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TRANSDUCER ELEMENTS

Definition of a transducer

Transducer is any device that converts energy in one form to

another energy.

The majority either convert electrical energy to mechanical

displacement or convert some non-electrical physical quantity, such as
temperature, sound or light to an electrical signal.

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Functions of transducer
1. To sense the presence, magnitude, change in, and frequency of some
measurand.

2. To provide an electrical output that, when appropriately processed and

applied to readout device, gives accurate quantitative data about the
measurand.

Measurand
Transducer Electrical
output

Excitation

Measurand – refers to the quantity, property or condition which the transducer

translates to an electrical signal.

Selecting a Transducers

 Transducer has to be compatible with its application

1) Operating range – should maintain range requirements and good
resolution.
2) Sensitivity – must be sensitive enough to allow sufficient output.
3) Frequency response and resonant frequency – is the
transducer flat over the needed range.
4) Environment compatibility - corrosive fluids, the pressures, shocks
and interactions.

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Selecting a Transducers

5) Minimum sensitivity – minimally sensitive to expected stimuli other than

measurand.
6) Accuracy – subject to repeatability and calibration errors.
7) Usage and ruggedness - mechanical and electrical intensities versus
size and weight.
8) Electrical – what are signal-to-noise ratios when combined with
amplifiers and frequency response limitations.

Classification of transducers
Transducer can be classified into two major categories:
A) Passive transducer:
- requires an external power
- output is a measure of some electrical parameter, such as resistance, inductance and
capacitance. E.g. : condenser , microphone

B) Self generating transducer:

- not require an external power, and they produce analog voltage or current when
stimulated by some physical form of energy. E.g. : Thermocouple

OR

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The following are the different electric phenomena employed in the transduction
elements of transducers:

1) Resistive
2) Electromagnetic
3) Inductive
4) Capacitive
5) Thermo-electric
6) Piezo-electric
7) Photo-emissive
8) Photo-resistive
9) Frequency generating

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.

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Continued………..

R2
V0  VT
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:

A displacement transducer with a shaft stroke of 4 in. is used in the circuit of figure R1 +R2
is 1000 Ω and VT = 4 V. The wiper is 1.5 in from B. Find V0?

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EXAMPLE:

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 ?

Problem: A displacement transducer with a shaft stroke of 3.0 in. is applied

in the circuit of Fig. The total resistance of the potentiometer is 5 k , and
the applied voltage VT= 5.0V. When the wiper is 0.9 in. from B, what is the
value of the output voltage V0?

0.9 in.
R2  x 5000  1500
3.0 in.

R2 1500
V0  VT  x 5.0 V  1.5 V
RT 5000

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Basic Principle of working

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Self Generating Types

Note: The magnitude of the emf induced in a circuit is proportional to the rate of change of
the magnetic flux that cuts across the circuit.

Main working principle

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Faraday's Law

Any change in the magnetic environment of a coil of wire will cause a voltage (emf) to
be "induced" in the coil. No matter how the change is produced, the voltage will be
generated. The change could be produced by changing the magnetic field strength,
moving a magnet toward or away from the coil, moving the coil into or out of the
magnetic field, rotating the coil relative to the magnet, etc.

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Applications

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Non-Self Generating Types

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LVDT

 This device is a transformer:

 Primary winding powered by an external source of AC voltage, and two secondary windings
connected in series-bucking fashion.
 It is variable because the core is free to move between the windings.
 When the core is centered and both windings are outputting the same voltage, the net result at the
output terminals will be zero volts.

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Problem: The output of LVDT is connected to a 4V voltmeter through an amplifier whose amplification factor is 500. An
output of 1 mV appears the terminals of LVDT when the core moves through a distance of 0.5 mm. Determine the
sensitivity of LVDT and that of whole setup. The multivoltmeter scale has 100 divisions. The scale can be read to ¼ of a
division. Determine the resolution of instrument in mm.

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CAPACITIVE TRANSDUCERS

A change in capacitance with changes in position of a moving element is used to

provide an electrical indication.

The general equation to determine the capacitance is given by:

Permittivity of dielectric

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.

