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Assessment of Surface Roughness Using LVDT: A Convenient and Inexpensive

Way of Measuring Surface Irregularities

Conference Paper · January 2017

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 International Conference on Mechanical, Industrial and Materials Engineering 2017 (ICMIME2017)
28-30 December, 2017, RUET, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.

Paper ID: AM-95

Assessment of Surface Roughness Using LVDT: A Convenient and

Inexpensive Way of Measuring Surface Irregularities
Sanjida Nasreen, Md.Rokunuzzaman, Samarjith Biswas
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology
E-mail:[email protected]

Abstract

Surface Roughness is a key factor in designing systems as it determines how objects will interact with
environment. Surface Roughness measurement can be technically challenging as well as exorbitant. In this
paper we develop an efficient and cost-effective approach to surface roughness measurement with Linear
Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT). Our approach displays the output using Liquid Character Display
(LCD) with standard deviations. The numerical evaluation is based on Center Line Average (CLA) method. We
use state-of-the-art microcontroller and other relevant electronics to calibrate the data perceived by sensors.
We use output voltage from LVDT as the input to microcontroller to measure vertical displacement and surface
roughness. Our proposed approach provides promising and competitive output in terms of accuracy while
incurring low costs and execution time. Utilization of LVDT and microcontroller make our proposed approach
easily replicable which makes it applicable in industrial production and laboratory.

Keywords: LVDT, CLA, LCD, Arduino, Surface Roughness, Microcontroller.

1. Introduction
In demonstrating the quality of a surface, surface topography assumes an imperative part. In quality control of
machining workpiece, manufacturing industry, it should be within certain limit [1]. Surface roughness
measuring can be carried out by means of different measurement techniques like Inductance method, Ultrasound
& Electronic speckle correlation method [2, 3]. The displacement sensor LVDT can be a convenient device to
assist in measuring surface repulsiveness. Advances in microelectronics, manufacturing methodologies and
construction materials have significantly improved the performance and cost efficiency of LVDT position
sensor [4]. Since its commercial introduction more than 60 years earlier, the LVDT linear position sensor has
developed from its underlying use as a laboratory tool to becoming the preferred innovation for critical and
reliable linear displacement measurements in industrial, military, aerospace, subsea, downhole drilling, nuclear
power and process control application. Now its application extends in many categories. Like, the right stroke for
hydraulic applications, position measurement of steam control valves, petroleum extraction, in ATM machines
measuring money is correctly dispensed, in flight control systems for military and commercial aircraft etc. In
this venture microcontroller based hardware with LVDT sensor is designed and arranged to check the surface
roughness in modern production lines and research centre. LVDT is a high exactness position indicator which
can quantify the asperity of surface accurately and the roughness of surface is measured by a microcontroller to
demonstrate the outcome carefully [8]. So, it can be an initiative to use in the laboratory to measure the surface
roughness as well as in production zone of various industries. Its application may extend in many categories by
applying different program in the microcontroller. It is pollution free and power consumption is low.

2. System Overview
The wooden frame supporting the LVDT system and other electronics used in the experiment are shown in
Figure 1 & 2. Figure 3 illustrates the system overview. The LVDT was kept fixed in the frame and a rough
surface ware allowed to slide under it, which helps to calibrate the LVDT. A step-down transformer was used to
convert 220 V to 24V & three windings; iron core was used to generate magnetic flux. For alteration of
magnetic flux, change of voltage was noticed with various position change of iron core over the rough surface.
When, the flux linkage through an electric conductor changes, a voltage is induced in the conductor. In case of
LVDT, an object of ferromagnetic material was moved within the flux path which in effect changes the
reluctance of the flux path and brings about the change in flux linkage. Thus, mechanical energy (used in
moving the ferromagnetic material) was directly converted into electrical energy. The secondary terminal of the
LVDT (connected to the multimeter) showed the voltage output. This voltage output was taken as input by
digital pin A0.

