ICPC11 Sensors and Transducers

Assignment- II
1. Four strain gauges are bonded onto a cantilever as shown in fig (a). Given that the gauges
are placed halfway along the cantilever and the cantilever is subjected to a downward
force of 0.5 N, use the data given below to calculate the resistance of each strain gauge.
Cantilever Data
Length
l = 25cm
Width
w = 6cm
Thickness
t = 3mm
Youngs modulus E = 70109Pa

Strain gauge data

Gauge factor G = 2.1
Unstrained resistance R0 = 120

Fig (a)
2. Four strain gauges, with specification given below, are available to measure the torque on
a cylindrical shaft 4 cm in diameter connecting a motor and load.
(a) Draw clearly labeled diagrams showing:
(i)
The arrangement of the gauges on the shaft
(ii)
The arrangement of the gauges in the bridge circuit, for optimum accuracy
and
sensitivity.
(b) Calculate the maximum achievable bridge out-of-balance voltage for an applied
torque T of 103 Nm given the following:
Tensile and compressive strains = T / Sa3 where S = 1.11011 Nm-2 is the shear
modulus of the shaft material and a is the radius of the shaft in meters.
Strain gauge data: Resistance = 120
Gauge factor = 2.1
Maximum current = 50mA.
3. A load cell consists of a domed vertical steel cylinder 20 cm high and 15 cm in diameter.

Four flat surfaces, at right angles to each other, are cut on the vertical surface so as to
form 10 cm squares. Resistance strain gauges are attached to these flat surfaces so that
two gauges (on opposite faces) suffer longitudinal compression and two gauges (on the
other pair of opposite faces) suffer transverse tension. The strain gauges have the
following specification:
Resistance = 100
Gauge factor = 2.1
Maximum gauge current = 30mA
The gauges are connected in a temperature compensated bridge and the out-of-balance
signal is input to a differential amplifier. Calculate the minimum amplifier gain if the
amplifier output voltage is to be 1 V for a compressive force of 105 N.
Youngs modulus for steel = 2.11011Nm-2
Poissons ratio for steel = 0.29
4. A variable dielectric capacitive displacement sensor consists of two square metal plates,
side 5 cm separated by a gap of 1 mm. A sheet of dielectric material 1 mm thick and the
same area as the plates can be slid between them as shown in fig (b). Given that the
dielectric constant of air is 1 and that of the dielectric material 4, calculate the
capacitance of the sensor when the input displacement x = 0.0, 2.5, 5.0 cm.

5.

A variable reluctance sensor consists of a core, variable air gap and an armature. The
core is a steel rod of diameter 1 cm, relative permeability 100, bent to form a semi-circle
of diameter 4 cm. A coil of 500 cm turns is wound onto the core. The armature is a steel
plate of thickness 0.5 cm and relative permeability 100. Assuming the relative
permeability of air = 1.0 and the permeability of free space = 410 -7Hm-1, calculate the
inductance of the sensor for air gaps of 1 mm and 3 mm.
6. By taking a central flux path, estimate the inductance of the sensor shown in fig.(e)
(a) For zero air gap
(b) For a 2mm air gap.
Assume the relative permeability of core and armature is 104 and that of air is unity.

(e)
7. Fig. (f) Shows a variable reluctance force sensor which is incorporated into the bridge
circuit of Fig. (g) When the applied force is zero the armature is positioned along the
center line AB.
(a) Explain why the sensor would be suitable for measuring force signals containing
frequencies between 0 and 10 Hz.
(b) Sketch the frequency spectrum of the bridge output voltage.
(c) Use the data given to calculate the form of the bridge output voltage when F = +1.0N
and F = -1.0N
(d) Using the results of (c) explain how to demodulate the bridge output voltage.
Data:
Overall spring stiffness = 103 Nm-1
Effective mass of spring and armature = 2510-3kg.
Damping ratio = 0.7
Inductance of each coil = 20/ (1+2d) mH (d = air gap in mm)
Amplitude of bridge supply = 1 V
Frequency of bridge supply = 1000 Hz.