The capacitive transduce works on the principle that the capacitance can be
varied by varying the following:

• Separation between the plates

• Area of plate
• Changing the dielectric material between the plates

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By changing distance between plates

By changing Overlapping Area of Plates

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By changing Overlapping Area of Plates

By changing dielectric material

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Thin diaphragm

Thin diaphragm is a transducer

that makes use of variation in
capacitance resulting from a
change in spacing between
capacitive surfaces.

This transducer is designed to

measure pressure.

The dielectric can be either air

or vacuum.

The change in pressure may be easily detected by the variation of capacity

between a fixed plate and another plate free to move as the pressure changes.
The resulting variation follows the basic capacity formula:

K (n  1) A
C  0.085 ( pF )
t

where,
A = area of one side of one plate in cm2
n = number of plates
t = thickness of dielectric in cm
K = dielectric constant

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Differential Capacitive Transducers Measurement Circuit

 This bridge circuit is similar in function with strain gauges: it is not intended to be
in a "balanced" condition all the time, but rather the degree of imbalance represents
the magnitude of the quantity being measured.

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. In capacitive microphone
2. Used as one part of an AC bridge circuit to produce an AC output
signal

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Problem

Piezoelectric Transducers
 When a mechanical pressure is to a crystal, a displacement of the crystal
causes a potential difference occur.
 The thickness, length, and width directions can be stretched or compressed to
generate electrical output.

Piezoelectric Transducers.

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The materials are:

• Barium Titanate
• Lead zirconate titanate
• Rochelle salt
• Quartz
• Tourmaline

Working of Piezo-electric transducer

• The main principle of a piezoelectric transducer is that a force, when applied on the quartz crystal, produces
electric charges on the crystal surface. The charge thus produced can be called as piezoelectricity.

• Piezo electricity can be defined as the electrical polarization produced by mechanical strain on certain class of
crystals. The rate of charge produced will be proportional to the rate of change of force applied as input.

• As the charge produced is very small, a charge amplifier is needed so as to produce an output voltage big
enough to be measured.

• For example, if a force of 15 kN is given to the transducer, it may only deflect to a maximum of 0.002mm. But
the output response may be as high as 100KHz.This proves that the device is best applicable for dynamic
measurement.

• The figure shows a conventional piezoelectric transducer with a piezoelectric crystal inserted between a solid
base and the force summing member.

• If a force is applied on the pressure port, the same force will fall on the force summing member. Thus a
potential difference will be generated on the crystal due to its property.

• The voltage produced will be proportional to the magnitude of the applied force. Theory of Piezo-Electric
Transducer

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\
The polarity of the charge depends on the direction of the applies forces.
Where, d – charge sensitivity of the crystals
F – applied force in Newton

The force changes the thickness of the crystals.

Where A – area of crystals in meter square

t – the thickness of crystals in meter
E – Young’s modulus N/m2
The young modulus is,

where ω – width of crystals in meter

l – the length of crystals in meter

On substituting the value of force in the equation of charge, we get

The output voltage is obtained because of the electrode charges.

The g is the voltage sensitivity of the crystals.

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Application of Piezoelectric Materials

• It is used in electric lighter used in kitchens. The pressure made on piezoelectric sensor creates
an electric signal which ultimately causes the flash to fire up.
• They are used for studying high-speed shock waves and blast waves.
• Automobile seat belts lock in response to a rapid deceleration is also done using a piezoelectric
material.
• In microphones, the sound pressure is converted into an electric signal and this signal is
ultimately amplified to produce a louder sound.

Problem:

Problem:

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Problem: A piezoelectric crystal measuring 6mm x 6 mm x 1.8 mm is used to

measure the force its voltage sensitivity is 0.055 Vm/N. Find the force if the
output voltage is 120 Volts.

TEMPERATURE TRANSDUCERS

Temperature transducers can be divided into four main categories:

Thermocouples
 Thermistors
 Resistance temperature detectors (RTDs)

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Thermocouple

Thermocouple is made up of a pair of different metal wire joined together at one

end.

A temperature difference between two ends of the wires produces a voltage

between the wires.

Metal 1

Reference
Sensing Temperature V
Junction Junction

Metal 2

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How thermocouple work

Misconception in thermo-electricity

How thermocouple work

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How thermocouple work

Thermocouples: Seebeck Effect

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Standard Thermocouple type

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Experimental setup

Indicator

Transducer

Thermometer

The magnitude of this voltage (emf) depends on the wire materials used and on
the temperature difference between the junctions.

