UNIT 3

TRANSDUCERS
 INTRODUCTION OF TRANSDUCERS

• A transducer is a device that convert one form of energy

to other form. It converts the measurand to a usable
electrical signal.
• In other word it is a device that is capable of converting
the physical quantity into a proportional electrical
quantity such as voltage or current.

Pressure Voltage
 BLOCK DIAGRAM OF TRANSDUCERS
• Transducer contains two parts that are closely related to
each other i.e. the sensing element and transduction
element.
• The sensing element is called as the sensor. It is device
producing measurable response to change in physical
conditions.
• The transduction element convert the sensor output to
suitable electrical form.
 CHARACTERISTICS OF
TRANSDUCERS
1. Ruggedness
2. Linearity
3. Repeatability
4. Accuracy
5. High stability and reliability
6. Speed of response
7. Sensitivity
8. Small size
 TRANSDUCERS SELECTION FACTORS
1. Operating Principle: The transducer are many times selected on the basis of
operating principle used by them. The operating principle used may be
resistive, inductive, capacitive , optoelectronic, piezo electric etc.

2. Sensitivity: The transducer must be sensitive enough to produce detectable

output.

3. Operating Range: The transducer should maintain the range requirement

and have a good resolution over the entire range.

4. Accuracy: High accuracy is assured.

5. Cross sensitivity: It has to be taken into account when measuring

mechanical quantities. There are situation where the actual quantity is being
measured is in one plane and the transducer is subjected to variation in
another plan.
 Contd.
6. Errors: The transducer should maintain the expected input-output
relationship as described by the transfer function so as to avoid errors.
7. Transient and frequency response : The transducer should meet the
desired time domain specification like peak overshoot, rise time,
setting time and small dynamic error.
8. Loading Effects: The transducer should have a high input impedance
and low output impedance to avoid loading effects.
9. Environmental Compatibility: It should be assured that the
transducer selected to work under specified environmental conditions
maintains its input- output relationship and does not break down.
10. Insensitivity to unwanted signals: The transducer should be
minimally sensitive to unwanted signals and highly sensitive to
desired signals.
 CLASSIFICATION OF TRANSDUCERS

The transducers can be classified as:

I. Active and passive transducers.

II. Analog and digital transducers.
III. On the basis of transduction principle used.
IV. Primary and secondary transducer
V. Transducers and inverse transducers.
 ACTIVE AND PASSIVE TRANSDUCERS
• Active transducers :
• These transducers do not need any external source of power
for their operation. Therefore they are also called as self
generating type transducers.
I. The active transducer are self generating devices which
operate under the energy conversion principle.
II. As the output of active transducers we get an equivalent
electrical output signal e.g. temperature or strain to electric
potential, without any external source of energy being used.
Piezoelectric Transducer
CLASSIFICATION OF ACTIVE TRANSDUCERS
 ACTIVE AND PASSIVE TRANSDUCERS
• Passive Transducers :
I. These transducers need external source
of power for their operation. So they are
not self generating type transducers.
II. A DC power supply or an audio
frequency generator is used as an
external power source.
III. These transducers produce the output
signal in the form of variation in
resistance, capacitance, inductance or
some other electrical parameter in
response to the quantity to be measured.
CLASSIFICATION OF PASSIVE
TRANSDUCERS
 PRIMARY AND SECONDARY
TRANSDUCERS
• Some transducers contain the mechanical as well as electrical
device. The mechanical device converts the physical quantity
to be measured into a mechanical signal.
•Such mechanical device are called as the primary
transducers, because they deal with the physical quantity to be
measured.
•The electrical device then convert this mechanical signal into
a corresponding electrical signal. Such electrical device are
known as secondary transducers.
 CONTD
•Ref fig in which the diaphragm act as primary transducer. It
convert pressure (the quantity to be measured) into
displacement (the mechanical signal).
•The displacement is then converted into change in resistance
using strain gauge. Hence strain gauge acts as the secondary
transducer.
CLASSIFICATION OF TRANSDUCERS
According to Transduction Principle
 CLASSIFICATION OF TRANSDUCERS
According to Transduction Principle
CAPACITIVE TRANSDUCER:
•In capacitive transduction transducers the measurand is
converted to a change in the capacitance.
• A typical capacitor is comprised of two parallel plates of
conducting material separated by an electrical insulating d
material called a dielectric. The plates and the dielectric may
be either flattened or rolled. Area=A
• The purpose of the dielectric is to help the two parallel plates
maintain their stored electrical charges.
• The relationship between the capacitance and the size of
capacitor plate, amount of plate separation, and the dielectric is
given by
C = ε0 εr A / d Either A, d or ε can be varied.
d is the separation distance of plates (m)
C is the capacitance (F, Farad)
ε0 : absolute permittivity of vacuum
εr : relative permittivity
A is the effective (overlapping) area of capacitor plates (m2)
 CLASSIFICATION OF TRANSDUCERS
According to Transduction Principle
ELECTROMAGNETIC TRANSDUCTION:
•In electromagnetic transduction, the measurand is
converted to voltage induced in conductor by change in
the magnetic flux, in absence of excitation.
•The electromagnetic transducer are self generating active
transducers
•The motion between a piece of magnet and an
electromagnet is responsible for the change in flux
Current induced in a coil.
 .

