BERU develops and produces new sensors for modern turbochargers
With its distance sensors for turbochargers, the Ludwigsburg supplier provides further evidence of its development and production expertise.
Ludwigsburg, May 26, 2009 - BERU sensor technology solutions are individually tailored to suit their use in the vehicle, and they are deployed by many renowned vehicle manufacturers. The latest BERU developments in its range of movement-measuring sensors include a distance sensor for Fiat’s 1.3 litre Diesel engine with turbo charger, installed in the Grande Punto and the Fiat 500, among others. The new BERU products are based on a magneto-static principle and, in turbo chargers with variable turbine geometries, they measure the setting of the pneumatic actuators that are responsible for adjusting the turbine blades to enable the boost pressure to be regulated. The new BERU distance sensors are adjusted precisely to the turbo charger, which is supplied to Fiat by BorgWarner. They are calibrated not at the vehicle, but rather at the turbo-charger itself. It means that automotive manufacturers do not need to carry out expensive calibration operations to the engine control unit.
BERU distance sensors: high flexibility thanks to modular system
Temperatures of up to 180 degrees Celsius and enormous mechanical loads place high demands on measuring elements and on the housings for new distance sensors. This is why BERU uses Duroplast for the housing. Duroplast is a plastic which undergoes a hardening process to ensure that it will almost never deform. Its advantage: low expansion and temperature coefficients and thus good stability of form. “However, Duroplasts are of extremely low viscosity and are processed on tools at up to 200 degrees Celsius,” explained Dipl. Ing. Ulrich Schneider, Product Manager for Sensors at BERU AG in Ludwigsburg. “This situation sets maximum requirements for accuracy and density.” The structure of the sensor is based on a modular principle. This means that with a minor alteration, they can be applied without problems to other turbo chargers.
BERU sensor systems: Many innovations from a single source
In the sensor product segment BERU provides its customers with comprehensive services from a single source. “We understand ourselves to be a development partner to the international automotive industry and automotive suppliers,” explained sensor specialist Schneider. “It means that customers benefit from our experience covering more than 30 years in the sensor sector and from our enormous manufacturing expertise in the fields of metal processing and plastics engineering.” The BERU product range concentrates on innovative sensor solutions for the power train and exhaust system. These include:
- Temperature sensors for applications in Diesel particle filters, oxidation catalytic converters, SCR systems, NOx storage cats and turbo chargers such as the new BERU high temperature sensor HTS, for a measurement range of 40 to 950 degrees Celsius.
- Movement sensors such as speed sensors, distance and angle sensors,
- SMART sensors with intelligent electronics such as the radiator identification sensor (RIS), developed by BERU.
In its sensor production facilities, BERU has access to a flexible combination of manufacturing and development at locations in Germany and in Ireland. With its innovations BERU is always meeting new technical requirements, such as smaller engines, and also increased customer demands for an expansion of the testing facilities of new and innovative sensor products - necessary from the point of view of quality - at the same time reducing development times, at its Research and Development Centre (R&D) in Ludwigsburg. At the Research and Development centre at the Ludwigsburg headquarters, BERU offers its partners services from a single source: from the development and selection of material, covering high-performance prototype manufacturing through to testing on dedicated test benches, and to the electromagnetic compatibility specification (EMC) at the R&D Center.
