1

Linear & Rotational Displacement measurement

Linear Displacement Transducers

Translational displacement transducers are instruments that measure the motion of a body in a straight line between two points. Apart from their use as a primary transducer measuring the motion of a body, translational displacement transducers are also widely used as a secondary component in measurement systems, where some other physical quantity such as pressure, force, acceleration or temperature is translated into a translational motion by the primary measurement transducer.
2

Displacement transducers

Many different types of translational displacement transducer exist and these, along with their relative merits and characteristics, are discussed in the following sections .

A) The resistive potentiometer

The resistive potentiometer is perhaps the bestknown displacement-measuring device. It consists of a resistance element with a movable contact as shown in Figure (Voltage sensitive circuit.) A voltage Vs is applied across the two ends A and B of the resistance element and an output voltage V0 is measured between the point of contact C of the sliding element and the end of the 4 resistance element A.

A) The resistive potentiometer

A linear relationship exists between the output voltage V0 and the distance AC, which can be expressed by:

The body whose motion is being measured is connected to the sliding element of the potentiometer, so that translational motion of the body causes a motion of equal magnitude of the slider along the resistance element and a corresponding change in the output voltage V0. 5

A) The resistive potentiometer

Current Sensitive input circuit

Fig shows the schematics of a current sensitive circuit. A change in the physical variable (measurand) moves the slider across the resistor and brings about a change in the resistance of the circuit. The resistance change is then indicated by a change in the current flow in the circuit.
6

A) The resistive potentiometer

The current flow is given by,

where Vs is the supply or input voltage, Rb is the resistance of the system outside the transducer, and R is the resistance of the transducer that varies with measurand.

Linear differential Variable transformer

LVDT is inductive transducer .Translates liner motion into electrical signals

The device has one primary and two secondary windings with the magnetic core free to move inside the coils. The core is attached to the moving part on which the displacement measurements are to be made.
When a.c. current is supplied to the primary winding, the magnetic flux generated by this coil is disturbed by the armature so that voltages are induced in the secondary coil.
8

Linear differential Variable transformer

Linear differential Variable transformer

The secondary windings are symmetrically placed, are identical and are connected in phase opposition so that emf induced in them are opposite to each other. The net output from the transformer is then the difference between the voltages of the two secondary windings. The position of the magnetic core determines the flux linkages with each winding, When the core is placed centrally, equal but opposite emfs are induced in the secondary windings and zero output is recorded. This is termed as the balance point or 10 null position.

Linear differential Variable transformer

A variation in the position of the core from its null position produces an unbalance in the resistance of Secondary windings to the primary windings. The voltage induced in the secondary winding towards which the core is displaced increases. A simultaneous decreased induced voltage results from the other secondary coil.

11

Linear differential Variable transformer

Thus, upon displacement of the armature, the resultant will be a voltage rise in one secondary and a decrease in the other. The asymmetry in the core position thus produce a differential voltage E0 which varies linearly with change in the core position . Change in Voltage is proportional to displacement 12

Linear differential Variable transformer

Linear range

Central Core Position

13

Displacement

Linear differential Variable transformer

Advantages

High range (from 1.25mm to 500 mm) Low power consumption (<1 w) High sensitivity Frictionless device Tolerant to shocks & vibrations Immunized to external effects

14

Linear differential Variable transformer

Disadvantages

Large displacement required for small o/p Sensitive to stray magnet Performance affected by temperature Limited dynamic response

15

Linear differential Variable transformer

Applications

Primary transducer converts displacement directly to voltage. Secondary transducer for measuring pressure, force, weight etc.

16

Rotational displacement transducers

angular motion of a body about some rotation axis.

They are important not only for measuring the rotation of bodies such as shafts, but also as part of systems that measure translational displacement by converting the translational motion to a rotary form. The various devices available for measuring rotational displacements are presented below,
17

Rotational displacement
Rotational displacement transducers measure the

angular motion of a body about some rotation axis.

They are important not only for measuring the rotation of bodies such as shafts, but also as part of systems that measure translational displacement by converting the translational motion to a rotary form. The various devices available for measuring rotational displacements are presented below,
18

Rotational displacement
Angular measurements are made with a device

called tachometer. The dictionary definitions of a tachometers are :

*"an instrument used to measure angular velocity as of shaft, either by registering the number of rotations during the period of contact, or by indicating directly the number of rotations per minute.

*"an instrument which either continuously indicates the value of rotary speed or continuously displays a reading of average speed over rapidly operated short intervals of time" 19

Rotational displacement
Tachometers are broadly classified into two

categories,

Mechanical tachometers Electrical tachometers

Selection of type of tachometer based on cost,need of portability, accuracy desired , magnitude of speed measured and size of the rotating element
20

Revolution counter and timer

counter, consists of a worm gear which is also the shaft attachment and is drives by the speed source. The worm drives the spur gear which in turn actuates the pointer on a calibrated dial.

The pointer indicates the number of revolutions turned by the input shaft in a certain length of time. The unit requires a separate timer to measure the time interval. The revolution counter, thus, gives an average rotational speed rather than an instantaneous rotational speed. 21

Revolution counter and timer

Such speed counters are limited to low speed

engines which permit reading the counter at definite time intervals. A properly deigned and manufactured revolution counter would give a satisfactory speed measure ment upto 2000-3000 rpm. 22

Slipping clutch tachometer

The rotating shaft drives an indicating shaft through a slipping clutch. A pointer attached to the indicator shaft moves over a calibrated scale against the torque of a spring. The pointer position gives a measure of the shaft 23 speed.

