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Unit 5. Electric and Magnetic Sensors

1. Introduction
2. Electric sensors
3. Magnetic sensors
 Inductive sensors
Inductive Sansors  Hall effect sensors
 Magnetoresistive sensors
电感传感品  Magnetostrictive sensors
HallEfet弥效应  Magnetometers
磁理 4. Voltage and current sensors
Magnetoresistive
Magnetostfictivve
磁颜神缩 1

Magnetometer 磁 计

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1. Introduction
 Electric and magnetic fields are too common to be neglected by nature and they
are equally important in sensing.
 May animals have found ways to take advantages of electric and magnetic fields
for sensing. For instance, sharks can sense electric fields produced by prey,
through use of special gelatinous pores that form electroreceptors. Pigeons have
a biocompass made of magnetite particles in the upper tissue of their beaks and
use that for magneto location.
 The class of electric and magnetic sensors is the broadest by far of all other
classes, both in numbers and types and the variety within each type.

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 For the sake of simplicity and to follow the basic idea of limiting the number
of principles, we limit ourselves here to the following types of sensors:

i. Sensors based on electric and electrostatic principles

• Capacitive sensors (proximity, distance, level, etc.)

ii. Sensors based on direct measurement of resistance

• AC and DC sensing of current and voltage;
• Position and level sensing, etc.

iii. Magnetic sensors based on the static and low-frequency time-dependent

magnetic field
• Hall element sensors, inductive sensors for position, displacement,
proximity
• Other magnetic sensors

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2. Electric Sensors
 Electric field sensors are those that operate based on the physical principles defining the
electric field and its effects. The primary type of electric field sensors is capacitive sensors.

Capacitance is known as the ratio between charge and voltage

on a device:
Q
C C/V
V
which is only defined for two conducting bodies across which
the potential difference is measured.
Assuming the distance d between the two plates is small and
the electric field intensity between the two plates doesn’t S

leak outside the space between the plates, the capacitance of

the device is
ε ε S
C r 0 [F] Fig. 1
d
where εr is the relative permittivity (or dielectric constant) of
the medium, ε0 is the permittivity of free space, S is the area
of the plates, and d is the distance between the plates. 4

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In a more general case, when d is not Fig. 2 Various

small, or if the plates are arranged in configurations
a different configuration, as shown of parallel
in Fig. 2, we cannot calculate the plate
capacitance directly, but can still capacitors.
write the following:
C   (ε r , S , 1 / d ).

As long as two conductors are involved, there will be a definable capacitance between
them. One may use different types of capacitive arrangements for sensing, as shown in
Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 Various types of capacitive sensor arrangements. 5

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2.1 Capacitive position, proximity and displacement sensors

 Capacitive sensors can be constructed by using capacitors with a variable configuration
parameter for position, proximity or displacement sensing.
i. One plate is fixed and the other moves.
One conductor in a two-conductor capacitor (usually
a plate) is allowed to move relative to the other,
which can be used to sense distance or position.
ii. Change in permittivity.
The plates remain fixed, but the dielectric moves in
or out. The advantage of this method is that it is εr
quite linear, and the range of motion is relatively
large.
iii. Change in distance.
Keeping the plates fixed and sensing the distance to
a surface. It is a practical arrangement, but its
response is nonlinear, and the working distance is Fig. 4
limited.
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 Application: Capacitive fluid level sensors

Capacitive sensors can be simply modified to sense fluid
level by allowing the fluid to fill the space between the two
conducting surfaces, as shown in Fig. 5, if the fluid is
nonconducting.
The part of the plates under the surface of the fluid has a
capacitance Cf :
ε hw
Cf  f  F Fig. 5
d
where εf is the permittivity of the fluid, h is the height of the fluid, w is the width of the
plates, and d is the distance between them. The part of the capacitor above the fluid has a
capacitance C0:
ε l  h w
C0  0  F
d
where l is the total height of the capacitor. Then, the total capacitance of the sensor is
the sum of the two:
ε hw ε 0 (l  h )w   ε f  ε 0  w  ε lw
C  C f  C0  f   h  0 [F]
d d  d  d
 Clearly, this relation is linear, and the sensitivity of the sensor is (εf - ε0)w/d. 7

