Measurement
(Lecture 12-15)
By
ADNAN FAZIL & AKHTAR HANIF
ULTRASONIC
TRANSDUCERS / SENSORS
Ultrasonic devices are used in many fields of measurement, particularly for
These are available with operating frequencies that vary between 20 kHz and
15 MHz.
INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT
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TRANSMISSION SPEED
which it travels.
When transmitted through air, the speed of ultrasound is affected by
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DIRECTIONALITY OF ULTRASOUND
WAVES
The ultrasound element actually emits a spherical wave of energy whose
magnitude in any direction is a function of the angle made with respect to the
direction that is normal to the face of the ultrasonic element.
The peak emission always occurs along a line that is normal to the transmitting
face of the ultrasonic element, and this is loosely referred to as the direction of
travel.
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energy, with the edges of the cone defined as the transmission angle where the
amplitude of the energy in the transmission is -6 dB compared with the peak
value (i.e. where the amplitude of the energy is half that in the normal
direction). Using this definition, a 40 kHz ultrasonic element has a transmission
cone of 50 and a 400 kHz element has a transmission cone of 3.
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ultrasound waves.
This shows that the relationship between and f depends on the velocity of the
ultrasound and hence varies according to the nature and temperature of the
medium through which it travels.
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ATTENUATION OF ULTRASOUND
WAVES
Ultrasound waves suffer attenuation in the amplitude of the transmitted energy
medium but also on the level of humidity and dust in the medium.
The amplitude Xd of the ultrasound wave at a distance d from the emission
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with temperature.
Solution: One solution to this problem is to include an extra ultrasonic
transmitter/ receiver pair in the measurement system in which the two elements
are positioned a known distance apart.
Element choice is restricted by the attenuation characteristics of different types
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energy to three receivers A, B, C located at the origin (A) and at distances q (to
B) and p (to C) along the axes of an xyz co-ordinate system.
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ULTRASONIC IMAGING
A short burst of ultrasonic energy is transmitted from the ultrasonic element into
the medium being investigated and the energy that is reflected back into the
element is analyzed. Ultrasonic elements in the frequency range 1MHz to
15MHz are used.
Ultrasound is reflected back at all interfaces between different materials, with
the proportion of energy reflected being a function of the materials either side of
the interface.
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ROTATIONAL MOTION
TRANSDUCERS
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ROTATIONAL DISPLACEMENT
Circular and helical potentiometers
The circular potentiometer is the cheapest device available for measuring
depending on whether the track forms a full circle or only part of a circle.
Where greater measurement range than 0360 is required, a helical
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ROTATIONAL DIFFERENTIAL
TRANSFORMER
This is a special form of differential transformer that measures rotational rather
as for the linear variable differential transformer (LVDT), except that a specially
shaped core is used that varies the mutual inductance between the windings as
it rotates.
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displacement is being measured rotates. These pulses are counted and the
total angular rotation inferred from the pulse count.
The pulses are generated either by optical or by magnetic means and are
more common.
Such instruments are very convenient for computer control applications, as the
measurement is already in the required digital form and therefore the usual
analogue to digital signal conversion process is avoided.
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The fixed disc has only one window and the light source is aligned with this so
windows.
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The pulse count obtained from this gives no information about the direction of
rotation.
Direction information is provided by the second, inner track of windows, which
have an angular displacement with respect to the outer set of windows of half a
window width.
The maximum measurement resolution obtainable is limited by the number of
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pulses that have to be counted, the digital shaft encoder has an output in the
form of a binary number of several digits that provides an absolute
measurement of shaft position.
Digital encoders provide high accuracy and reliability.
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STROBOSCOPIC METHODS TO
MEASURE ROTATIONAL VELOCITY
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%.
The instrument is usually in the form of a hand-held device that is pointed towards
the rotating body.
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