Figure1: Main experimental setup

AC transformer digital Multimeter LVDT ATmega8 Arduino LCD

Figure 2: Various parts of the project

Figure 3: System Overview

2.1 Construction of LVDT

The transformer's internal structure consists of a primary winding centered between a pair of identically wound
secondary windings, symmetrically spaced about the primary. The coils are wound on a one-piece hollow spool.
This coil assembly is the stationary element of the position sensor. The moving element of an LVDT is a
separate tubular armature of magnetically permeable material called the core, which is free to move axially
within the coil's hollow bore, and mechanically coupled to the object whose position is being measured. This
bore is typically large enough to provide substantial radial clearance between the core and bore, with no

2
physical contact between it and the coil. In operation, the LVDT's primary winding is energized by alternating
current of appropriate amplitude and frequency, known as the primary excitation. The LVDT's electrical output
signal is the differential AC voltage between the two secondary windings, which varies with the axial position
of the core within the LVDT coil. This AC output voltage is converted by an electronic circuitry to high level
DC voltage or current. Schematic view of LVDT construction and circuit diagram is given in Figure 4
respectively in (a) & (b).

Figure 4: Construction (a) and circuit diagram (b) of LVDT

2.2 Circuit Configuration

To measure and show the result digitally, a microcontroller ATmega8 & LCD digital display is used. In 16*2
LCD display, 6 pin interfaces from 16 pins with the microcontroller. Figure 5 shows the LCD display and its
configuration.
The circuit:
● LCD RS pin to digital pin 7
● LCD Enable pin to digital pin 6
● LCD D4 pin to digital pin 5
● LCD D5 pin to digital pin 4
● LCD D6 pin to digital pin 3
● LCD D7 pin to digital pin 2
● LCD R/W pin to ground (digital pin 8)

Figure 5: Configuring LCD & microcontroller

To power the microcontroller, 5 V DC supply is needed and the conversion of 24V AC to 5V DC is described in
Figure 6. A step-down AC transformer converts 220V AC to 24V AC. A bridge circuit rectifies 24V AC to 24V
DC. But, this is pulsating. So, to filter this, a capacitor is used. An IC LM7805 gives constant 5V DC from 24V
DC.

Figure 6: Circuit diagram for 5V DC output

2.3. Communication
In Arduino, the software used on the host computer is known as an integrated development environment, or IDE
The development environment is based on the open source processing platform, which is described by its
creators as a “programming language and environment for people who want to program images, animation, and
interactions [6]. Arduino UNO as shown in Figure 7 was used in this project to compile the program for
microcontroller ATmega8 and LCD character display to calibrate & show the displacement and roughness from
the output voltage of LVDT.

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 Figure 7: Arduino UNO

The Arduino program contains two main parts: setup () and loop (). The name of the functions implies their
purpose and activity: setup () sets up the Arduino hardware, such as specifying which I/O lines is planned to use,
and whether they are inputs or outputs. The loop () function is repeated endlessly when the Arduino runs.
Arduino IDE (Integrated development environment) is used to write the program and dump into the Arduino
board. The program was written and dumped into the Arduino.

3. Calibration of LVDT
When, D is displacement and V is output voltage. Then, the relation is D = VC ………………. (1)
Where, C is the constant or sensitivity of the transformer.
From known surface data the output voltage is found with respect to the horizontal displacement. Here, the
output voltages in multimeter and corresponding displacement are,
V =2.9 mV for D = 0.47 cm
So, C = D/V =0.162
V =3.1 mV for D = 0.58 cm
So, C = 0.187
V =2.6 mV for D = 0.35 cm
So, C = 0.132
V =2.5 mV for D = 0.37 cm
So, C = 0.148
Now, C = (0.162+0.187+0.132+0.1480)/4 = 0.157
A sample calculation is given bellow

D= V* Const. D=Displacement of unknown surface

= 7.1 * 0.157 V= Voltage for unknown surface
= 1.1 cm
This calculation is applicable for all experimental calculation. For a sample surface, the voltage Vs displacement
curve is drawn.

The graph of Figure 8 shows the output voltage for position of core in different places. The voltage Vs
displacement curve shows that the displacement in X axis, and output voltage in Y axis.

4
 37.1 36.2
40 34.5 34.5 35.8 32.9 34.1 35.7
32.6 32
35 30.7 30.6 31.2
30
Voltage in mV
25
20
15
10
5
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Horizontal distance in cm

Figure.8: Voltage Vs displacement curve

4. Results
The performance is checked by moving a sample under the LVDT and plotted in a graph. Three other surfaces
were also taken to check the performance of the sensor. They are entitled as surface 1, surface 2 & surface 3 are
shown in Figure 9.