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Example 1: Capacitive fuel gauge

A capacitive fuel tank gauge is shown in Fig. E1. A long
capacitor is made from two coaxial tubes immersed in the fuel
so that the fuel fills the space between them up to the fluid
level. The inner radius a and outer radius b of the coaxial
capacitor are 25 mm and 35 mm, respectively. Find the
sensitivity of the fuel tank gauge if the relative permittivity of Fig. E1
the fluid is 15.
2 ε 0ε r d
Hint: the capacitance of such a coaxial capacitor with the length of d is: C  [F].
ln(b / a )
Solution:
If the fluid fills the capacitor to a height h, the capacitance of the device is
2 ε 0 r 2 ε 0 2 ε 0 2 ε 0
Cf  h (d  h)   r  1 h  d [F]
ln(b / a ) ln(b / a ) ln(b / a ) ln(b / a )
Therefore, the sensitivity of the sensor is
dC f 2 ε 0
s   r  1
dh ln(b / a )
2  8.854  1012
 15  1  2.315  109 [F/m]
ln(35 / 25) 8

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3. Magnetic sensors
 Magnetic sensors are those governed by the magnetic field (more specifically, by the
magnetic flux density B, which is also called magnetic induction) and its effects.
 All magnetic fields are generated by currents, either atomic currents in
permanent magnet or driving current in a coil, as shown in Fig. 6.

● Ferromagnetic, paramagnetic or diamagnetic

materials
For a material with the permeability µ, the relationship between
magnetic flux density B and magnetic field intensity H is
B  μH  μ r μ 0 H [T]
where µr is the relative permeability of the material, and µ0=4π×10-7
H/m is the permeability of free space. According to their relative
permeabilities, the materials can be classified into:
i. Ferromagnetic: µr >> 1
ii. Paramagnetic: µr > 1
iii. Diamagnetic: µr < 1 Fig. 6
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Table 1: Relative permeability of various ferromagnetic materials

Table 2: Relative permeability of various diamagnetic and paramagnetic materials

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 Current and magnetic flux density

For a very long straight wire (infinitely long) carrying a current I
and placed in a medium of permeability μ = μrμ0, as shown in Fig.
8, the magnitude of the magnetic flux density is
I
B  μ rμ 0 [T]
2 r
where r is the distance from the wire to the location where the field
is calculated.
Fig. 8
If we place a system of coordinates (cylindrical in this case), the
field can be described as a vector:
 I
B   μrμ0 [T]
2 r
For a long solenoid with n turns per unit length, the magnetic flux
density in the solenoid is constant, and with the geometry and
system of coordinates shown in Fig. 9, is

B  z μ r μ 0 nI [T]
Fig. 9 11

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For a toroidal coil of average radius r0, cross-sectional area

S, with N turns uniformly wound on the torus, the magnetic
flux density is:
μ μ NI
B  z r 0 [T]
2 r0
If the flux density is integrated over an area, we obtain the
flux of the magnetic field over that area:
Fig. 10
   B  ds [Wb]
S

 Force in a magnetic field

For a charge moving at a velocity v, it will suffer a force
from magnetic field, called the Lorentz force, as
F  qv  B [N].
For a current density flow, the force acts on the current is
F   J  B dv [N].
v
For a long parallel wires carrying current I, the force for a
length of L of the wire is (b)

F  BIL [N]. Fig. 11 12

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3.1 Inductive sensors

 Inductance
Inductance is a property of a magnetic device
(like the capacitance of an electric device). It is
defined as the ratio of magnetic flux and current:
 webber
L or [henry]
I ampere
Two types of inductance:
1) Self inductance: the ratio of the flux produced
by a circuit (a conductor or a coil) in itself Self
Mutual
and the current that produces it. Usually
denoted as Lii.
2) Mutual inductance: the ratio of the flux
produced by circuit i in circuit j and the
current in circuit i that produced it. Usually
denoted as Mij. Fig. 12
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 The calculation of induction is not easy and depends on the geometry and its details.
For coils, however, there are some exact or approximate formulas for inductance.
For an l-long circular coil of radius r and with n turns/m,
the self-inductance can be approximated as
L   n 2 r 2l [H / m]
The voltage generated on an inductor by an AC current is
dI
V L [V]
dt
If an N-turn coil is placed in the field produced by a second
coil, the induced voltage (often called induced emf) is
d
emf   N [V]
dt
In a transformer with two coils, as shown in Fig. 13, their
voltages and current relate as:
N2 1 N1
V2  V1  V1 , I2  I1  aI1
N1 a N2
Fig. 13
where a=N1/N2 is the transformer ratio. 14

