Instrumentation and Measurement

Chapter Three

Transducer and Their Response

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Introduction
Basically transducer is defined as a device, which
converts energy or information from one form to
another. These are widely used in measurement work
because not all quantities that need to be measured can
be displayed as easily as others. A better measurement
of a quantity can usually be made if it may be converted
to another form, which is more conveniently or
accurately displayed.
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Introduction

Transducer
Instrument Society of America defines a sensor or
transducer as a device which provides a usable output in
response to a specified measured. Here the measured is
a physical quantity and the output may be an electrical
quantity, mechanical and- optical.

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 cont
• For example, the common mercury thermometer
converts variations in temperature into variations in
the length of a column of mercury. Since the variation in
the length of the mercury column is rather simple to
measure, the mercury thermometer becomes a
convenient device for measuring temperature.

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 cont
• On the other hand, the actual temperature variation is
not as easy to display directly. Another example is
manometer, which detects pressure and indicates it
directly on a scale calibrated in actual units of pressure.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Mechanical Transducers
• are simple and rugged in construction,

• cheaper in cost,

• accurate and operate without external power supplies

but are not advantageous for many of the modern

scientific experiments and process control
instrumentation owing to their

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Mechanical Transducers
• poor frequency response,

• requirement of large forces to overcome mechanical

friction,

• incompatibility when remote control or indication is

required, and a lot of other limitations.

All these drawbacks have been overcome with the

introduction of electrical transducers.
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Electrical Transducers
• Mostly quantities to be measured are non-electrical
such as temperature, pressure, displacement, humidity,
fluid flow, speed etc., but these quantities cannot be
measured directly. Hence such quantities are required to
be sensed and changed into some other form for easy
measurement.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Electrical Transducers
• Electrical quantities such as current, voltage,
resistance. inductance and capacitance etc. can be
conveniently measured, transferred and stored, and
therefore, for measurement of non-electrical quantities
these are to be converted into electrical quantities first
and then measured.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Electrical Transducers
• The function of converting non-electrical quantity
into electrical one is accomplished by a device called
the electrical transducer.

• Basically an electrical transducer is a sensing device

by which a physical, mechanical or optical quantity to
be measured is transformed directly, with a suitable
mechanism, into an electrical signal (current, voltage or
frequency).
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Electrical Transducers
• The production of these signals is based upon
electrical effects which may be resistive, inductive,
capacitive etc in nature.

• The input versus output energy relationship takes a

definite reproducible function. The output to input and
the output to time behavior is predictable to a known
degree of accuracy, sensitivity and response, within the
specified environmental conditions.
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Basic Requirements Of A Transducer

• The main function of a transducer is to respond only

for the measurement under specified limits for which it
is designed. It is, therefore, necessary to know the
relationship between the input and output quantities
and it should be fixed. Transducers should meet the
following basic requirements.

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 Cont
 Ruggedness. It should be capable of withstanding overload
and some safety arrangement should be provided for overload
protection.

 Linearity. Its input-output characteristics should be linear and

it should produce these characteristics in symmetrical way.

 Repeatability. It should reproduce same output signal when

the same input signal is applied again and again under fixed
environmental conditions e.g. temperature, pressure, humidity
etc.
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 Cont
• High Output Signal Quality. The quality of output
signal should be good i.e. the ratio of the signal to the
noise should be high and the amplitude of the output
signal should be enough.

• High Reliability and Stability. It should give

minimum error in measurement for temperature
variations, vibrations and other various changes in
surroundings.
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 Cont
• Good Dynamic Response. Its output should be
faithful to input when taken as a function of time. The
effect is analyzed as the frequency response.

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 Cont
• No Hysteretic. It should not give any hysteretic
during measurement while input signal is varied from
its low value to high value and vice-versa.

• Residual Deformation. There should be no

deformation on removal of local after long period of
application.

