TRANSDUCERS

A transducer is a device, usually electrical, electronic, electro-

mechanical, electro-magnetic, photonic, or photovoltaic that converts one
type of energy or physical attribute to another (generally electrical or
mechanical) for various measurement purposes including measurement
or information transfer.

The term transducer is commonly used in two senses- the sensor used
to detect a parameter as a form of energy and a translator which
translates that form to an easily measurable form.
BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF A TRANSDUCER

Main objective of a transducer is to react only for the measurement

under specified limits for which it is designed. A transducer should have
the following basic requirements:
LINEARITY

Its input versus output characteristics should be linear and it should

produce these characteristics in a balanced way.
RUGGEDNESS

It should be capable of withstanding overload and some safety

arrangements must be provided with it for overload protection.
REPEATABILITY

It should be capable of reproducing the same output signal when the

same input signal is applied again and again under unchanged
environmental conditions, e.g., temperature, pressure, humidity, etc.
HIGH RELIABILITY AND STABILITY

The transducer should give minimum error in measurement for

temperature variations, vibrations and other various changes in the
surroundings.
HIGH OUTPUT SIGNAL QUALITY

The quality of output signal should be good, i.e., the ratio of signal to
the noise should be high and amplitude of the output signal should be
enough.
NO HYSTERESIS
 It should not give any hysteresis during measurement while input
signal is varied from its low value to its high value and vice versa.
RESIDUAL REFORMATION

There should not be any deformation on removal of input signal for a

long period of use.

ELECTRICAL TRANSDUCERS

Electrical transducers are defined as the transducers which convert one

form of energy to electrical energy for measurement purpose. The
quantities which cannot be measured directly like pressure, displacement,
temperature, etc. Are required to be sensed and changed into electrical
signal for easy measurement.

Advantages of electrical transducers are:-

• Power requirement is very low for controlling the electrical or

electronic system.

• An amplifier may be used to amplify the electrical signal according

to requirement.

• Friction effect is minimised

• Mass-inertia effect is also minimised, because in case of electrical or

electronics signals the inertia effect is due to the mass of electrons,
which can be negligible.

• Output can be indicated and recorded remotely from the sensing

element.

LINEAR VARIABLE DIFFERENTIAL TRANSFORMER (LVDT)

This is the most widely used inductive transducer to translate the
linear motion into electrical signal. The transformer consist of a single
primary winding “P” and two secondary windings “S1” and “S2” wound on
a cylindrical former. A sinusoidal voltage of amplitude 3 to 15 volt and
frequency 50 to 20,000 Hz is used to excite the primary. The two
secondary’s have equal no. of turns and are equally placed in either side
of primary winding.
 A movable soft iron core is placed inside the former. The displacement
to be measured is applied to the arm attached to the soft iron core. The
core is made up of high permeability, nickel iron. The whole assembly is
placed in stainless steel housing to provide electrostatic and
electromagnetic shielding.

The two secondary’s are placed or connected in series to one another

but in opposition such that the output secondary voltage is E 0 = ES1 – ES2 ,
where ES1 and ES2 are the induced alternating voltages of the two
secondary windings S1 and S2 respectively.

OPERATION:

When the core is at the normal null position then flux linking with both
the secondary winding is equal and hence ES1 = ES2 and therefore ES1 – ES2
= 0 and hence output voltage is zero.

Now if core is moved to the left then more flux links with the secondary
S1and less with the other winding therefore the output ES1 is greater than
ES2. The magnitude of the output voltage is thus ES1 – ES2 and in phase
with the primary voltage.
 Similarly when the core is moved towards the right of null position then
ES2 will be more than ES1 and the output voltage ES1 – ES2 is 180 out of
phase with the primary voltage.

Therefore the amount of change in voltage in either of the secondary’s

is proportional to the amount of movement of the core. Hence, we have
an indication of the linear motion of the core. And by noticing the output
voltage is increased or decreased, we can determine the direction of
motion.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF LVDT

Advantages

• Linearity is good up to 5mm of displacement.

• Output is rather high and hence immediate amplification is not

required.

• Output voltage is step less and hence the resolution is very good.

• Sensitivity is high (about 40 V/mm).

• It does not load the measurand mechanically.

• Consumes low power and has low hysteresis loss.

Disadvantages

• LVDT has a large threshold.

• It is affected by stray electromagnetic field. Hence copper shielding

of device is necessary.

• The ac inputs generate noise.

• Its sensitivity becomes low at higher temperature.

• Being a first-order instrument, its dynamic response is not

instantaneous.

STRAIN GUAGES
 A strain gauge is an electrical transducer; it is used to measure the
mechanical surface tension. Strain gauge can detect and convert force of
small mechanical displacement into electrical signals. On the application
of force a metal conductor is stretched or compressed, its resistance
changes owing to the fact that both length and diameter of the conductor
changes. Also, there is a change in the value of resistivity of the
conductor when it is strained and this property of the metal is known as
piezoresistive effect. Therefore resistance strain gauges are also
known as piezoresistive gauges.