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接近传感器
 Inductive proximity sensors
 An inductive proximity sensor contains a coil (inductor) that,
when a current passes through it, generates a magnetic field,
as shown in Fig. 14.
 The current and the diameter of the coil define the extent to
which the field projects away from the coil and therefore the
range and the span of the sensor. Fig. 14
 The inductance of the coil increases if the sensed surface is
ferromagnetic.

Fig. 15 shows two practical designs of inductive proximity

sensors:
(a) A ferromagnetic core is added to increase the inductance of
the sensor. A shield is placed around the sensor to prevent
sensitivity to objects on the side of the sensor or at its back so (a)
as to project the field in front of the sensor to increase both
the field and the pan of the sensor.
(b) A closed magnetic circuit to concentrate the magnetic field in
the gaps and thus need not the shielding.
(b)
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Fig. 15

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磁路
 Magnetic circuit method
 For the cases of transformers or sensors in a closed magnetic circuits (as that shown
in Fig. 15b), one can use the magnetic circuit method to calculate parameters, such as
magnetic flux and induced voltage.
In this method, one may consider:
 Magnetic flux -> “Current”
 The product of the current and the number of

turns N·I -> “Voltage”

 Reluctance -> “Resistance”
The reluctance of a member of the magnetic circuit
of length lm [m], permeability μ [H/m], and cross-
,

sectional area S [m2] is:

lm
m  [1/H]
μS
With these preliminaries, the flux in the circuit can be
calculated as:
 NI
号
 [Wb] Fig. 16
 m B =
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* Example 2: Paint thickness sensor

A paint thickness sensor is built with a magnetic field
sensor, shown in Fig. E2. The coil includes N = 600
turns and is supplied with a DC current I = 0.1 A. The
core of the sensor has a cross-sectional area S = 1 cm2
and an average magnetic path length lc = 5 cm. The
distance of two detection heads is ls = 3 cm. The core
of the sensor is made of silicon steel, which has a Fig. E2
relative permeability of 5000. The sensor is used to
measure the thickness of paint upon steel which has a relative permeability of 1000. Paint
is nonmagnetic with relative permeability of 1.
Find the transfer function between the paint thickness and the measured quantity magnetic
flux density and plot it for the paint thickness from 0.01 mm to 0.5 mm.
Hint: the cross-section area of magnetic flux in steel can be assumed to be the same as that
in the sensor core.
Solution:
The reluctance of the core is
lc 5 102
c    7.957 104 / H
c S 5000  4 107  104 17

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The reluctance of the gap is

lg lg
g    7.957  109 l / H
0 S 4  107  10 4 g

In steel, the cross-section area of magnetic flux is assumed to be the same as that in sensor
core and then its reluctance is
l 0.03
s  s   2.387  105 / H
 s S 1000  4  10 7  10 4
Then, the flux in the core, gap, and steel:
NI 600  0.1
 
c  2g  s 7.957  104  2  7.957  109 lg  2.387  105
60
 [Wb]
3.183 105  2  7.957 109 l g
The flux density is the flux divided by the
cross-sectional area:
 6
B  [T]
S 3.183  2  7.957  10 4 l g

 The transfer function is highly nonlinear from 0.01 to 0.5 mm. If plot the quantity 1/B
with respect to thickness, the result is then a linear output. 18

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 Eddy current proximity sensors