Slipping clutch tachometer

The rotating shaft drives an indicating shaft through a slipping clutch. A pointer attached to the indicator shaft moves over a calibrated scale against the torque of a spring. The pointer position gives a measure of the shaft 24 speed.

Drag Cup tachometer

The drag-cup tachometer, also known as an eddy-

current tachometer, has a central spindle carrying a permanent magnet that rotates inside a nonmagnetic drag-cup consisting of a cylindrical sleeve of electrically conductive material, as 25 shown in Figure.

Drag Cup tachometer

As the spindle and magnet rotate, a voltage is induced which causes circulating eddy currents in the cup. These currents interact with the magnetic field from the permanent magnet and produce a torque. In response, the drag-cup turns until the induced torque is balanced by the torque due to the restraining springs connected to the cup.
26

Drag Cup tachometer

When equilibrium is reached, the angular displacement of the cup is proportional to the rotational velocity of the central spindle. The instrument has a typical measurement inaccuracy of 0.5% and is commonly used in the speedometers of motor vehicles and as a speed indicator for aero-engines. It is capable of measuring velocities up to 15 000 rpm.

27

Optical tachometer

Optical pulses can be generated by one of the two alternative photoelectric techniques illustrated in Figure. In Figure (a), the pulses are produced as the windows in a slotted disc pass in sequence between a light source and a detector.
Photoelectric pulse generation techniques.
28

Optical tachometer

The alternative form, Figure (b), has both light source and detector mounted on the same side of a reflective disc which has black sectors painted onto it at regular angular intervals. Light sources are normally either lasers or LEDs, with photodiodes and phototransistors being used as detectors.
Optical tachometers yield better accuracy than other forms of digital tachometer but are not as 29 reliable because dust and dirt can block light paths

Magnetic (Hall-effect) sensing

The rotating element in Hall-effect or magnetostrictive tachometers has a very simple design in the form of a toothed metal gearwheel. The sensor is a solid-state, Hall-effect device that is placed between the gear wheel and a permanent magnet.

30

Magnetic (Hall-effect) sensing

When an inter tooth gap on the gear wheel is adjacent to the sensor, the full magnetic field from the magnet passes through it. Later, as a tooth approaches the sensor, the tooth diverts some of the magnetic field, and so the field through the sensor is reduced. This causes the sensor to produce an output voltage that is proportional to the rotational speed of the gear wheel.
31

Inductive Pick Up

Variable reluctance velocity transducers, also known as induction tachometers, are a form of digital tachometer that use inductive sensing. A more sophisticated version shown in Figure has a rotating disc that is constructed from a bonded-fibre material into which soft iron poles are inserted at regular intervals around its periphery. The sensor consists of a permanent magnet with a shaped pole piece, which carries a wound coil. The distance between the pick-up and the outer perimeter of 32 the disc is around 0.5 mm.

Inductive Pick Up

As the disc rotates, the soft iron inserts on the disc move in turn past the pick-up unit. As each iron insert moves towards the pole piece, the reluctance of the magnetic circuit increases and hence the flux in the pole piece also increases. Similarly, the flux in the pole piece decreases as each iron insert moves away from the sensor. The changing magnetic flux inside the pick-up coil causes a voltage to be induced in the coil whose magnitude is proportional to the rate of change of flux. 33

Inductive Pick Up

This voltage is positive whilst the flux is increasing and negative whilst it is decreasing. Thus, the output is a sequence of positive and negative pulses whose frequency is proportional to the rotational velocity of the disc. The maximum angular velocity that the instrument can measure is limited to about 10000 rpm because of the finite width of the induced pulses.

34

Inductive Pick Up

As the velocity increases, the distance between the pulses is reduced, and at a certain velocity, the pulses start to overlap. At this point, the pulse counter ceases to be able to distinguish the separate pulses. The optical tachometer has significant advantages in this respect, since the pulse width is much narrower, allowing measurement of higher velocities.

35

Stroboscope

The stroboscopic technique of rotational velocity measurement operates on a similar physical principle to digital tachometers except that the pulses involved consist of flashes of light generated electronically and whose frequency is adjustable so that it can be matched with the frequency of occurrence of some feature on the rotating body being measured.

36

Stroboscope

This feature can either be some naturally occurring one such as gear teeth or the spokes of a wheel, or it can be an artificially created pattern of black and white stripes. In either case, the rotating body appears stationary when the frequencies of the light pulses and body features are in synchronism.

37

Stroboscope

Flashing rates available in commercial stroboscopes vary from 110 up to 150 000 per minute according to the range of velocity measurement required, and typical measurement inaccuracy is +/-1% of the reading. The instrument is usually in the form of a hand-held device that is pointed towards the rotating body. It must be noted that measurement of the flashing rate at which the rotating body appears stationary does not automatically indicate the rotational velocity, because synchronism also occurs when the flashing rate is some integral sub-multiple of the rotational speed. 38

Stroboscope

The practical procedure followed is therefore to adjust the flashing rate until synchronism is obtained at the largest flashing rate possible, R1. The flashing rate is then carefully decreased until synchronism is again achieved at the next lower flashing rate, R2. The rotational velocity is then given by:

39