What is a transducer ?

The electrical transducer is a device which can be

used to convert a non-electrical physical quality like
temperature, sound or light… into an electrical signal
such as voltage and current. It can also be described as
a device which is capable to convert physical quantity
into a proportional electrical quantity such as current
and voltage. The transducer has two parts they are
the sensing element and transduction element. The
sensor is the sensing element and it will produce
measurable response to change in physical conditions
and the transduction element will convert the sensor
output to suitable output form.
It can convert one form of energy to another form

Classification of transducers?
 The primary and secondary transducer
 Active and passive transducer
 Analog and digital transducer
 Transducers and inverse transducers

Active Transducers - These transducers don’t need

any external power source for its operation so it can be
called as a self-generating type transducer and they
operate under the energy conversion principle. So it
does not require any external power source and
produce an analog voltage or current when stimulated
by some physical form of energy

Examples – thermocouple, photovoltaic cells,

thermopiles, piezoelectric
Passive Transducers - This type of transducer needs
an external power source for energy conversion. Mostly
a DC power supply or an audio frequency generator is
used as an external power source and the variation in
the resistance, capacitance, and inductance is the
output signal in response to the quantity being
measured.

Examples – thermistor, resistance strain gauge,

differential transformer

Primary and secondary transducers

Certain transducers have mechanical as well as an
electrical device, the mechanical device converts the
physical quantity to be measured into a mechanical
signal and such mechanical device is called as primary
transducers and they deal with the physical quantity to
be measured. The electrical device then converts this
mechanical signal into a corresponding electrical signal
such electrical signals are called secondary
transducers.

Transducers and inverse

transducers
A transducer can convert non-electrical quantity into
electrical quantity while an inverse transducer can
convert electrical quantity into a non-electric quantity
Analog and digital transducers
In an analog transducer with the variation of input,
there is a continuous variation of output. These type of
transducers converts the input quantity into an analog
output which is a continuous function of time examples
are a strain gauge, thermocouple, and thermistor. In
digital transducer with the variation of input, there is a
digital or discrete type of output examples are a digital
encoder, vibrating string transducer.

APPLICATIONS
Applications of transducer some are used in medicine
as sonograph machines in the medical field and there
are others which are used in music recording

 Used to determine the movement of muscle which

is called acceleromyograph.
 Measures the load on the engines
 Used to sense engine knock
Resistive Transducer
The transducer whose resistance varies because of
the environmental effects such type of transducer is
known as the resistive transducer. The change in
resistance is measured by the ac or dc measuring
devices. The resistive transducer is used for
measuring the physical quantities like
temperature, displacement, vibration etc.

The measurement of the physical quantity is quite

difficult. The resistive transducer converts the physical
quantities into variable resistance which is easily
measured by the meters. The process of variation in
resistance is widely used in the industrial applications.

The resistive transducer can work both as the primary

as well as the secondary transducer. The primary
transducer changes the physical quantities into a
mechanical signal, and secondary transducer directly
transforms it into an electrical signal.
Working Principle of Resistive Transducer
The resistive transducer element works on the principle
that the resistance of the element is directly
proportional to the length of the conductor and
inversely proportional to the area of the

conductor.

Where R – resistance in ohms.

A – cross-section area of the conductor in meter square.
L – Length of the conductor in meter square.
ρ – the resistivity of the conductor in materials in ohm
meter.

The resistive transducer is designed by considering the

variation of the length, area and resistivity of the metal.

Advantages of Resistive Transducer

The following are the advantages of the resistive
transducer.

 Both the AC and DC, current or voltage is

appropriate for the measurement of variable
resistance.
 The resistive transducer gives the fast response.
 It is available in various sizes and having a high
range of resistance.
 Inductive Transducer ?
A transducer that works on the principle of
electromagnetic induction or transduction
mechanism is called an inductive transducer. A
self-inductance or mutual inductance is varied to
measure required physical quantities like
displacement (rotary or linear), force, pressure,
velocity, torque, acceleration, etc. These physical
quantities are noted as measurands. Linear
Variable Differential Transducer (LVDT) is an
example of an inductive transducer. Using LVDT,
displacement is measured in terms of the voltage
induced in the winding by moving the core in one
direction.

Working Principle of Resistive Transducer

Generally, inductive transducers works on the principle
of change in self-inductance of one coil, change in
mutual inductance of two-coils and eddy current
production. The voltage difference and change in
inductance results due to the change in flux in the coils
(secondary or primary coils). The working principle of
the inductive transducer is explained below.