CLASSIFICATION OF TRANSDUCERS
According to Transduction Principle
INDUCTIVE TRANSDUCER:

•In inductive transduction, the measurand is converted into a

change in the self inductance of a single coil.
•It is achieved by displacing the core of the coil that is attached
to a mechanical sensing element
 CLASSIFICATION OF TRANSDUCERS
According to Transduction Principle
PIEZO ELECTRIC INDUCTION :

•In piezoelectric induction the measurand is converted into a

change in electrostatic charge q or voltage V generated by crystals
when mechanically it is stressed as shown in fig.
 CLASSIFICATION OF TRANSDUCERS
According to Transduction Principle
PHOTOVOLTAIC TRANSDUCTION :

•In photovoltaic transduction the measurand is converted to

voltage generated when the junction between dissimilar
material is illuminated as shown in fig.
Physics of Photovoltaic Generation

n-type
semiconductor
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Depletion Zone
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
p-type
semiconductor
 CLASSIFICATION OF TRANSDUCERS
According to Transduction Principle
PHOTO CONDUCTIVE TRANSDUCTION :

•In photoconductive transduction the measurand is converted to

change in resistance of semiconductor material by the change in
light incident on the material.
CLASSIFICATION OF TRANSDUCERS
Transducer and Inverse Transducer

TRANSDUCER:

•Transducers convert non electrical quantity to

electrical quantity.

INVERSE TRANSDUCER:

• Inverse transducers convert electrical quantity to a

non electrical quantity
 PASSIVE TRANSDUCERS

• Resistive transducers :
– Resistive transducers are those transducers in which the
resistance change due to the change in some physical
phenomenon.
– The resistance of a metal conductor is expressed by a
simple equation.
– R = ρL/A
– Where R = resistance of conductor in Ω
L = length of conductor in m
A = cross sectional area of conductor in m2
ρ = resistivity of conductor material in Ω-m.
 RESISTIVE TRANSDUCER
There are 4 type of resistive transducers.