 AC magnetic fields will induce currents, called eddy
currents, in conducting media. They flow in closed loops
and cause a field that opposes the original field (Lenz’s
law), see Fig. 17.
 As the currents flowing in the conductor being
sensed dissipate power, the sensing coil is forced to
supply more power than it would supply. Fig. 17
The formation of eddy currents in conducting media induces an increase of the effective
resistance of coil:
Z=R+jωL to Z′=R′+jωL′.
which can be measured by the change of either absolute term or the phase of the
measured voltage. The AC magnetic field penetrating into a conducting medium is:
B  B0 e  d / [T], or J  J 0 e  d /  A/m 2 
where B0 and J0 are the flux density and the eddy current density at the surface, d is the
depth in the medium, and δ is the skin depth (at which the field is attenuated to 1/e):
1
 [m]
 f μ
where f is the frequency, μ is the magnetic permeability, and σ is the electrical
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 Application: Eddy current testing for flaw

 An eddy current proximity sensor can be used for nondestructive testing of materials to
help in the detection of cracks, holes and subsurface anomalies in conducting media.
Fig. 18a shows a thick aluminum conductor who
has a 2.4-mm hole drilled in it to some depth,
representing a flaw.
(a)
Two small coils, each 1 mm in diameter and
separate 3 mm apart, are placed against the
aluminum surface and slid to the right in small
increments. The inductance of each coil is measured
and the difference between the two inductances is
used as an indication.
Fig. 18b shows a plot of the inductance versus
position of the center of the probe, starting about 18
mm from the center of the hole and moving 18 mm
past the hole.
Since the inductance in the vicinity of the flaw is
Fig. 18
lower, the difference between the leading and the
trailing coils first dips and then rises. 20

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 Variable inductance sensors: position and displacement sensing

 Variable inductance sensors, sometimes called variable reluctance sensors, can be
used for accurate measurement of position and displacement.
 Linear variable inductance sensor
Magnetic reluctance is the equivalent magnetic
term to electric resistance and is defined as
(magnetic path) l Fig. 19

m  [1 / H]
(permeability)μ  (cross-sectional area) S
from which one can see that one of the simplest inductive sensor is to provide it with a
movable core to change reluctance.

 Linear variable differential transformer (LVDT)

In a transformer, if a constant AC voltage Vref is
connected across the primary coil, the induced voltage
in the secondary coil is:
N
Vout  k 2 Vref [V]
N1
where k is a coupling coefficient that depends on not
only the distance but also the medium between the coils. Fig. 20 21

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 Examples of variable inductance sensors

i. The moving core LVDT sensor
There are two coils in the output circuit whose voltages
subtract: if the core moves to the left, the voltage on coil
2 decreases; while the voltage on coil 1 remains the
same, since only the coupling between the reference
(primary) coil and coil 2 changes.
Thus, the output voltage is a measure of distance that
the core travels from the zero to output position, where
the change in phase is used to detect the direction of
motion. Fig. 21

ii. Rotary variable differential transformer (RVDT)

A specially designed ferromagnetic core, called rotor,
couples the primary coil with the secondary coil
according to angular positon.
The rotor is shaped to enable linear output over the
useful range, i.e., +40o, of the sensor, but nonlinear
beyond the range.
Fig. 22
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3.2 Hall effect sensors

 Hall effect
In a conducting material applied with a magnetic field, the electrons flowing at a velocity v
suffer a force, perpendicular to both the current and the field on the flowing electrons.
Since the force is related to the electric field intensity as F =qEH, we can write the electric
field intensity in the conductor as
F
E H   vB sin  [V/m]
q
As the current density is J=nqv, where n is the
number of electrons per cubic meter, q is the
charge of the electron. Therefore, the Hall
electric field intensity is
Fig. 23
nqvB sin  JB sin 
EH   [V/m]
nq nq
As the current density is I divided by the cross-sectional area perpendicular to the flow of
current or J=I/Ld, the electric field intensity can be further written as
IB sin 
EH  [V/m]
nqLd 23

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 Hall effect sensors

Hall effect can be used to sense magnetic field by
measuring Hall voltage:
IB sin 
VH  E H L  [V]
qnd
where EH is assumed to be constant along L. In practical measurement, angle θ is
typically 90o. If further written the term 1/qn to be Hall coefficient, which depends on
the type of material, the Hall voltage can be written as
IB
Vout  K H [V]
d
• Sensing the rotation of a shaft
As shown in Fig. 24a, a voltage pulse Vh is produced
every time the small magnet passes past the Hall element.
• Sensing electric power
As shown in Fig. 24b, the voltage is connected to a coil
that generates a magnetic field across the Hall
element. The, the Hall voltage is then proportional to
the power and can measure the power with calibration. (b)