Change in Self-inductance

Consider the self-inductance of the coil be,

L = N2/R

The expression for the reluctance of the coil is,

R = l/µA
L = N2µA/l

L = N2µG

Where ‘N’ represents no. of turns

‘R’ represents the magnetic circuit’s reluctance

‘μ’ represents permeability of the coil (medium in and

around the coil)

G= A/l = geometric form factor

‘A’ represents a cross-section area of the coil

‘l’ represents the length of the coil

From the above equations, we can observe that self-

inductance can be varied or changed by changing the
no.of turns, or geometric form factor or permeability of
the coil.

The displacement can be measured directly in terms of

inductance by changing any of the above parameters
(turns, form factor, permeability). We can also calibrate
the instrument against measurand.

Change in Mutual Inductance

Inductive transducers also on the principle of mutual
inductance of multiple coils.

We consider the two coils, which have self-inductance

L1 and L2
The mutual inductance of the coils is given by,

M = K √L1L2

Where ‘K’ represents the coefficient of coupling.

Hence, the mutual inductance can be changed by

varying the self-inductance of the individual coils or by
changing the coefficient of coupling. The factor K
depends on the distance and orientation of the coils.

To measure the displacement, one coil is fixed and the

other coil is connected to a movable object. As the
object moves, the factor K changes, which results in a
change in mutual inductance in the coils. This change
can be calibrated in terms of displacement for an
instrument.

Eddy Current Production

The production of eddy current in the inductive
transducer can be varied by changing the conductive
plate placed near the coil. When the conductive plate is
placed near the coil that carries alternating current,
eddy currents are induced in the plate which has its
own magnetic field acts against the coil. The
conductive plate that carries circulating current is
called eddy current.

When the conductive plate is brought near to the coil,

then the eddy current is produced with its own
magnetic flux, which reduces the magnetic flux of the
coil and inductance. As the distance between the coil
and the conductive plate is decreased, higher eddy
currents are produced and more reduction in the
inductance of the coil and vice versa. Hence the change
in inductance can be measured by moving the
conductive plate. This Change can be calibrated to
measure the physical quantity called displacement in
an instrument.

Capacitive Transducer
The capacitive transducer is used for measuring the
displacement, pressure and other physical quantities. It
is a passive transducer that means it requires external
power for operation. The capacitive transducer works
on the principle of variable capacitances. The
capacitance of the capacitive transducer changes
because of many reasons like overlapping of plates,
change in distance between the plates and dielectric
constant.

The capacitive transducer uses the electrical quantity

of capacitance for converting the mechanical
movement into an electrical signal. The input quantity
causes the change of the capacitance which is directly
measured by the capacitive transducer.

Working of Capacitive Transducer

The above diagram indicates the capacitive transducer.
The working principle of a capacitive transducer is
variable capacitance. As per its structure, these are having two
parallel metal pates which are maintaining the distance
between them. In between them, dielectric medium (such as
air) can be filled. So, the distance between these two metal
plates and positions of the plates can change the capacitance.
So, variable capacitance is the principle of these transducers.
The basic difference between the normal capacitors and
capacitive transducers is, the capacitor plates are constant in
normal capacitors wherein these transducers, capacitor plates
are the movable condition.

capacitive-transducer

The capacitance of the variable capacitor can be measured by

this formula.

Capacitive-transducer-formula

In this formula:
C indicates the capacitance of the variable capacitance
εo indicates the permittivity of free space
εr indicates the relative permittivity
A indicates the area of the plates
D indicates the distance between the plates

So according to the formula, the variable capacitance value is

dependent on four important parameters. They are the distance
between the plates of the variable capacitor, occupying area of
the plates, permittivity of the free space, relative permittivity and
dielectric material.

LVDT
The term LVDT stands for the Linear Variable Differential
Transformer. It is the most widely used inductive transducer
that converts the linear motion into the electrical signal.

The output across secondary of this transformer is the

differential thus it is called so. It is very accurate inductive
transducer as compared to other inductive transducers.
Principle of Operation and Working
As the primary is connected to an AC source so alternating
current and voltages are produced in the secondary of the
LVDT. The output in secondary S1 is e1 and in the secondary S2
is e2. So the differential output is,

This equation explains the principle of Operation of LVDT.

Now three cases arise according to the locations of core which

explains the working of LVDT are discussed below as,
 CASE I When the core is at null position (for no
displacement)
When the core is at null position then the flux linking
with both the secondary windings is equal so the
induced emf is equal in both the windings. So for no
displacement the value of output eout is zero as e1 and
e2 both are equal. So it shows that no displacement
took place.
 CASE II When the core is moved to upward of null
position (For displacement to the upward of reference
point)
In the this case the flux linking with secondary
winding S1 is more as compared to flux linking with
S2. Due to this e1 will be more as that of e2. Due to
this output voltage eout is positive.
  CASE III When the core is moved to downward of
Null position (for displacement to the downward of
the reference point). In this case magnitude of e2 will
be more as that of e1. Due to this output eout will be
negative and shows the output to downward of the
reference point.
Output VS Core Displacement A linear curve shows that output
voltage varies linearly with displacement of core.

