning chain perfectly.

5M Sa/s

24-bit

2 MHz

24-bit

  • flat bandwidth response over 2 MHz, slew rates exceeding 50 V/µs,
  • built-in signal conditioning for bridge-type transducers
  • compatible with long-standing industry hardware such as the SD VX2824x and VX2805x, extending the life of existing high-speed transient capture systems

Why conventional DAQ fails at the moment of impact

Pyroshock events — explosive bolt separation, stage deployment, ordnance firing — create near-instantaneous force spikes with frequency content that reaches well beyond 100 kHz. Most test systems were not designed for this. The result is corrupted data you cannot trust, or data you never capture at all.

The invisible problem with shock measurement
Research by Dr. Ted Diehl at Bodie Technology compared PR and IEPE sensors across beam impact tests. The findings directly validate why the MEQ system chooses piezoresistive sensors and provides the Kornucopia post-processing chain for shock.
DC bias and zero shift

IEPE sensors contaminate signals with low-frequency drift. Velocity and displacement traces become physically implausible after integration.

Insufficient bandwidth

A standard 204.8 kSa/s system aliases pyroshock energy. You need at least 1 MHz flat response to capture the full event.

No anti-alias protection

No anti-alias protection
Without 100 dB+ attenuation at the ADC clock frequency, energy above the Nyquist folds back and destroys the measurement.

Lost pre-trigger data

Without deep on-board memory, the critical microseconds before the trigger event are gone before the system can react.

 

Why use Mecalc Hardware? The ALI25 data acquisition module was developed in close collaboration with Computer Methods specifically for broadband, high-frequency, high-amplitude mechanical shock events and other highly dynamic test applications. It is designed to capture shock test data with exceptional signal fidelity, even under the most demanding conditions. Featuring 24-bit analog-to-digital converters operating at up to 5 MSa/s, integrated anti-aliasing filters, and built-in signal conditioning, the ALI25 delivers clean and reliable measurement data during rapid transients and extreme load changes. Real-time triggering, fault detection, and individual channel sensor power supply provide test engineers with confidence that every critical event is captured completely and accurately. The ALI25 is particularly well suited for mechanical shock and pyroshock testing, impact testing, Hopkinson bar experiments, and other time-critical, trigger-based applications where high-speed data acquisition and measurement integrity are essential.

What 24-bit at 5 MSa/s actually means for your test

Purpose-built for high-speed, broadband measurements, the ALI25 captures shock and transient events with uncompromised fidelity. Its 24-bit, 5 MSa/s ADCs, anti-alias filtering, and integrated signal conditioning ensure clean acquisition during even the most harsh transient events. With real-time trigger capabilities, fault detection, and per-channel excitation control, the ALI25 gives test engineers confidence that every critical event is captured and valid. Ideal for mechanical and pyro-shock testing, impact and Hopkinson bar testing, blast effects and time-critical trigger-based applications.

The ALI25 Module — As Core DAQ

The ALI25 is not a general-purpose DAQ card repurposed for shock. It was engineered specifically for high-impact transient acquisition, with every parameter chosen to preserve signal integrity under extreme conditions.

Mecalc 6Slot with ALI25 Modules
Independent science · Bodie Technology / Kornucopia

When the data seems bad, the analysis has to save it.

Research by Dr. Ted Diehl at Bodie Technology compared PR and IEPE sensors across beam impact tests. The findings directly validate why the MEQ system chooses piezoresistive sensors and provides the Kornucopia post-processing chain for shock.

4 important aspects to consider

IEPE sensors show unrecoverable low-frequency drift. 

Raw IEPE data produced velocity traces that ramped continuously upward and displacement values that grew to physically impossible scales — a clear sign of DC bias contamination in the sensor output.

PR sensors produce stable, integrable acceleration data.

The PCB/Endevco PR sensors (PR_7270A, PR_727) delivered acceleration traces that remained stable and retained recognisable beam motion characteristics even before post-processing.

The Kornucopia VelDisp salvage algorithm recovers what remains.

The combined HP-velocity-then-displacement approach produced closely matched velocity and displacement responses across all three sensors after processing, with oscillations that were stable and physically plausible.

Read more

PVSS alignment confirms signal integrity.

After VelDisp processing, Pseudo Velocity Shock Spectrum curves aligned closely across all sensors — dramatically improving low-frequency agreement and confirming that the complete MEQ system delivers credible, defensible shock data.

 

The right sensor for the right physics

Why piezoresistive — and why it matters

Sensor choice is not a secondary consideration in pyroshock measurement. It determines whether your data is recoverable at all. The MEQ system is designed around PCB and Endevco piezoresistive (PR) accelerometers because they are the only transducer technology that matches the demands of high-impact, DC-coupled acquisition.

PCB / Endevco super-light PR sensors

Bridge-based, DC-coupled output with no charge amplifier and no low-frequency bias. Extremely low mass minimises mass-loading effects on the test structure. Directly compatible with the ALI25's 4-wire bridge conditioning — excitation, sensing, and signal conditioning are all handled in hardware, not patched in software.

The cost of the wrong sensor

IEPE accelerometers are excellent for vibration work but inherently limited in shock. Their coupling capacitor blocks DC, corrupting the baseline before the event even starts. Integration to velocity and displacement produces drift that cannot be corrected with confidence — only salvaged probabilistically. The ALI25 supports ICP/IEPE inputs, but for pyroshock, PR is the only defensible choice.

Start you Testing the right way!

Contact MEQ Technologies to configure a pyroshock system for your application — from a compact 12-channel bench to a 1000+ channel multi-chassis deployment.

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