Fig. 24 24

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Example 3: Measurement of magnetic flux density and magnetic flux

The Hall element’s primary function is sensing of
magnetic fields, but it can also sense any quantity related
to the magnetic field. Fig. E3 shows the configuration of
a biased Hall effect sensor with a Hall coefficient of 10-2
m3/A·s. The dimensions of the Hall element are a = 2
mm, b = 2 mm, and its thickness is c = 0.1 mm.
Calculate the response of the Hall element: Fig. E3
(a) For magnetic flux densities from 0 to 2 T. This is the range normally found in
electric machines. What is the minimum field measurable if a digital voltmeter with
a resolution of 2 mV is used to measure the Hall voltage?
,

(b) For the flux from 0 to 10 µWb.

Solution：
(a) The relation between the magnetic flux density and the Hall voltage is
IH B 5 / (1  103 )
Vout  K H  0.01  B  0.5B [V]
d 0.1  10 3
V
IH
□
=

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from which one has

B  2Vout
Thus, a 2-mV voltmeter will measure a minimum flux density of 4 mT.
 This is not particularly sensitive (i.e., 4 mT = 4000 μT is much higher than the
terrestrial magnetic flux density of 60 mT), but it is useful for higher fields.

(b) If assume the flux density is uniform over the area, the magnetic flux can
then be calculated simply by multiplying the flux density by area:
Φ = B × S,
Therefore,
IH B I  5  10 3
Vout  K H  K H H  0.01  
d -
dS 0.1  10  ( 2  10 3  2  103 )
3

 1.25  105  [V]

Thus, the output voltage for 0 and 10 μWb will be 0 and 1.25 V (i.e. 1.25×105
×10×10-6 = 1.25), respectively.

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3.3 Magnetoresistive sensors

 Magnetoresistance
 Magnetoresistance is the effect that the magnetic field on the electrical resistance of a
conductor or semiconductor.
There are two mechanisms of magnetoresistance:
1) electrons are attracted or repelled by magnetic
field, as was discussed in Hall effect; 2) in certain
materials, the direction of internal magnetization
might change by the applied magnetic field.
For most configurations, the magnetoresistance is
proportional to B2 as Fig. 25 Magnetoresistance in a
R semiconductor. (a) No magnetic field. (b)
 kB 2 A magnetic field alters the flow path of
R0
the carriers. (c) The Corbino disk
where k is a calibration function.
magnetoresistor.
 Corbino disk
As shown in Fig. 25c, it is an very useful configuration that has one electrode at the
center of the disk and a second electrode on the perimeter. It can dramatically increase
the sensitivity of the device because electrons need take long spiral paths to flow from
one electrode to the other.
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 Magnetoresistive sensors
 Magnetoresistors are used in a manner in similar to Hall elements, but their use is
simpler since one does not need to establish a control current.
 An important type of magnetoresistive sensor is based on the metals with highly
anisotropic properties. With the presence of a magnetic field, their magnetization direction
will change accordingly. The effect is called anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR).
Fig. 26 shows a typical structure of AMR sensor,
in which the internal magnetization is parallel to
the current, while the magnetic field is applied
perpendicular to the current. Then, the internal
magnetization changes direction by an angle α.

The resistance of the sample then becomes: Fig. 26

R  R0  R0 cos 2 
Table 3: Some AMR materials and their properties
where R0 is the resistance without application of
the magnetic field and ΔR0 is the change in
resistance. The angle α is proportional to the
applied field and is material dependent.
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3.4 Magnetostrictive sensors

