Linear Variable

Dieren al
Transformers
Technology

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Theory and Applica ons of Linear Variable Dieren al Transformers

Opera ng Principles
Dieren al transformers are electromagne c devices for transla ng the displacement of a magne c armature into anAC
voltage,whichisalinearfunc onofthedisplacement.Theyarebasicallycomposedofprimaryandsecondarycoilswoundon
anaircoreandamovablearmatureisusedtocontroltheelectricalcouplingbetweenthem.Fig.1showsthebasicwinding
configura onofa3coilwindingtype.
Whiletheanalysisofeachtypeareessen allysimilartheydierthroughthemaximizingorminimizingofcertain
parameters.WhentheprimaryisenergizedbyanACsource,voltagesareinducedinthetwosecondarycoils.Thesecondary
windingsareusuallyconnectedseriesbuckingsothatthetransduceroutputisthevectordierenceofthetwovoltages
inducedinthesecondaries.Atnulltheoutputvoltageapproacheszero.Whenthecoreisdisplacedfromnullthevoltage
inducedinthecoiltowardwhichthecoreismovedincreaseswhilethevoltageintheoppositecoildecreasesresul ngina
dieren alvoltageoutputfromthetransformerwhichcanbedesignedtovarylinearitywithcoremo on.Aphasereversalin
outputoccursinpassingthroughthenull.Fig.2showsoutputvoltagevs.displacementwithphasereversalindicatedby
voltagepolarity.

Fig.1ThreeCoilConfigura on

Fig.2OutputVoltageandPhasevs.Displacement

Dieren al Transformer Characteris cs

LinearityandLinearRange
Theoutputvoltageofadieren altransformerisalinearfunc onofcoredisplacementwithinalimitedrange.Beyondthis
rangethecharacteris csstarttodeviatefromastraightline.Thedegreeoflinearitywithinthelinearrangeisdefinedasthe
maximumdevia onoftheoutputcurvefromthebestfitstraightlinepassingthoughtheorigin,expressedasthe
percentageofoutputatnominalrange.Thelinearityandlinearrangeareusuallyspecifiedforagivenresis veload.Because
theoutputimpedanceofadieren altransformerisrela velyconstant,theoutputloadingwillnotseriouslyaectlinearity
althoughitwillmodifysensi vityandphaseshi .
Sensi vityandOutput
Theratedsensi vityisusuallystatedintermsofmillivoltsoutputperthousandthsofaninchcoredisplacementpervolt
input(commonlywri enasmVoutput/0.001coredisplacement//vinput.)Sincethevoltagesensi vityvarieswith
frequency,exceptinsomedesignsoveralimitedfrequencyrange,thefrequencyshouldbestatedwhenspecifyingsensi vity.
Theactualoutputvoltageforagivencoredisplacementisdeterminedbymul plyingthesensi vitybythedisplacementin
thousandthsofaninch,thenmul plyingthisproductbytheinputvoltage.Thedieren altransformerissimilartoan
ordinarytransformerinmanyofitsoutputcharacteris cs.Atlowfrequenciesitsoutputimpedanceisapproximatelyresis ve,
whileathigherfrequenciesitmayassumehighreac vevalues.Therefore,thesensi vityandoutputgenerallyincreasewith
frequencypar cularlyinthelowfrequencypor onoftherangespecifiedforapar culardieren altransformer.However,
thesensi vityatthehigherfrequenciesisappreciablyaectedbytheload,sincetheoutputimpedanceofthetransformer
increaseswithfrequency.
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Theory and Applica ons of Linear Variable Dieren al Transformers