Some important points about magnitude and sign of voltage

induced in LVDT
 The amount of change in voltage either negative or
positive is proportional to the amount of movement of
core and indicates amount of linear motion.
 By noting the output voltage increasing or decreasing
the direction of motion can be determined
 The output voltage of an LVDT is linear function of
core displacement .
What is an RTD (Resistance Temperature
Detector)?
A Resistance Temperature Detector (also known as a
Resistance Thermometer or RTD) is an electronic device
used to determine the temperature by measuring the resistance
of an electrical wire. This wire is referred to as a temperature
sensor. If we want to measure temperature with high accuracy,
an RTD is the ideal solution, as it has good linear
characteristics over a wide range of temperatures.

The variation of resistance of the metal with the variation of the

temperature is given as,

Where, Rt and R0 are the resistance values at toC and t0oC

temperatures. α and β are the constants depends on the
metals.
This expression is for huge range of temperature. For small
range of temperature, the expression can be,

In RTD devices; Copper, Nickel and Platinum are widely used

metals. These three metals are having different resistance
variations with respective to the temperature variations. That is
called resistance-temperature characteristics.
What is a Thermistor?
A thermistor (or thermal resistor) is defined as a type of
resistor whose electrical resistance varies with changes in
temperature. Although all resistors’ resistance will fluctuate
slightly with temperature, a thermistor is particularly sensitive to
temperature changes. Thermistors act as a passive component
in a circuit. They are an accurate, cheap, and robust way to
measure temperature.
While thermistors do not work well in extremely hot or cold
temperatures, they are the sensor of choice for many different
applications.
The circuit symbol for a thermistor is shown below:
Piezoresistors
Piezoresistors are semiconductor devices used in electrical
engineering to measure mechanical strain or pressure. These
resistors exhibit a change in electrical resistance when
subjected to mechanical stress, allowing them to convert
physical deformation into an electrical signal. Commonly made
from silicon, the piezoresistive effect enables precise sensing in
various applications, such as pressure sensors,
accelerometers, and force sensors. By leveraging the
piezoresistive properties, engineers can design compact and
sensitive devices for monitoring and controlling mechanical
forces in diverse electronic systems, ranging from consumer
electronics to industrial machinery.

The piezoresistive effect refers to the change in electrical

resistance in response to mechanical stress. Piezoresistors,
often made of silicon, exploit this effect to convert mechanical
deformation, like pressure or force, into an electrical signal.
This property is crucial in designing sensors and transducers
for precise detection and measurement in applications ranging
from pressure sensors to accelerometers.
Strain Gauges
A Strain gauge is a sensor whose resistance varies with
applied force; It converts force, pressure, tension, weight, etc.,
into a change in electrical resistance which can then be
measured. When external forces are applied to a stationary
object, stress and strain are the result. Stress is defined as the
object's internal resisting forces, and strain is defined as the
displacement and deformation that occur.
The strain gauge is one of the most important tools of the
electrical measurement technique applied to the measurement
of mechanical quantities. As their name indicates, they are
used for the measurement of strain. As a technical term "strain"
consists of tensile and compressive strain, distinguished by a
positive or negative sign. Thus, strain gauges can be used to
pick up expansion as well as contraction.

Angular Velocity Tranducers and opto-

electrical transducer
Not available refer sir notes
Difference Between Transducer &
Inverse Transducer
One of the major difference between the transducer and the
inverse transducer is that the transducer changes the non-
electrical quantity into an electrical quantity while the inverse
transducer changes the electrical quantity into the non-
electrical quantity. He control action of the physical quantities
like flow, rate, position, speed, temperature, pressure etc.
depends on the measurement of the physical quantities. In
simple words, the control action of the physical quantity is
possible only when these quantities are correctly measured.
For measuring the physical quantities, it is essential to convert
it into an electrical signal, and this can be done with the help of
the transducer.

Basis For
Transducer Inverse Transducer
Comparison
Definition The transducer The inverse
converts the non- transducer converts
electrical quantity into the electrical quantity
an electrical quantity. into the non-electrical
quantity.
Input Non-electrical quantity Electrical quantity
Output Electrical quantity Non-electrical
quantity
Examples Photoconductive Piezoelectric
transducer, Transducer, current
Thermocouple, carrying conductor
Pressure gauge, strain placed in an magnetic
gauge field.