 Magnetostrictive effect
The magnetostrictive effect is the contraction or
expansion of a material under the influence of the
magnetic field. It is commonly exhibited by the
transitional metals, such as iron, cobalt and nickel.
Fig. 27
There are two effects:
• Joule effect: change in length of a magnetostrictive sample due to an applied
magnetization.
• Villari effect: change in the susceptibility (i.e., the permeability of the material
changes) of a material when subjected to a mechanical stress.
Their reciprocals:
• Wiedemann effect: when an axial magnetic field is applied to the sample and a current
passes through the magnetostrictive sample itself, the interaction between the two
causes the twisting effect.
• Matteucci effect: the creation of an axial magnetic field by a magnetostrictive material
when subjected to a torque.
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 Magnetostrictive sensors
Magnetostrictive effect can be used to fabricate many kinds
of devices and sensors. One of the typical applications is
Magnetostrictive torque sensor, as shown in Fig. 28.
It consists of a sleeve of prestressed maraging steel (tightly
fitted on the shaft itself) and two eddy current sensors.
First, because the magnetostrictive steel is pre-stressed,
when it is compressed, its permeability decreases since now
the stress is reduced (negative Villari effect); when the steel
is tensioned, its permeability increases (positive Villari
effect).
The second part is the eddy current sensors: one driving coil
at the center and two pickup coils at the tips. The eddy
currents are influenced by the permeability of the material
through the skin effect. The two driving coils are connected
in series and two sensing coils are connected in differential
modes.
Thus, as the torque increases, one sensor will experience an
increase while the second will decrease in output. The sum (c)
of the changes in voltages gives a reading of torque. 30
Fig. 28

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3.5 Magnetometers
 Magnetometers are devices that measure magnetic fields, which refers to either
very accurate sensors or low-field sensing systems for measuring magnetic field.

 Coil magnetometer
In a coil, as shown in Fig. 29, the emf (voltage) across the
coil is known from Farady’s law of induction as
d
emf   N [V],    BS sin  BS [Wb]
dt S

where Φ is the flux through the coil, N is the number of

turns in the coil, and θBS is the angle between the direction
of the field and the normal to the area of the coil.

 To measure a local field, the area of the coil must be small.

 The sensitivity depends on the size and number of turns.
 If the field is time dependent, it can be detected with
stationary coils. Fig. 29
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Example 4: The coil magnetometer

Consider a device intended to detect and trace
current-carrying wires buried in a wall or to
map the magnetic field in a house or in the
vicinity of power lines. The sensor itself is a simple coil. The emf produced by the coil is
amplified and displayed. The coil given here has 1000 turns and an average diameter of 4
cm. Assuming that a minimum output of 20 mV is needed to overcome background noise,
what is the lowest magnetic flux density produced by a power line at 60 Hz that can be
measured?
Solution:
If assume that the magnetic flux density is sinusoidal and uniform across the plane of the
coil, we have
d (t ) dB(t ) d
emf   N   NS   NS B0 sin(2 ft )  2 fNSB0 cos(2 ft ) [V].
dt dt dt
Therefore, for a 20-mV emf, we have
| emf | 20  103
B0    4.22  105 T.
2 fNS 2  60  1000    2  102  2

 The device can only detect time dependent fields.

 The sensitivity can be increased by increasing the number of turns, the dimensions of the coil,
32
or if the frequency is higher.

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 The Fluxgate magnetometer

A more sensitive magnetometer is fluxgate sensor,
which consist of a small magnetically susceptible
core wrapped by two coils.
Its working principle is to compare the drive-coil
current needed to saturate the core in one direction to
that needed to saturate it in the opposite direction. The
difference is due to the external field.

In practice, the core is driven through an

alternating cycle of magnetic saturation; i.e.,
magnetised, unmagnetised, inversely magnetised,
unmagnetised, magnetised, and so forth.
In a magnetically neutral background, the input
and output currents match. When the core is
exposed to a magnetic field, however, it is more
easily saturated in alignment with that field and
less easily saturated in opposition to it, which
yields an output analog voltage proportional to the
magnetic field. Fig. 30 (a) Toroidal and (b) Bar types33of
fluxgate magnetometers.

(EE549)

4. Voltage and current sensors

 There are many mechanisms for sensing current and voltage. The most common
methods are resistive, capacitive and inductive as well as Hall element.

