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Mass changes are a key performance indicator in many experiments: absorption into or delamination of a coating for example. Direct visualization with high powered x-ray is an option Coanda has used, but a conceptually simpler option is to simply weigh the assembly. Sometimes implementation might be non-trivial: for instance, if changes are small compared to the minimum assembly weight, or if the assembly is sensitive to air and must be left in place.

Coanda has achieved real-world repeatability as good as 10 g on 100 kg (0.01%) on air-sensitive assemblies inside high-temperature, high-flow, and high-pressure processes. This has been achieved via mechanisms that allow the assembly to be quickly decoupled in-situ and adjusted to hang freely through tiny gaps (monitored electrically for contact), such that measurements could be completed faster than the diffusion timescale. Integrating this to efficiently switch between a calibration mass and the test assembly means that sources of drift on standard high-quality industrial load cells (such as nonlinearity, creep, hysteresis, and temperature variation) can be compensated for – meeting spec without a (more expensive) mass comparator.