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Sensors and Transducers

1. An LVDT consists of a primary winding and two secondary windings wound on a cylindrical former, with a movable core inside. 2. Motion of the core induces voltages in the secondaries; the difference voltage is proportional to core position. 3. LVDTs have high sensitivity and linearity but are sensitive to stray fields and temperature. 4. Strain gauges, thermistors, and thermocouples are common transducers that convert non-electrical parameters into electrical signals proportional to the measured parameter.

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182 views

Sensors and Transducers

1. An LVDT consists of a primary winding and two secondary windings wound on a cylindrical former, with a movable core inside. 2. Motion of the core induces voltages in the secondaries; the difference voltage is proportional to core position. 3. LVDTs have high sensitivity and linearity but are sensitive to stray fields and temperature. 4. Strain gauges, thermistors, and thermocouples are common transducers that convert non-electrical parameters into electrical signals proportional to the measured parameter.

Uploaded by

WatashiNo
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPS, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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BKE 2263 / BTE 2063

Sensors and Transducers


Introduction
General:
 A transducer is any device that converts energy in
one form to energy in another form

Electrical transducer:
 A device/apparatus that converts non-electrical
physical parameters into electrical signals (i.e.
currents or voltages or frequencies) that are
proportional to the value of the physical parameter
being measured
Introduction
Strain Gauge
 Uses electrical variations in wires to sense the strain produced by a
force on the wires
L
R
A
where R = resistance ()
 = sensitivity of conductor (-m)
L = length (m)
A = cross-sectional area of conductor (m2)
Strain Gauge
 Piezoresistivity: a change in electrical resistance of a conductor
due to changes in length and cross-sectional area.
Strain Gauge
 Gauge Factor, S
sensitivity of the strain gauge:

R / R
S
L / L
where S = gauge factor
R = initial resistance ()
ΔR = change in initial resistance ()
L = initial length (m)
ΔL = change in initial length (m)
Strain Gauge
also,
unit strain, G = ΔL/L
therefore,
R / R
S
G
 The gauge factor can be expressed in terms of length and diameter of the
conductor:

 d / d 
S  1  2  ; d = diameter
 L / L 
Strain Gauge
Unbonded strain gauge
 Force F1 increases the tension force from normal and force F2
decreases the normal tension
Strain Gauge
Unbonded strain gauge
Strain Gauge Circuitry
Strain Gauge Circuitry
 In figure (a), strain gauge element of resistance R is placed in series
with a fixed resistance R1 across voltage source E
 When transducer at rest (zero-stimulus condition),
R
E0  E
R  R1
 When the element is stimulated, its resistance changes a small
amount ΔR,

R  R
E0  E
( R  R)  R1
Strain Gauge Circuitry
 In figure (b), strain gauge is connected in series with a constant
current source, hence
 E0 = IR; non-stimulated condition
 E0 = I(R±ΔR); stimulated condition

 In any transducer system, we want E0 = 0 in zero stimulus condition


and take a value proportional to the stimulus when the stimulus is
nonzero
 use Wheatstone bridge
Strain Gauge Circuitry
Strain Gauge Circuitry
 Figure shows two strain gauge elements SG1 and SG2 form
two bridge arms and fixed resistors R1 and R2 form another
two arms
 Actions of SG1 and SG2 oppose each other, that is under
stimulus condition, SG1 with R+ΔR and SG2 with R-ΔR, or vice
versa
 To enhance sensitivity, two or four strain gauges are applied to the
Wheatstone bridge
 Usually, all strain gauge elements will have the same resistance
between 100  to 1000 
Strain Gauge Circuitry
 The output:

ER
for 1 active element, E0  Where:
4R E0 = output potential (V)
ER E = excitation potential (V)
for 2 active elements, E0 
2R R = resistance of all bridge
arms ()
ER
for 4 active elements E0  ΔR = change in the resistance
R under stimulus ()
Temperature Transducer
 Only two basic types will be discussed
 thermistor
 thermocouple

 Metals and most conductors will change electrical resistance with


changes in temperature

Rt  R0 1    T  T0  
where Rt = resistance of conductor at temperature T ()
R0 = resistance of conductor at temperature T 0 ()
T = temperature of the conductor (°C)
T0 = previous temperature of the conductor (°C)
α = temperature coefficient of the material (°C-1)
Thermistors
 Ceramic semiconductors used to make thermistors can have either a
negative or positive temperature coefficients depending upon their
composition
  1 1 
Rt  R0 exp     
  T T0 
where Rt = resistance of conductor at temperature T ()
R0 = resistance of conductor at temperature T0 ()
T = thermistor temperature in kelvin (K)
T0 = reference temperature in kelvin (K)
β = property material used to make the thermistor
(normally between 1500 K and 7000 K)
Thermistors

Thermistor temperature vs Resistance curve


Thermocouple
 When two wires of different metals are joint together at one
end, a temperature difference between this end and the other
end of the wires produces a voltage between the wires

 Magnitude of this voltage depends on


i) materials used for the wires
ii) amount of temperature difference between the joined ends
Thermocouple
Linear Variable Differential
Transformer (LVDT)
Linear Variable Differential
Transformer (LVDT)
Linear Variable Differential
Transformer (LVDT)
Linear Variable Differential
Transformer (LVDT)
 The most widely used inductive transducer to translate linear motion
into electrical signal
 It consists of a single primary winding, P1 and two secondary windings,
S1 and S2, wound on a cylindrical former
 The secondary windings have equal number of turns and are
identically placed on either side of the primary
 The primary winding is connected to an ac current source
 A movable soft iron core is placed inside the former
 The measurement to be measured is attached to the soft iron core
 When the core is in the normal (null) position, equal voltages are
induced in the two secondary windings
 The output voltage of the secondary S1 = ES1 and S2 = ES2
Linear Variable Differential
Transformer (LVDT)
 In order to convert the outputs from S1 and S2 into a single voltage
signal, the two secondaries S1 and S2 are connected in series
opposition
 The output voltage of the transformer is the difference of the two
voltages
 When the core is moved to the left of the null position,
 more flux lines with winding S1 and less with S2
 the output voltage, ES1 is bigger than ES2
 the magnitude of the output voltage is ES1 – ES2
 The amount of voltage is proportional to the amount of movement of
the core
Linear Variable Differential
Transformer (LVDT)
Advantages
 Linearity

 Infinite resolution

 High sensitivity

 Ruggedness

 Simple construction, lightweight and easy to maintain

Disadvantages
 Sensitive to stray magnetic field

 Inherently low in power output

 Performance affected by temperature

 Receiving instrument must be selected to operate a signal


Linear Variable Differential
Transformer (LVDT)
Example 1

An LVDT produces an rms output voltage of 2 V for a displacement of 500


x 10-6 mm. Calculate the sensitivity of LVDT in µV/mm. The 2 V output of
the LVDT is read on a 5 V voltmeter which has a scale with 100 divisions.
The scale can be read to 0.2 division. Calculate the resolution of the
instrument in mm.
Linear Variable Differential
Transformer (LVDT)
Example 2

The output of LVDT is connected to a 5 V voltmeter through an amplifier


whose amplification factor is 250. An output of 2 mV appears across the
terminal of LVDT when the core moves through a distance of 0.5 mm.
Calculate the sensitivity of the LVDT and that of the whole setup. The
millivoltmeter scale has 100 divisions and can be read to 1/5 of a division.
Calculate the resolution of the instrument in mm.

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