 Voltage sensors
a) The potentiometer is a variable voltage divider. In all cases an
input voltage Vin is divided to produce an output voltage Vout,
which may be viewed as a ‘‘sampling’’ of the voltage Vin:
V
Vout  in R0 [V] (a)
R
b) The transformer can sense AC voltage. It isolates the sampled
voltage from the input voltage, a property that is important when
mixing high and low voltages:
V (b)
Vout  in N 2 [V]
N1
c) Voltage can also be sensed capacitively in what can be called a
capacitive voltage divider. The output voltage is given as
C2 (c)
Vout  Vin [V]
C1  C2 Fig. 31 34

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* Example 5: Monitoring of voltage in a high-voltage power supply

A device for monitoring of the voltage in a high-voltage power supply is shown in the
Fig. E5. The high-voltage supply is applied between the top and bottom surfaces, which
are 2 m long, 1.2 m wide, and separated 10 cm apart, forming a capacitor. The abrasive
particles are placed on the bottom surface and attracted to the top, sticking to the paper. A
small plate of area S is placed at a small distance from the lower conducting surface. The
potential difference between the plate and ground is connected to a microprocessor to
monitor the high voltage across the plate.
If the high voltage can vary between 0 and 200 kV, what must be the distance of the
small plate from the bottom surface if the microprocessor operates at 5 V?

Fig. E5. A small capacitor as a voltage sensor.

35

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Solution：
The plates are fairly close to each
other forming two plate capacitors.
Assuming the electric field intensity between the plates is uniform and the area of the
inserted plate is S, we then have
 0S S
C1  , C2  0 [F]
d1 d2
As the two capacitors C1 and C2 can be considered as two capacitors in series, the relation
between the input and output voltages then is
 0S
C2 d2 d1
Vout  Vin  5 V   200  103  Vout   200  103  5 V.
C1  C2  0 S  0S d1  d 2

d1 d2
Since d1 + d2 = d = 100 mm, we can write
200  103 500
V1   d1  5  d1   0.0025 mm.
100 200,000

 The result doesn’t depend on the area of the plate, i.e. the area of the plate is immaterial.
36

18
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 Current sensors
 Most current sensors are in fact voltage sensors, or current to voltage converters.

• In its simplest form, as shown in Fig. 32, a resistor

connected in series with the current to be sensed
provides a voltage proportional to the current:
V  I  Rsense Fig. 32

• A second method often used with sensing AC currents is

the so-called current transformer, as shown in Fig. 33.
The current I1 produces a voltage across the primary and
that voltage produces a voltage N2 times larger in the
secondary. The voltage V(I1) is measured and is then an
indication of the current in the conductor.
Fig. 33b shows the equivalent circuit with the current
carrying conductor shown as a single loop, in which the
currents relate as:
N 1
I 2  1 I1  I1
N2 N2 Fig. 33 37

(EE549)

 Rogowski coil current sensors

 Another kind of current transformer without core is called as Rogowski coil current
sensor.
In a Rogowski coil, the coil is wound uniformly around a
round form that is then removed and the end of the wire
threaded through the coil itself so that both ends of the
coil are available at one end of the coil.
If the coil has an average radius a, the flux density at the
center of the coil is
I
B  0 [T]
2 a Fig. 34
If the turns of coil are of radius b and there are N turns in total, the
flux can be calculated as
0 Ib 2
   Bds  BS  B b 2  [Wb]
S 2a
If the current is time dependent and is of the form I(t)=I0sin(ωt), we get
d μ I b2  μ b2 
emf  N  N 0 0  cos t [V] or emf   N 0   I 0 cos t [V]
dt 2a  2a 
38

19
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 Hall element-based current sensors

 Current can also be measured by sensing the current-produced magnetic flux density
by using Hall element, as shown in Fig. 35.
It is known that the magnetic flux density B produced by a long wire carrying a current
I is:
I
B
2 a
where a is the distance from the conductor at which the
magnetic flux density is measured and μ is the permeability
at that location.
The magnetic flux density can be measured by using a Hall
element placed with its surface perpendicular to the magnetic
flux density:
Fig. 35
I H B  I H KH
Vout  K H  I
d 2 a d
where KH is the Hall coefficient, IH is the bias current through the Hall element, d is
the thickness of the Hall element, and μ is the permeability of the material in which the
Hall element is embedded (assuming that it is nonmagnetic).
39

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Example 6: Current sensor for house power monitoring