Resolu on
Theoutputvoltagevaria onofadieren altransformerisstepless.Therefore,theeec veresolu ondependsen relyon
theminimumvoltageorcurrentincrement,whichcanbesensedbytheassociatedmeasuringsystem.
Excita on
The fundamental induc ve arrangement of the dieren al transformer with a straight movable magne c core can be
designedforopera onatanyACfrequencyintherangefrom60cpsto20,000cps.Whenthetransformerisusedtomeasure
sta cdisplacementortosenselinearmo on,whichdoesnotincludeoscillatorycomponentsaboveapproximately6cps,the
common60cpspowerfrequencyisgenerallyconvenient.The400cpsaircra powerfrequencyiswidelyusedandhighly
suitableformanyapplica ons.Accurateresponsetovibra onandrapidmechanicalmovementrequirestheuseofan
excita on frequency at least 10 mes thehighest suitable frequency present as a component of the mechanicalmo on or
preferably higher. The excita on power required to produce useful sensi vity in dierent types of transformers vary with
transducersizeandapplica on.Inmanyapplica onsthispowerisonlyafrac onofawa .Inprac cethispowerisusually
limitedbythemaximumhotspottemperatureproducedwithintheprimarywindingunderthemaximumambient
temperaturecondi onofthepar cularapplica on.Duetothehighreluctanceofthemagne cpath,coresatura on
generallydoesnotoccurwithanycurrentvaluethatdoesnoteventuallyoverheattheprimarywinding.Whenadieren al
transformerisexcitedatafixedvoltagetheprimarycurrentwillvarydownwardwithincreasingfrequency.
Sincethehea ngaectispropor onaltothesquareofthecurrentofallprac calpurposesthemaximuminputvoltagemay
beincreasedathigherfrequenciesbytheamountrequiredtomaintaintheprimarycurrentatafixedvalue,limitedbythe
maximum absolute voltage of the winding and circuit insula on. A constant current power source rather than a constant
voltagesourceiso enpreferableforaccurateopera on;par cularly,whenusinganinputlevelwhichproducesasubstan al
temperature rise in the transformer. A constant current source eliminates any output varia on directly due tothenormal
primaryresistancevaria onwithtemperature.Thisprimaryresistancevaria onisimportantatlowfrequenciesbutmaybe
insignificantathigherfrequencieswheretheprimaryimpedanceishighlyinduc ve.Therefore,itisevidentthatadieren al
transformeristobeusedwithavoltagesourceoverawidetemperaturerange,itisrecommendedthatahighfrequency
carrierbeusedforop mumtemperaturestability.
Varia ons in Dieren al Transformer Characteris cs Due to External Variables
Fluctua onsofinputVoltageandFrequency
Fluctua onoftheinputvoltageofadieren altransformerisreflectedinacorrespondingpropor onalfluctua onofits
outputvoltage.Therefore,toavoidanyerrorduetofluctua oninthesourcevoltage,aregula ngdeviceshouldbeu lized.
Thesameconsidera onsthatapplytofluctua onofinputvoltageholdwithregardtoinputfrequencyfluctua on.In
general, percent changes in frequency result in smaller percent changes in sensi vity that would result with input voltage
fluctua on.
Displacement Measurement
The use of an LVDT to sense and display linear mo ons requires the use of auxiliary electronic instruments. The simplest
arrangement,providingminimalaccuracy,wouldrequireanACexcita onsourceofproperamplitudeandfrequencytosupply
theprimarywindingoftheLVDTandahighimpedance,ACvoltmetermonitoringthesecondaryoutputvoltage.This
arrangementwouldindicateavoltagepropor onaltothecoreposi ons.Sincethevoltmetercanindicateonlyvoltagelevels,
nodirec onalsensewouldbeprovided.
Togenerateabipolaroutputpropor onaltolineardisplacementaboutthenullposi on,ademodulatorisrequired.The
demodulatorelectronicallyconvertstheACoutputsignalfromtheLVDTtoavariableDCvoltagewhichisananalog
representa onofthecoreposi on.ThisDCvoltagevariesfromamaximumposi vevalueatthemaximumposi ve
displacement from the core, through zero voltage at the null posi on, to a maximum nega ve voltage at the maximum
nega vedisplacement.Posi vedisplacementisbyconven ondefinedasacoremovementfromnulltowardtheleadwire
endoftheLVDTbody.Thesimplestformofbipolardemodula onconsistsoftwohalfwaverec fiers,oneofeachsecondary
winding,withthecommonsecondaryleadorleadsreturningtothemidpointoftheoutputfiltercapacitors.Theoutput
signalbecomesthealgebraicsumofthesetworec fiedsignals,asillustratedinFig.3(a).Fig.3(b)showsafullwaveversionof
thismethodofdemodula on.ThecircuitofFig.3(b)isseldomusedbecauseofitsaddi onalcomplexingandhigher
rec fica onlosses.
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Theory and Applica ons of Linear Variable Dieren al Transformers

Fig.4DemodulatorsDirec onSensi ve
FullWaveDemodula on

HalfWaveDemodula on

Fig.4(a)

Fig.4(b)

Thefollowingaresomeoftheadvantagesofthismethod.

a)Theoutputmaintainsthedirec onsenseofcoremo on

b)Thecircuitsarerela velysimple

c)Inviewofthefactthatrecer fica onofeachsecondaryoutputtakesplacethediodesusuallyoperateabovethe

thresholdlevelanddonotintroducenonlineari es

D)PhaseShi sdonotappreciablyaectthelinearity

Thefollowingaresomedisadvantagesofthismethod.

A)Inordertomaintainthesymmetryofthewholecircuit,theloadmustbebalancedorungrounded

B) The mixing of the two secondary rec fied outputs into one DC output which is based on the resistance mixing
principlecauseslargeoutputpowerlosses

C)IncertainLVDTsduetospacesavings,theoutputofeachsecondaryattheendofthetravelrangemaybe
appreciablybelowthethresholdlevelofthediode.InthiscasenonlinearitywillbeintroducedintotheDCoutput.
ThesedemodulatortechniquesareusedextensivelywithLVDTsinthattheyhaveverygoodresultswhenoperated
withnonconven onaltransformers.

Synchronous Demodulators
To overcome the limita ons of the simple diode rec fier, the synchronous or phasesensi ve demodulator is o en used
withLVDTandsimilarACoperatedtransducers.
Thesecircuitsu lizethebasicprincipalofphasedetectors,synchronousdemodulatorsandphasecomparators.Theyare
basedontheideaofrec fyinganar ficiallycreateddierencevoltageratherthanthesignalitself.Sincethediodesare
u lizedtorec fythedierencesignalsbyproperselec onofthereferencedvoltagetherec fica ontakesplaceatvoltage
valueswellabovethethresholdofthediodes.
Theconven onalcircuitu lizingthisprincipleisshowninFig.4.However,thisdemodulatorhasthedisadvantageofbeing
sensi ve not only to amplitude changes but also to phase varia ons of the signal versus the reference voltage. This may
causeseriousdeteriora oninperformancewhenusedinconjunc onwithcertaindieren altransformersspecificallythose
designedforalongtravel.VariousmethodshavebeendevisedtoovercomethisdicultyintroducedbyLVDTphaseshi s.
Formaximumconvenience,aninstrumentcombininganACexcita onsourcewithanoutputsignaldemodulatoriso en
employed.Theseinstrumentsmayemploysimplediodedemodulatorsorelaboratesynchronouswithprovisionsforphase
shi compensa on.Gainornormaliza oncontrolsareo enincorporatedintheseinstruments.
SynchronousHalfWaveDemodulator
NoPhaseCompensa on
Fig.5Demodulators

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