LINEAR VARIABLE DIFFERENTIAL TRANSFORMER

(LVDT)

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 LINEAR VARIABLE DIFFERENTIAL
TRANSFORMER (LVDT)
Construction and Working:
It consists basically of a primary winding and
two secondary windings, wound over a
hollow tube and positioned so the primary
winding is between two secondaries. In figure
shows the construction of the LVDT.
The two secondary windings are connected in
Series Opposing Connection.
An iron core slides within the tube and therefore affects the magnet
coupling between the primary and the two secondaries. When the core is in
the centre, voltage induced in the two secondaries is equal. When the core is
moved in one direction from centre, the voltage induced in one winding is
increased and that in the other is decreased. Movement in the opposite
direction reverses this effect 2
Cont..

3
Cont…

4
Cont..

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Advantages:
There are some advantages of linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) which are given below,
•The LVDT has low power consumption.
•It has wide range. (1.25mm to250mm)
•Friction and electrical isolation
•It has higher sensitive.(40v/mm)
•It has ruggedness.
•It has low hysteresis.
Disadvantages:
There are some disadvantages of linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) which are given
below,
•Sensitive to stray magnetic field.
•Receiving instrument must be selected to operate on A.C Signals else a demodulator network is
required.
•Temperature affects the performance.

Applications:
There are some important applications of linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) which are
given below,
•It act as a secondary transducer, it is used to measure force, pressure, weight ,thickness.
•The LVDT can be used for displacement measurement ranging from fraction 6 of mm to few cm.
RVDT- Rotary Variable Differential Transformer

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LVDT ACCELEROMETER

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 Synchro
The Synchro is a type of transducer which transforms the angular position of the
shaft into an electric signal. It is used as an error detector and as a rotary
position sensor. The error occurs in the system because of the misalignment of
the shaft. The transmitter and the control transformer are the two main parts of
the synchro.

Synchro's System Types The synchro system is of two types. They are

1. Control Type Synchro.

2. Torque Transmission Type Synchro.
 Control Type Synchro's System:
The controls synchros is used for error detection in positional control systems.
Their systems consist two units. They are
1. Synchro Transmitter 2. Synchro receiver
Consider the position of the rotor and the transmitter is changing in the same direction. An angle
θR deflects the rotor of the transmitter and that of the control transformer is kept θC. The total
angular separation between the rotors is Φ = (90º – θR + θC)
The rotor terminal voltage of the Synchro transformer is given as

The small angular displacement between their rotor position is given as

Sin (θR – θC) = (θR – θC)
On substituting the value of angular displacement in equation (1) we get

The synchro transmitter and the control transformer together used for detecting the error. The
voltage equation shown above is equal to the shaft position of the rotors of control transformer
and transmitter.
Torque Transmission Type Synchro:
 Microsyn

Another commonly used example of variable-

reluctance transducer is the Microsyn, as illustrated in
Figure. In this arrangement, the coils are connected in
such a manner that at the null position of the rotary
element, the voltages induced in coils 1 and 3 are
balanced by voltages induced in coils 2 and 4. The
motion of the rotor in the clockwise direction
increases the reluctance of coils 1 and 3 while
decreasing the reluctance of coils 2 and 4, thus giving
a net output voltage eo. The movement in the
counterclockwise direction causes a similar effect in
coils 2 and 4 with a 180° phase shift
 Capacitive Transducer
 The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is given by

  ℇ𝐴
𝐶= ( 𝐹𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑠)
𝑑

where
= Permitivity of medium, F/m
A = the area of the plate, in m2
d = the plate placing in m
εo = 8.854 x 10-12 F/m = permittivity of free space
εr = relative permittivity
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 The capacitive transducers are commonly used for measurement of linear displacement, by employing
the following effects as shown in Fig a
 i) Change in capacitance due to change in overlapping area of plates.
 ii) Change in capacitance due to change in distance between the two plates.
 iii) Change in capacitance due to change in dielectric between the two plates
 Cont’d
Forms of Capacitance Transducers

Rectilinear Capacitance
Rotary plate capacitor Transducer

Thin diaphragm

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Cont’d

Rotary plate capacitor:

The capacitance of this unit proportional to the

amount of the fixed plate that is covered, that
shaded by moving plate. This type of transducer
will give sign proportional to curvilinear
displacement or angular velocity.

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Cont’d

Rectilinear capacitance
transducer:

It consists of a fixed cylinder and

a moving cylinder. These
pieces are configured so the
moving piece fits inside the
fixed piece but insulated from
it.

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Cont’d

Thin diaphragm:
A transducer that varies the
spacing between surfaces. The
dielectric is either air or vacuum.
Often used as Capacitance
microphones.

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Capacitive type Level Meter:
Capacitor Microphone:
Cont’d
Advantages:
1. Has excellent frequency response
2. Can measure both static and dynamic phenomena.

Disadvantages:
3. Sensitivity to temperature variations
4. the possibility of erratic or distortion signals owing to
long lead length

Applications:
5. As frequency modulator in RF oscillator
6. In capacitance microphone
7. Use the capacitance transducer in an ac bridge circuit

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