A current sensor based on the Rogowski coil is needed to sense
the current entering a home. With a maximum expected current of
200 A (root mean square [RMS]), it is desired to use a sensor that
produces a maximum voltage of magnitude 200 mV so that it can
be connected directly to a digital voltmeter and the current read
directly on the 0 – 200 mV scale.
Design a Rogowski coil that will accomplish this. The diameter of the current-carrying
conductor is 8 mm and the AC in the grid is sinusoidal at 60 Hz.
Solution:
If use RMS current (since the voltage is needed as RMS value), one can find:
μ 0 I 0b2 4  107  200  2  60 b2 N b2 N
emf  N   0.2   4.22
2a 2 a a
That is, the product b N/a must be 4.22. Since b cannot be very large, we may use a 5-mm
2

radius for turns (b=0.005 m). Further choose 2.5-cm radius for the coil (a=0.025m), we have
4.22 a 0.1055
N   4222 turns.
b2 0.0052
 Using a larger diameter coil would require a greater number of turns, whereas a larger turn
diameter would require fewer turns. 40

20
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Classwork 5:
Q1. The rotation speed of an engine is monitored by a Hall element-based
sensor, see the configuration in Fig. Q1a. Two symmetric bumps or
protrusions are added to the shaft. The gap between the Hall element
and the shaft varies from 1 mm when one of the bumps is aligned with
the Hall element to 2 mm when it is not. Assume the permittivity of the
shaft and the iron ring are very high and the permeability of the Hall
element is the same as air, equal to μ0. The coil contains 500 turns and
is supplied with 0.2 A to produce a magnetic flux density in the gap.
Calculate the minimum and maximum reading of the Hall element if it
is biased using the circuit in Fig. Q1b, which has a Hall coefficient of
0.01 m3/A·s and is 0.1 mm thick. Fig. Q1

Q2. A current sensor is made as a simple closed magnetic core, as shown in

Fig. Q2. The current in a conductor is sensed by threading the wire
through the central opening and the induced voltage in a coil wound
uniformly on the core, or the current through it is used to measure the
current in the wire. For a full scale of 10 A (RMS), the sensor shown is
designed so that the induced voltage is 200 mV (RMS) across a load of Fig. Q2

100 Ω. Calculate the number of turns required in the secondary coil

assuming the current sensor operates as an ideal transformer.
41

(EE549)

References:
1. N. Ida, Sensors, Actuators, and their Interfaces. SciTech Publishing,
2014.
2. Sensors for Mechatronics, 2nd edition, Paul P. L Regtien, Edwin
Dertien, Elsevier, 2018.

42

21
 (EE549)

FClasswork 5:
Q1. The rotation speed of an engine is monitored by a Hall element-based
sensor, see the configuration in Fig. Q1a. Two symmetric bumps or
protrusions are added to the shaft. The gap between the Hall element
and the shaft varies from 1 mm when one of the bumps is aligned with
the Hall element to 2 mm when it is not. Assume the permittivity of the
shaft and the iron ring are very high and the permeability of the Hall
element is the same as air, equal to μ0. The coil contains 500 turns and
is supplied with 0.2 A to produce a magnetic flux density in the gap.
Calculate the minimum and maximum reading of the Hall element if it
is biased using the circuit in Fig. Q1b, which has a Hall coefficient of
0.01 m3/A·s and is 0.1 mm thick. Fig. Q1

Q2. A current sensor is made as a simple closed magnetic core, as shown in

Fig. Q2. The current in a conductor is sensed by threading the wire
through the central opening and the induced voltage in a coil wound
o
uniformly on the core, or the current through it is used to measure the
0
current in the wire. For a full scale of 10 A (RMS), the sensor shown is
designed so that the induced voltage is 200 mV (RMS) across a load of Fig. Q2

100 Ω. Calculate the number of turns required in the secondary coil

assuming the current sensor operates as an ideal transformer.
41

N, z
=

Nz
1
(EE549)

References:
1. N. Ida, Sensors, Actuators,
r and their Interfaces. SciTech Publishing,
2014.
2. Sensors for Mechatronics, 2nd edition, Paul P. L Regtien, Edwin
Dertien, Elsevier, 2018.

42

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