Since value of resistance is R= ρ (L/A)

The change in the value of resistance by the application of force can be

explained by normal dimensional changes of elastic material. If a positive
strain occurs, its longitudinal dimension (x-direction) will increase while
there will be a reduction in the lateral dimension (y-dimension). The
reverse happens for a negative strain. Now since the resistance of a
conductor is directly proportional to its length and inversely to its cross
sectional area, hence the resistance changes.

TEMPERATURE TRANSDUCERS
Application of heat or its withdrawal from the body produces many
primary effects on the body such as:-

• Change in the physical or chemical state such as phase transition.

• Change in physical dimensions.

• Variations in its electrical properties.

• Generation of an emf at the junction of two dissimilar metals.

• Change in the intensity of emitted radiation.

Any of these effects can be used to measure the temperature of the

body.

RESISTANCE THERMOMETER

Resistance temperature detectors or resistance thermometers employ

a sensitive element of extremely pure platinum, copper or nickel wire that
provides a definite resistance value at each temperature within its range.
The relationship between temperature and resistance of conductors in
temperature range near 00 C can be calculated from the equation:-

Rt = Rref ( 1 + Δt )

Where Rt= resistance of conductor at temperature t0C

Rref =resistance at reference temperature 00C

 = temperature coefficient of resistance

Δt = difference between operating and reference temperature.

Almost all conductors have positive temperature coefficient of

resistance, that is, resistance increases with an increase in temperature.
But some materials such as carbon and germanium have negative
temperature coefficient of resistance that signifies that the resistance
decreases with an increase in temperature.

Type Temperature Accuracy Advantages Disadvantages

Range

Platinum -30000F to +/- 0.10F Low cost, high Relatively slow

+150000F stability response time (15
sec), not as linear
Wide
as copper
operating
thermometers
range

Copper -32500 F to +/- 0.500F High linearity, Limited

+25000 F high accuracy temperature
range to 25000F
High stability

Nickel -3200F to +/- 0.500F Longer life, More non linear

+15000F high than copper,
sensitivity, limited
high temperature
temperature range to 15000F
coefficient.

THERMOCOUPLE
 In 1871, Thomas Seeback discovered that when two dissimilar metals
comes in contact, a voltage is generated where the voltage is a function
of the temperature. The device consisting of two dissimilar metals are
joined together is known as thermocouple and the voltage generated is
known as Seeback voltage, on the name of the discoverer.

Magnitude of this voltage depends on

i) materials used for the wires

ii) amount of temperature difference between the joined ends

For example, joining copper and constantan produces a voltage of the

order of a few milivolts with the positive potential at the copper side. An
increase in temperature causes an increase in the voltage.

There are several methods of joining two dissimilar metal :-

• one is to weld the wires together, but this process causes a brittle
joints and may fracture on application of stresses.

• Another method is by soldering the two wires together, which

suffers from the disadvantage that a third dissimilar metal is
introduced.

PHOTOELECTRIC TRANSDUCERS

These transducers use the properties of photo emissive cells or

phototube. The vacuum photoelectric cell consist of a curved sheet of thin
metal with its concave surface coated with photo-emissive material,
which forms the cathode and the rod anode mounted at the centre of
curvature of the cathode. The whole assembly ids mounted on an
evacuated glass envelope. The material, coated cathode, emits electrons
when light radiation strikes them. The emitted electrons from the cathode
are collected by the positive electrode (anode) forming an electric
current.

PRESSURE MEASUREMENT:

The pressure or force measurement can be done by converting the

applied force or pressure into a displacement by elastic elements which
acts as a primary transducer. Now this displacement of the primary
transducer, which is the function of the force, can be measured by a
secondary transducer. Mechanical devices that are used to convert
applied pressure or force to displacement are called force summing
devices. Some of them are:

• Flat or corrugated diaphragms

• Pivot torque

• Straight tube

• Bellows

• Circular or twisted Bourdon tube.

Secondary transducers which are used to convert the displacement into

change of some electrical parameter are:-

• Resistive transducers

• Inductive transducers

• Capacitive transducers

• Differential transformers or LVDT

PIEZOELECTRIC TRANSDUCERS

When piezoelectric crystals are under the influence of some external

force or pressure, they produce an emf. The force or displacement or
pressure to be measured is applied to the crystal. The pressure is applied
to the crystal through a force summing device. This cause a deformation
which produces an emf which is a function of the deformation. This output
emf may be measured to know the value of applied force and hence
pressure.

IONISATION TRANSDUCERS

Ionisation is the process of removing an electron from an atom

producing a free electron and a positively charged ion. Ionisation may be
produced by the collision of high speed electron from the atom.

Electrons are emitted from heated cathode using a filament and are
accelerated towards the grid, which is positively charged. Some of the
electrons are captured by the grid producing grid current. Electrons
having high kinetic energy pass through and cause ionization of the gas
atoms.

The positive ions so produced are attracted to the plate, which is at

negative potential and a current is produced in the plate circuit. It is found
that the pressure of gas is proportional to the ratio of plate to grid
current.

OSCILLATION TRANSDUCERS

These type of transducers use force summing device to change the

capacitance, C, or inductance, L of an LC oscillation circuit. Its output
frequency is affected by the change in the inductance of the coil. The
change in the inductance is caused by the force summing device acting
upon an inductive device. The output of the oscillator is the modulated
output and can be demodulated and calibrated in terms of the pressure or
force applied.