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 Cont.
Sensor
An element that senses a variation in input energy to
produce a variation in another or same form of energy is
called a sensor.
The sensor or the sensing element is the first element in
a measuring system and takes information about the
variable being measured and transforms it into a more
suitable form to be measured.
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Cont.
A transducer can be defined as a device capable of
converting energy from one form into another.
Transducers can be found both at the input as well as at
the output stage of a measuring system.
The input transducer is called the sensor, because it
senses the desired physical quantity and converts it into
another energy form.
The output transducer is called the actuator,
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Types of Energy Form
We can distinguish six different energy domains:
(1) radiant,
(2) mechanical,
(3) thermal,
(4) electrical,
(5) magnetic and
(6) chemical.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Classification Of Transducers
• The transducers may be classified in various ways
such as on the basis of

– electrical principles involved,

– methods of application,

– methods of energy conversion used,

– nature of output signal etc.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Classification Of Transducers
• Primary and Secondary Transducers: Transducers,
on the basis of methods of applications, may be
classified into primary and secondary transducers.
When the input signal is directly sensed by the
transducer and physical phenomenon is converted
into the electrical form directly then such a transducer
is called the primary transducer.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
Primary and Secondary Transducers
• For example a thermistor used for the measurement
of temperature fall in this category. The thermistor
senses the temperature directly and causes the change
in resistance with the change in temperature.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
Primary and Secondary Transducers
• When the input signal is sensed first by some
detector or sensor and then its output being of some
form other than input signals is given as input to a
transducer for conversion into electrical form, then
such a transducer falls in the category of secondary
transducers.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
Primary and Secondary Transducers

• For example, in case of pressure measurement,

bourdon tube is a primary sensor which converts
pressure first into displacement, and then the
displacement is converted into an output voltage by
an LVDT. In this case LVDT is secondary transducer.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Classification Of Transducers

The transducers may be classified based on

i. The physical effect employed
ii. The physical quantity measured
iii. The source of energy

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 Cont.
i. Classification Based On Physical Effect
The physical quantity applied as measurand (quantity to
be measured) to the transducer causes some physical
changes in its element. By this physical effect the
transducer converts the physical quantity in to electrical
quantity.

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 Cont.
The physical effects commonly employed are
a. Variation of resistance
b. Variation. of inductance
c. Variation of capacitance
d. Piezo electric effect
e. Magnetostrictive effect
f. Elastic effect
g. Hall effect AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Cont.
a. Variation Of Resistance
The resistance of a length of metallic wire is
given by

The resistance thermometer

Potentiometer
Strain gauge
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 Cont.
b. Variation Of Inductance
The inductance of a coil is given by

Linear Variable Differential Transformer

(LVDT)

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 Cont.
c. Variation of Capacitance
The capacitance between two conductor plates is
given by

This leads to the design of a variable capacitance

transducer.

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 Cont.
d. Piezoelectric Effect
When a piezoelectric crystal like quartz or
Rochelle salt is subjected to mechanical stress,
an electric charge is generated. This is known as
piezoelectric effect. The transducer based on this
effect is piezoelectric transducer.

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 Cont.
e. Magnetostrictive Effect
When a magnetic material is subjected to
mechanical stress, its permeability changes. This
effect is magnetostrictive effect and the
transducer based on this effect is
magnetostrictive transducer.

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 Cont.
f. Elastic Effect
When an elastic member is subjected to
mechanical stress it is deformed. The transducer
based on this effect is called elastic transducer.