1. Potentiometers (POT)
2. Strain gauge
3. Thermistors
4. Resistance thermometer
 POTENTIOMETER
• The potentiometer are used for voltage division. They consist of a
resistive element provided with a sliding contact. The sliding
contact is called as wiper.
• The contact motion may be linear or rotational or combination of
the two. The combinational potentiometer have their resistive
element in helix form and are called helipots.
• Fig shows a linear pot and a rotary pot.
 STRAIN GAUGE
• The strain gauge is a passive, resistive transducer which
converts the mechanical elongation and compression into a
resistance change.
• This change in resistance takes place due to variation in length
and cross sectional area of the gauge wire, when an external
force acts on it.
 TYPES OF STRAIN GAUGE
• The type of strain gauge are as
1. Wire gauge
a) Unbonded
b) Bonded
c) Foil type
2. Semiconductor gauge
 UNBONDED STRAIN GAUGE
• An unbonded meter strain gauge is shown in fig
• This gauge consist of a wire stretched between two point in an
insulating medium such as air. The wires may be made of
various copper, nickel, crome nickle or nickle iron alloys.
• In fig the element is connected via a rod to diaphragm which is
used for sensing the pressure. The wire are tensioned to avoid
buckling when they experience the compressive force.
 UNBONDED STRAIN GAUGE
• The unbounded meter wire gauges used almost exclusively in transducer
application employ preloaded resistance wire connected in Wheatstone
bridge as shown in fig.
• At initial preload the strain and resistance of the four arms are nominally
equal with the result the output voltage of the bridge is equal to zero.
• Application of pressure produces a small displacement , the
displacement increases a tension in two wire and decreases it in the
other two thereby increase the resistance of two wire which are in
tension and decreasing the resistance of the remaining two wire .
• This causes an unbalance of the bridge producing an output voltage
which is proportional to the input displacement and hence to the applied
pressure .
UNBONDED STRAIN GAUGE
 BONDED STRAIN GAUGE
• The bonded metal wire strain gauge are used for both stress
analysis and for construction of transducer.
• A resistance wire strain gauge consist of a grid of fine resistance
wire. The grid is cemented to carrier which may be a thin sheet of
paper, Bakelite or Teflon.
• The wire is covered on top with a thin sheet of material so as to
prevent it from any mechanical damage.
• The carrier is bonded with an adhesive material to the specimen
which permit a good transfer of strain from carrier to grid of wires.
BONDED STRAIN GAUGE
BONDED METAL FOIL STRAIN GAUGE
• It consist of following parts:
1. Base (carrier) Materials: several types of base material are used to support
the wires. Impregnated paper is used for room temp. applications.
2. Adhesive: The adhesive acts as bonding materials. Like other bonding
operation, successful strain gauge bonding depends upon careful surface
preparation and use of the correct bonding agent.
In order that the strain be faithfully transferred on to the strain gauge, the bond
has to be formed between the surface to be strained and the plastic backing
material on which the gauge is mounted .
It is important that the adhesive should be suited to this backing and adhesive
material should be quick drying type and also insensitive to moisture.
3.Leads: The leads should be of such materials which have low and stable
resistivity and also a low resistance temperature coefficent
BONDED METAL FOIL STRAIN GAUGE
BONDED METAL FOIL STRAIN GAUGE
• This class of strain gauge is only an extension of the bonded
metal wire strain gauges.
• The bonded metal wire strain gauge have been completely
superseded by bonded metal foil strain gauges.
• Metal foil strain gauge use identical material to wire strain
gauge and are used for most general purpose stress analysis
application and for many transducers.
 SEMICONDUCTOR GAUGE
• Semiconductor gauge are used in application where a high gauge factor is
desired. A high gauge factor means relatively higher change in resistance
that can be measured with good accuracy.
• The resistance of the semiconductor gauge change as strain is applied to it.
The semiconductor gauge depends for their action upon the piezo-resistive
effect i.e. change in value of resistance due to change in resistivity.
• Silicon and germanium are used as resistive material for semiconductor
gauges.
SEMICONDUCTOR GAUGE
 RESISTANCE THERMOMETER
• Resistance of metal increase with increases in
temperature. Therefore metals are said to have a
positive temperature coefficient of resistivity.
• Fig shows the simplest type of open wire construction
of platinum résistance thermometer. The platinum
wire is wound in the form of spirals on an insulating
material such as mica or ceramic.
• This assembly is then placed at the tip of probe
• This wire is in direct contact with the gas or liquid
whose temperature is to be measured.
• The resistance of the platinum wire changes with the
change in temperature of the gas or liquid
• This type of sensor have a positive temperature
coefficient of resistivity as they are made from metals
they are also known as resistance temperature
detector
• Resistance thermometer are generally of probe type
for immersion in medium whose temperature is to be
measured or controlled.
 THERMISTOR
•Thermistor is a contraction of a term “thermal resistor”.
•Thermistor are temperature dependent resistors. They are
made of semiconductor material which have negative
temperature coefficient of resistivity i.e. their resistance
decreases with increase of temperature.
•Thermistor are widely used in application which involve
measurement in the range of 0-60º Thermistor are composed
of sintered mixture of metallic oxides such as magnese,
nickle, cobalt, copper, iron and uranium
 Contd.
•The thermistor may be in the form of beads, rods and
discs.
•The thermistor provide a large change in resistance for
small change in temperature. In some cases the
resistance of themistor at room temperature may
decreases as much as 6% for each 1ºC rise in
temperature.
 Thermocouples
See beck Effect
When a pair of dissimilar metals are joined at one end, and there is a
temperature difference between the joined ends and the open ends,
thermal emf is generated, which can be measured in the open ends.
This forms the basis of thermocouples.
 VARIABLE-INDUCTANCE
TRANSDUCERS
• Aninductive electromechanical
transducer is a transducer which converts
the physical motion into the change in
inductance.