Fig(f)

Fig(g)

8. A piezoelectric crystal, acting as a force sensor, is connected by a short cable of

negligible capacitance and resistance to a voltage detector of infinite bandwidth and
purely resistive impedance of 10 M.
(a) Use the crystal data below to calculate the system transfer function and to sketch the
approximate frequency response characteristics of the system.
(b) The time variation in the thrust of an engine is a square wave of period 10 ms.
Explain carefully, but without performing detailed calculations. Why the above
system is unsuitable for the application.
(c) A charge amplifier with feedback capacitance Cf = 1000 pF and feedback resistance
Rf = 100M is incorporated into the system. By sketching the frequency response
characteristics of the modified system, explain why it is suitable for the application of
part (b).
Crystal data:
Charging sensitivity of force = 2 pCN-1.
Capacitance
= 100pF
Natural frequency
= 37 kHz
Damping Ratio
= 0.01
9.
(a) The casing of a compressor is executing sinusoidal vibrations with a displacement
amplitude of 10-4m and frequency 500 Hz. Calculate the amplitude of the acceleration
of the casing in units of g{g = 9.81 ms-2}
(b) A piezoelectric crystal accelerometer has a steady-state sensitivity of 2.0 pC/g, a
natural frequency of 20 kHz, a damping ratio of 0.1 and a capacitance 100pF. It is
connected to an oscilloscope (a resistive load of 10M) by a cable of capacitance
100pF.
(i)
Without performing detailed calculations, sketch magnitude and phase
frequency response characteristics for the accelerometer.
Using these characteristics:
(ii)
Estimate the amplitude of the voltage measured by the oscilloscope when the
accelerometer is mounted on the casing described in (a).
(iii)
Explain why this system is unsuitable for measuring vibration at 20 Hz. How
should the system be modified to make these measurements possible?
10.
(a) A strain gauge with an initial resistance R0 and the gauge factor S g is subjected to strain

. Determine R and R for the conditions listed below.

R
Sg
R0
( m / m )
(i)
120
2.02
1600
(ii)
350
3.47
650
(iii )
350
2.07
650
(iv)
1000
2.06
200
(b) For the conditions described above determine the output voltage V0 for an initially
balanced bridge if the input voltage Vi is

(i) 2V (ii) 4V (iii) 7V (iv) 10V

(c) What happens if Vi is increased to 50V to improve the output V0 .
(d) For the gauges specified in (a) , monitored in a single arm Wheatstone bridge with Vi
= 5V, determine the strain if the output voltage V0 is
(i)
1.5 mV (ii) 3.3 mV (iii) 4.8 mV and (iv) 5.7 mV
11. A linear resistance potentiometer is 50mm long and is uniformly wound with a wire
having a resistance of 10,000. Under normal conditions, the slider is at the centre of the
potentiometer. Find the linear displacement when the resistance of the pot as measured by
a Wheatstone bridge for two cases is 1) 3850 2) 7560 . Are the two displacements in
the same direction? If it is possible to measure a minimum value of 10 resistance with
the above arrangement. Find the resolution of the potentiometer.
12. A variable potentiometer has a resistance of 4K and it is excited with a voltage source
of 10V DC supply. The output is connected to a load resistance of 10k. Determine the
loading errors for the wiper positions corresponding to k=Xi/Xt=0,0.25,0.5,0.75 &1. plot
the graph of error Vs Xi / Xt.
13. A LVDT has the following specifications,. Excitation voltage is 10V at 400Hz. The
maximum output voltage is 2.5V. Range of core movement is 1.5 cm. a) Calculate the
output voltage when the core is +1 cm away from the null. Sketch the input & output
waveform. B) Sketch the output waveform when the core is moved with a 1Hz sinusoidal
motion from the null.
14. A LVDT has an output of 6V rms when the displacement is 0.4x10-3mm. Determine the
sensitivity of this instrument in V/mm. A 10V voltmeter with 100 scale divisions is used
to read the output. Two- tenth of a division can be estimated with ease. Determine the
resolution of the voltmeter. The above arrangement is used in pressure transducer for
measuring the deflection of a diaphragm. The diaphragm is deflected through 0.5x103mm by a pressure of 1000N/m2. Determine the sensitivity and resolution of this
instrument.