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 Cont.
g. Hall Effect
When a magnetic field is applied to a current
carrying conductor at right angles to the
direction of current, a transverse electric
potential gradient is developed in the conductor.
This effect is called as Hall effect and the
transducer based on this effect is called as Hall
effect transducer. AAU/AAiT/SMiE
ii. Classification Based On Physical Quantity
Measured
The transducers may be classified based on the physical
quantity they measure as follows:
• Temperature transducers → Transducers used to
measure temperature
• Pressure transducers → To measure pressure
• Flow transducers → To measure flow

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Cont.
• Liquid level transducers → To measure liquid level
• Force/Torque transducers→ To measure force &
Torque
• Velocity/Speed transducers→ To measure velocity &
speed
• Humidity transducers→ To measure humidity
• Acceleration/vibration transducers→ To measure
acceleration & vibration
• Displacement transducers →To measure displacement
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Cont.
iii. Classification Based On Source Of Energy
Transducers may be, classified based on source of
energy into two types.
• Active transducer
• Passive transducer

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
Selection of Transducers
Transducers are used for the measurement of physical
quantities. The selection of transducers for particular
measurand is very important. The selection of
transducers may be based on the
following factors for effective measurement.
1. The physical quantity to be measured (measurand),
2. The range of input quantity,

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Based on physical quantity to be measured
Physical
No. Transducers Available
Quantity
Bimetallic element
Fluid expansion systems
i. Liquid-in-steel bulb thermometers
ii. Liquid-in-glass thermometers
iii. Vapor pressure thermometers
1 Temperature Thermoresistive elements
i. Resistance Temperature detector (RTD)
ii. Thermistor
Thermocouple
Linear-Quartz thermometer
Pyrometry
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
Based on physical quantity to be measured

Physical
No. Transducers Available
Quantity
U-tube and ball type manometers
Ring balance manometer
Metallic diaphragms
2 Pressure
Capsules and bellows
Bourdon tubes
Membranes

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
Based on physical quantity to be measured

Transducers
No. Physical Quantity
Available
Torsion bar
Flat spiral springs
3 Force (weight)
Dynamometer
Gyroscope
Hydrometer
Air bubbler system
4 Density of liquids
U-tube weighing
system
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
Based on physical quantity to be measured

Transducers
No. Physical Quantity
Available
Float elements.
Manometer system
5 Liquid level
Diaphragms
Container weight
Capillary tube
6 Viscosity Concentric cylinder
system

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
Based on physical quantity to be measured

No. Physical Quantity Transducers Available

Pitot static tube
Flow-obstruction
7 Flow rate of fluids elements
Rotating vane system
Rotameter float system
8 Displacement Flapper nozzle system

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
Based on physical quantity to be measured

Transducers
No. Physical Quantity
Available
Absolute displacement,
9 Seismic system
Velocity and acceleration
10 Vehicle attitude Gyroscope

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Characteristics of Transducers

The selection of most suitable transducer from

commercially available instruments is very important in
designing an Instrumentation system. For the proper
selection of transducer, knowledge of the performance
characteristics of them are essential. The performance
characteristics can be classified into two namely
i. Static characteristics
ii. Dynamic characteristics
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Cont.

Static characteristics are a set of performance

criteria that give a meaningful description of the
quality of measurement without becoming
concerned with dynamic descriptions involving
differential equations.

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 Cont.
Dynamic characteristics describe the quality of
measurement when the measured quantities vary
rapidly with time. Here the dynamic relations
between the instrument input and output must be
examined, generally by the use of differential
equations.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Selection Of Transducers

• In a measurement system the transducer (or a

combination of transducers) is the input element with
the critical function of transforming some physical
quantity to a proportional electrical signal. So
selection of an appropriate transducer is most
important for having accurate results.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Selection Of Transducers
• The first step in the selection procedure is to clearly
define the nature of quantity under measurement
(measurand) and know the range of magnitudes and
frequencies that the measurand is expected to exhibit.