The emf of the thermocouple is given as

E = c(T1 –T2) + k(T12 –T22)

where,
c & k = constants of the thermocouple materials
T1 = the temperature of the “hot” junction
T2 = the temperature of the “cold” or “reference” junction

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Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTD)

RTD is a passive device whose resistance changes with temperature. This condition
causes RTD needs an electrical supply to give a voltage output.

RTD commonly employ platinum, nickel or any resistance wire, whose resistance variation
with temperature has high intrinsic accuracy.

They are available in many configurations and size.

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It is noteworthy here that, the material

used must be pure enough to provide
proper results.
The purity of platinum can be checked by
the measurement of R100 /Ro. As for pure
platinum material, the value of the ratio
should be higher than 1.390

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Resistance Thermometer Applications

• Used in automotive to measure the temperature of engine oil

• Used in communication and instrumentation to measure the temperatures of amplifiers,
stabilizers, etc.
• Used in food processing, power electronics, and aerospace engineering

Problem

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Thermally Resistor (Thermistor)

A thermistor is a thermally sensitive resistor that exhibits change in electrical
resistance with change in temperature.

Thermistor is fabricated from semiconductor material by sintering mixtures of

metallic oxide, such as manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper and uranium oxides.

Thermistors have Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC), i.e. resistance

decreases as temperature rises. Thermistor are available with Positive
Temperature Coefficient (PTC), but PTC thermistor are seldom used for
measurement since they have poor sensitivity.

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Problem

Photoelectric/Optoelectric Transducer

No. Types Characteristics

1. Photoemmisive radiation falling into a cathode causes electrons to

be emitted from cathode surface.
2. Photoconductive the resistance of a material is changed when it’s
illuminated.
3. Photovoltaic
Generate an output voltage proportional to
radiation intensity

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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.

- It is a very versatile detector and

used for measuring weight,
pressure, mechanical force, Figure Resistive strain gauges:
or displacement. wire construction

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STRUCTURE
• The majority of strain gauges are foil types, available in a wide choice of
shapes and sizes to suit a variety of applications. They consist of a pattern of
resistive foil which is mounted on a backing material.

• They operate on the principle that as the foil is subjected to stress, the
resistance of the foil changes in a defined way.

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Types of Strain

Based on the Direction of Applied Force

1. Tensile strain
If the force tends to stretch the gauge
2. Compressive Strain
If the force tends to compress the gauge

Measuring Technique

Mechanical Force Calibration

Change Electrical
Signal
Strain Gauge in Readout
Conditioning
Property Signal

• Potential
• Electrical Divider • Voltage
• Optical • Wheatstone • Current
• Mechanical Bridge

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Gauge Factor

As consequence of strain, TWO (2) physical qualities are of particular interest:

1) The change in gauge resistance

2) The change in length

The relationship between these two variables called gauge factor,

Longitudinal
Strain

Transverse
Strain

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To measure such a small change in resistance, a bridge circuit is needed to convert

this change in resistance to the change in voltage.

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Types of Strain Gauge

Various means like Mechanical, optical or electrical can be used to measure

deformation (strain) of an object.

o Mechanical strain gauges offer certain limitations like low resolutions. Besides
they are bulky and difficult to use.

o Capacitance and Inductance-based strain gages were introduced but these

devices sensitivity to vibration, their mounting requirements, and circuit
complexity restricted their usage.

o A photoelectric gauge can be as short as 1/16 inch but its usage proves to be
extremely costly and delicate.
o Other types of Strain Gauges are:
• Bonded Strain Gauges
• Unbonded Strain Gauges
• Rosettes
• Semiconductor (Piezo-resistive) strain gauges

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Example
 Semiconductor materials such as silicon or
germanium are used as resistive materials.

 High gauge factor of about ±130.

 Very small in length ranging from 0.7 to 7 mm.

Wheatstone Bridge

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Quarter Bridge

Half Bridge

• The arrangement becomes more

sensitive due to two active strain
gauges
• Temperature effects are cancelled
out.

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Full Bridge

• This arrangement is used to give

maximum sensitivity combined
with full temperature
compensation

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Problem

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