Transducers
Transducers
Transducers
TRANSDUCER
Definition of a transducer
Measurand
Transducer Electrical
output
Excitation
1) Capacitive
2) Resistive
3) Inductive
4) Piezo-electric
5) Electromagnetic
6) Photo-emissive
7) Photo-resistive
8) Potentiometric
9) Thermo-electric
10) Frequency generating
Types of Transducer
1. Resistive Position Transducers
2. Strain Gauge
3. Displacement Transducers
4. Capacitive Transducers Ultrasonic
temperature
5. Inductive Transducers transducer
6. Variable Inductance Transducers
thermistors
7. Temperature Transducers
8. Photoelectric Transducer Thermocouples
Resistance temperature
detectors (RTD)
6.1 RESISTIVE POSITION TRANSDUCERS
A displacement transducer uses a resistance element with a
sliding contact or wiper linked to an object being monitored or
measured. Thus, the resistance between slider and one end of
the resistive element depends on the position of the object.
(a) (b)
(a) (b)
R2
V0 VT (6.1)
R1 R2
This equation shows that the output voltage is directly
proportional to the position of the wiper, if the resistance of
the transducer is distributed uniformly along the length of
travel of the wiper.
EXAMPLE-1:
A displacement transducer with a shaft stroke of 4 in. is
used in the circuit of figure 1 (b). R1 +R2 is 1000 Ω and VT =
4 V. The wiper is 1.5 in from B. Find V0?
6.2 STRAIN GAUGE
The strain gauge is an example
of a passive transducer that
uses electric resistance
variation in wires to sense the
strain produced by a force on
the wires.
F
S (6.2)
A
where,
L
R (6.3)
A
where,
ρ = the specific resistance of the conductor material in ohm
meters
L = length of conductor (meters)
A = area of conductor (m2)
Since the resistance of a conductor is directly proportional to
its length and inversely proportional to its cross-sectional
area, the resistance of the gauge increases with strain.
L
G (6.4)
L
where,
R R R R
K (6.5)
L L G
where,
K = the gauge factor
R = the initial resistance in ohms (without strain)
∆R = the change in initial resistance in ohms
The constant of proportionality between stress and strain
for a linear stress-strain curve is known as the modulus of
elasticity of material E or called Young’s modulus. It is
written as:
S
E (6.6)
G
where,
kA 0
C ( Farads ) (6.7)
d
where,
k = dielectric constant
A = the area of the plate, in m2
εo = 8.854 x 10-12 in farads per meter (F/m)
d = distance between two capacitive surface in m
Continued………..
kA 0
C ( Farads )
d
From this equation, can be seen that the capacitance
increases if the effective area is increased and it decreases if
the distance between two capacitive surface (usually, spacing
of parallel plates) is increased.
Forms of Capacitance Transducers
Thin diaphragm
K (n 1) A
C 0.085 ( pF ) (6.8)
t
where,
A = area of one side of one plate in cm 2
n = number of plates
t = thickness of dielectric in cm
K = dielectric constant
Advantages:
1. Has excellent frequency response
2. Can measure both static and dynamic phenomena.
3. Simple to construct
4. Inexpensive to produce
Disadvantages:
1. Sensitive to temperature variations.
2. Sensitive to the possibility of erratic or distortion
signals owing to long lead length
Applications:
1. As frequency modulator in RF oscillator
2. In capacitive microphone
3. Used as one part of an AC bridge circuit to produce
an AC output signal
6.5 TEMPERATURE TRANSDUCERS
Disadvantages of RTD:
1. Low sensitivity
2. It can be affected by contact resistance, shock and vibration
3. Requires no point sensing
4. Higher cost than other temperature transducers
5. Requires 3 or 4 wire for its operation and associated
instrumentation to eliminate errors due to lead resistance
6.5.2 Thermally Resistor (Thermistor)
Metal 1
Reference
Sensing Temperature V
Junction Junction
Metal 2
The magnitude of this voltage (emf) depends on the wire
materials used and on the temperature difference between
the junctions.
where,
c & k = constants of the thermocouple materials
T1 = the temperature of the “hot” junction
T2 = the temperature of the “cold” or “reference” junction
6.6 Photoelectric Transducer
Photoelectric devices Can be categorized as:
photoemissive, photoconductive, or photovoltaic.
No Types Characteristics
.
1. Photoemmisive radiation falling into a cathode
causes electrons to be emitted from
cathode surface.