• Next step will be to examine the available transducer

principles for measurement of desired quantity. The
type of transducer selected must be compatible with the
type and range of the quantity to be measured and the
output device. AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Selection Of Transducers
• In case one or more transducer principles are capable
of generating a satisfactory signal, decision is to be
taken whether to employ a commercially available
transducer or build a suitable transducer. If the
transducers are available in the market at a suitable
price, the choice will probably be to purchase one of
them, otherwise own transducer will have to be
designed, built and calibrated.
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Selection Of Transducers
The points to be considered in determining a transducer

suitable for a specific measurement are as follows:

 Range. The range of the transducer should be large

enough to encompass all the expected magnitudes of

the measurand.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Selection Of Transducers

 Sensitivity. The transducer should give a sufficient

output signal per unit of measured input in order to

yield meaningful data.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Selection Of Transducers

 Electrical Output Characteristics. The electrical

characteristics-the output im-pedance, the frequency

response, and the response time of the transducer

output signal should be compatible with the recording

device and the rest of the measuring system

equipment.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Selection Of Transducers
 Physical Environment. The transducer selected

should be able to withstand the environmental

conditions to which it is likely to be subjected while

carrying out measurements and tests.

Such parameters are temperature, acceleration, shock

and vibration, moisture, and corrosive chemicals might

damage some transducers but not others.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Selection Of Transducers
• Errors. The errors inherent in the operation of the
transducer itself, or those errors caused by
environmental conditions of the measurement, should
be small enough or controllable enough that they
allow meaningful data to be taken.

However the total measurement error in a transducer

activated system may be reduced to fall within the
required accuracy range by adopting the following
techniques. AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Errors(cont’d)
 Calibrating the transducer output against some
known standards while in use under actual test
conditions. This calibration should be performed
regularly as the measurement proceeds.

 Continuous monitoring of variations in the

environmental conditions of the transducer and
correcting the data accordingly.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Errors(cont’d)
 Controlling the measurement environment
artificially in order to reduce possible transducer
errors. Artificial environmental control includes the
enclosing of the transducer in a temperature-
controlled housing and isolating the device from
external shocks and vibrations.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Calibration

Calibration consists of comparing the output of

the instrument or sensor under test against the
output of an instrument of known accuracy when
the same input (the measured quantity) is applied
to both instruments. This procedure is carried out
for a range of inputs covering the whole
measurement range of the instrument or sensor.
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Cont.

Calibration ensures that the measuring accuracy

of all instruments and sensors used in a
measurement system is known over the whole
measurement range, provided that the calibrated
instruments and sensors are used in
environmental conditions that are the same as
those under which they were calibrated.
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Cont.
Instruments used as a standard in calibration
procedures are usually chosen to be of greater
inherent accuracy than the process instruments
that they are used to calibrate. Because such
instruments are only used for calibration
purposes, greater accuracy can often be achieved
by specifying a type of instrument that would be
unsuitable for normal process measurements.
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Cont.
Instrument calibration has to be repeated at
prescribed intervals because the characteristics
of any instrument change over a period. Changes
in instrument characteristics are brought about
by such factors as mechanical wear, and the
effects of dirt, dust, fumes, chemicals, and
temperature changes in the operating
environment. AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Procedure For Calibration

a) Examine the construction of the instrument,

and identify and list all the possible inputs.
b) Decide, which of the inputs will be significant
in the application for which the instrument is to
be calibrated.

AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Cont.

c) Select the apparatus that will allow you to

vary all the significant inputs over the ranges
considered necessary. Select standards to
measure each input.
d) By holding some inputs constant, varying
others and recording the outputs develop the
desired static input-output relations.
AAU/AAiT/SMiE
Mathematical Models of System Response
Basic System Models
 Modelling is the process of representing the
behavior of a system by a collection of
mathematical equations & logics.
• Modelling is comprehensively utilized to study
the response of any system.
• Response of a system is a measure of its fidelity
to its purpose. AAU/AAiT/SMiE
 Cont.

 Simulation is the process of solving the

model and it performed on a computer.
 Equations are used to describe the
relationship between the input and output of a
system.
 Analogy approach is also widely used to
study system response
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 Cont.

Mechanical System Elements

A) Spring
B) Dashpot
C) Mass

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