Surface 1 Surface 2 Surface 3

Figure 9: Three sample surfaces

Sample calculation for performance test of this LVDT:

From the Experimental data table, experimental displacement (D) for the surface with respect to voltages &
actual displacement (d) were found. From these values it can be measured easily performance accuracy of
LVDT. So a sample calculation is given by bellow which is applicable for all experiments.
Performance of accuracy for the Experiment no.1
= (100 - *100)
= 100- *100
= 98.146 %
Table 1: Table for measuring displacement from output voltage in Multimeter

Horizontal Output voltage ∆V Experimental Actual Percentage Accuracy

displacement in multimeter displacement displacement of error %
of unknown in mV D in cm d in cm
surface in cm
1 37.1 7.1 1.1 1.08 0.0185 98.15
2 34.5 4.5 .71 .85 0.1647 83.53
3 32.6 2.6 .41 .43 0.0465 95.35
4 30.7 .7 .11 .1 0.1 90
5 32 2 .31 .35 0.114 88.6
6 34.5 4.5 .71 .82 0.1341 86.59
7 35.8 5.8 .91 .95 0.0421 95.79
8 32.9 2.9 .455 .5 0.09 91
9 30.6 .6 .09 .08 0.125 87.5
10 31.2 1.2 .2 .2 0 100

5
 1.12
1.2 0.978

Vertical displacement,(Vd)
0.904
0.901 0.876 0.81 0.887
1
0.71 0.741 0.711
0.8 0.61
0.498 0.517
0.6 0.3920.383 0.432
0.296 0.344
0.4 0.214 0.212
0.2
0
0 5 10 15 20
Horizontal displacement,(Hd)

Figure 10: Vd Vs Hd curve by the program

The output values shown in Figure 10 by the display are plotted in graph. The figure shows the vertical
displacement against horizontal movement of the surface. 20 data was taken from 19 cm long surface. The
deviation per length (cm) was found 0.237.

5. Conclusion
Our proposed approach measures and compares the roughness automatically. Our proposed approach can be
used in checking quality of a surface in industry and laboratory. It requires low power to operate and works in
clean environment without resulting harmful pollutants. The use of microcontroller makes the system more
precise. The construction and operation of the LVDT is simple, cost effective and easily repeatable. Accuracy
and efficiency can be further improved by avoiding frictional problem by using a rotating attachment like roller
in the tip of the iron core. The diameter of the roller should be smaller for better measurement. The LVDT can
be improved by using more windings of carefully chosen diameter. Our proposed approach is applicable to
laboratories for academic purpose as well as large scale industrial setups.

References
[1] Yan D., Kaye J. E., Balakrishnan S., Popplewell N.,(1996), “Surface roughness measurements in finish turning”. Journal
of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Vol. 11, issue 2, page 91-100.
[2] Hitoshi F. & Asakura T., (1997), “Roughness measurement of metal surfaces using laser speckle”. Journal of the optical
society of America, Vol. 67, issue 9, page 1171-1176.
[3] Shin Y. C., Oh S. J., Coker S. A., (2008). “Surface roughness measurement by ultrasonic sensing for in-process
monitoring”. J. Manuf. Sci. Eng vol. 117, issue 3, page 439-447.
[4] Roy A., Rokunuzzaman M., Rabbani G., Roy P. P., (2008). “Construction of low cost Linear Variable Differential
Transformer & its calibration”. Journal of Control System and Control Instrumentation, Vol. 1, issue 1.
[5] Georgios P. P., Pandazaras C. N., J., Davim P (2010). “Multiparameter analysis and modelling of engineering surface
texture.” Journal of achievement in materials & Manufacturing Engineering, vol. 24, issue 1.page 215.
[6] Raghavendra J. S., Venu N. U., Naresh K., (2014), “Linear variable differential transformer using Arduino.” A project
report in Undergraduate studies, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University. Hyderabad – 500085
[7] Vemuri A. T., (2014) “Surface Texture Characterization and Evaluation Related to Machining”. Journal of surface
integrity in machining, Vol. 12, page 215.
[8] Metrology for manufacturing surface measurement, R.K. JAIN (2008), Engineering Metrology, 20 th Edition, Khanna
Publishers Delhi.

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