• Inductive transducers are mainly used

for displacement measurement.
• The inductive transducers are of the self generating
or the passive type. The self generating inductive
transducers use the basic generator principle i.e. the
motion between a conductor and magnetic field
induces a voltage in the conductor.
• The variable inductance transducers work on the
following principles.
• Variation in self inductance
• Variation in mutual inductance
 PRINCIPLE OF VARIATION OF SELF
INDUCTANCE
• Let us consider an inductive transducer having
N turns and reluctance R. when current I is
passed through the transducer, the flux
produced is
• Φ = Ni / R
• Differentiating w.r.t. to t,
• dΦ/dt = N/R * di/dt
• The e.m.f. induced in a coil is given by
• e = N * dΦ/dt
• e = N * N/R * di/dt
• e = N2 / R * di/dt
• Self inductance is given by
• L = e/di/dt = N2 / R
• The reluctance of the magnetic circuit is R = Ɩ/μA
• Therefore L = N2 / Ɩ/μA = N2 μA / Ɩ
• From eqn we can see that the self inductance may
vary due to
i. Change in number of turns N
ii. Change in geometric configuration
iii. Change in permeability of magnetic circuit
 CHANGE IN SELF INDUCTANCE WITH
CHANGE IN NUMBER OF TURNS N
• From eqn we can see the output may vary with the
variation in the number of turns. As inductive
transducers are mainly used for displacement
measurement, with change in number of turns the
self inductance of the coil changes in-turn changing
the displacement
• Fig shows transducers used for linear and angular
displacement fig a shows an air cored transducer for
the measurement of linear displacement and fig b
shows an iron cored transducer used for angular
displacement measurement.
 CHANGE IN SELF INDUCTANCE WITH
CHANGE IN PERMEABILITY
• An inductive transducer that works on the principle of change
in self inductance of coil due to change in the permeability is
shown in fig
• As shown in fig the iron core is surrounded by a winding. If
the iron core is inside the winding then the permeability
increases otherwise permeability decreases. This cause the self
inductance of the coil to increase or decrease depending on the
permeability.
• The displacement can be measured using this transducer
Ferromagnetic
former

displacement coil
 VARIABLE RELUCTANCE INDUCTIVE
TRANSDUCER
• Fig shows a variable reluctance inductive transducer.
• As shown in fig the coil is wound on the ferromagnetic iron. The
target and core are not in direct contact with each other. They are
separated by an air gap.
• The displacement has to be measured is applied to the ferromagnetic
core
• The reluctance of the magnetic path is found by the size of the air gap.
• The self inductance of coil is given by
• L = N2 / R = N2 / Ri + Ra
• N : number of turns
• R : reluctance of coil
• Ri : reluctance of iron path
• Ra : reluctance of air gap
 CONTD.

• The reluctance of iron path is negligible

• L = N2 / Ra
• Ra = la / μoA
• Therefore L œ 1 / la i.e. self inductance of the coil is inversely
proportional to the air gap la.
• When the target is near the core, the length is small. Hence the
self inductance is large. But when the target is away from the
core, the length is large. So reluctance is also large. This result
in decrease in self inductance i.e. small self inductance.
• Thus inductance is function of the distance of the target from
the core. Displacement changes with the length of the air gap,
the self inductance is a function of the displacement.
 PRINCIPLE OF CHANGE IN MUTUAL
INDUCTANCE
• Multiple coils are required for inductive transducers
that operate on the principle of change in mutual
inductance.
• The mutual inductance between two coils is given by
• M = KsqrtL1L2
• Where M : mutual inductance
• K : coefficient of coupling
• L1:self inductance of coil 1
• L2 : self inductance of coil 2
• By varying the self inductance or the coefficient of
coupling the mutual inductance can be varied
 DIFFERENTIAL OUTPUT
TRANSDUCERS
• Usually the change in self inductance ΔL for
inductive transducers is insufficient for the detection
of stages of an instrumentation system.
• The differential arrangement comprises of a coil that
is divided in two parts as shown in fig a and b.
• In response to displacement, the inductance of one
part increases from L to L+ΔL while the inductance
of the other part decreases from L to L- ΔL. The
difference of two is measured so to get output 2 ΔL.
This will increase the sensitivity and minimize error.
• .
• Fig c shows an inductive transducer that provides
differential output. Due to variation in the reluctance,
the self inductance of the coil changes. This is the
principle of operation of differential output inductive
transducer
 LINEAR VARIABLE DIFFERENTIAL
TRANSFORMER(LVDT)
• AN LVDT transducer
comprises a coil former on
to which three coils are
wound.
• The primary coil is excited
with an AC current, the
secondary coils are wound
such that when a ferrite core
is in the central linear
position, an equal voltage is
induced in to each coil.
• The secondary are connected
in opposite so that in the
central position the outputs
of the secondary cancels
each other out.
 LVDT contd…
• The excitation is applied to the primary
winding and the armature assists the
induction of current in to secondary
coils.
• When the core is exactly at the center
of the coil then the flux linked to both
the secondary winding will be equal.
Due to equal flux linkage the
secondary induced voltages (eo1 &
eo2) are equal but they have opposite
polarities. Output voltage eo is
therefore zero. This position is called
“null position”
• Now if the core is
displaced from its
null position
toward sec1 then
flux linked to sec1
increases and flux
linked to sec2
decreases.
Therefore eo1 >