Chapter 6: Basic Transducer

MOHAMAD SHUKRI BIN ABDUL MANAF

Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
81310 UTM JB

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 INTRODUCTION
Define as a device that converts the received energy to
another form and transmit it from one system to
another.
% of Energy X
Energy X
Transducer
Energy Y

The energy received are normally electrical,

mechanical, chemical reaction, light, acoustic, thermal
and other.
Transducers are widely used in measuring instruments
which normally consists of sensors/detectors.
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 INTRODUCTION
Two general types of transducer
Electrical (sensor)
Mechanical (actuator)

Physical Electrical
parameter
Sensor Signal

Electrical Mechanical
input
Actuator movement

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 Sensors
A sensor converts a physical parameter to a direct or
indirect electric output.
Direct: electrochemical sensor convert chemical
reaction on the electrode surface to electrical signals
(current)
Indirect: potentiometer, resistance of the circuit
change and caused change in the electrical signals.

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 Actuator
Converts an electrical signal to a physical output.
Something that convert energy into motion
e.g. : solenoid valve,
pumps,
motors or drives.
Flow transducer, turbine flow convert
current force to motion and the motion
representing the flow rate.

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 Classification of Electrical Transducer
Provides a usable output in response to a specified
input measurand (physical quantity, property or
condition.
Active transducer: generates an electrical signal
directly in response to the physical parameter and
does not require an external power source in order
to operate
Passive transducer: operate under energy controlling
principles. Need external electrical source to operate
and depend upon the change in an electrical
parameter (R,L,C)

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 Active Transducer
Or known as Self-generator
No external power source is required to operate
Electrical signals are produced from nonelectric inputs without the
application of external energy
Examples: thermocouple, photovoltaic cell and piezoelectric element
However, these transducers produce very small signals, which may
need additional signal conditioning such as amplifier

A solar cell, made from a

poly-crystalline silicon wafer 7

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 Passive Transducer
Or known as modulator
Require external power source for power conversion
Examples: potentiometer, strain gauge, thermistor, resistance
thermo detector (RTD), variable capacitance gauge and linear
variable differential transformer (LVDT).

Thermistor type NTC

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 TEMPERATURE TRANSDUCER
Thermal sensors
Temperature measurement units: C, kelvin, F
Temperature transducer: Thermocouple, Resistance
Temperature Detector and Thermistor
Principles: create a change in voltage/ resistance based upon
the measured temperature
temperature is one of the most widely measured and
controlled variable in industry:
Deep frying potato in food industry
Waste water treatment
Steel manufacturing industry

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 Thermocouple
In 1822, an Estonian physician
named Thomas Seebeck
discovered (accidentally) that
the junction between two metals
generates a voltage which is a
function of temperature
PRINCIPLE :
If two wires from dissimilar metals
are connected at both ends to
make two junctions, when one
end is heated, a small amount of
current would flow through the
circuit . This is called the Seebecks
Effect
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 Thermocouple: Working Principle
(Seebeck effect)

Seebeck effect: conversion of

temperature differences into
electricity
Thermo- EMF is generated
when there is temperature
differences between the
junctions of two dissimilar
metals

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 Thermocouple Working Principle

the magnitude of the effect depends on the metals in use

Using a dissimilar metal to complete the circuit creates a

circuit in which the two legs generate different voltages, leaving
a small difference in voltage available for measurement

That difference increases with temperature, and can typically

be between 1 and 70 microvolts per degree Celsius (V/C) for
the modern range of available metal combinations
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 Compositions and Letter Designations of the Standardized
Thermocouples

Thermocouple Composition of Material

Type Overall range/C

B Platinum-30% rhodium 100 C to 1800 C

E Chromel / Constantan -200 C to +1200C
J Iron / Constantan -40 to +750C
K Chromel / Alumel -700C to +1200C
N Nicrosil / Nisil -700C to +1200C
R Platinum-Platinum 13% Rhodium -870C to +1450C
S Platinum-Platinum 10% Rhodium -980C to +1450C
T Copper/constantan -270 C to 400 C
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 Thermocouple: EMF vs Temperature (F)

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 Types of Thermocouple
Type K (Chromel-Alumel) is a general purpose' thermocouple. It is low
cost and, owing to its popularity, it is available in a wide variety of probes.
Thermocouples are available in the -700 C to +1200 C range and
sensitivity is approx 41 V/C.
Type E (Chromel-Constantan) has high sensitivity (68 V/C) and available
from 200 C to +900 C makes it well suited to low temperature
(cryogenic) use. Another property is that it is non-magnetic
Type J (Iron-Constantan) has limited range which makes type J less
popular than type K. The main application is with old equipment that can
not accept 'modern' thermocouples. Sensitivity rises to 55V/C.
Type T (Copper-Constantan) is normally used in food, environmental and
refrigeration applications. The sensitivity is 42 V/C.
Type N (Nicros-Nisil) has very good thermoelectric stability. It is suitable
to measure air temperature up to 1200 C. It has sensitivity of 39 V/C.

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 Types of Thermocouple

Each different type of

thermocouple provides
different operation range
and also sensitivity

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 Thermocouples: example

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 Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD)
(RTD) is a temperature sensor based
on the principle of metal resistance
increasing with temperature

Metals used in these devices :

1)platinum, which is very repeatable, quite sensitive, and
very expensive,
2)nickel, which is not quite as repeatable, more
sensitive, and less expensive.

The relationship between the change of resistance (RT) and

temperature for RTD is
where, = temperature coefficients of resistivity
RT RT 0 (1 T ) RT0= reference temperature
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 RTD - Construction
is simply a length of wire whose resistance is to
be monitored as a function of temperature

the wire is wound on a form (in a coil) to

achieve small size and improve thermal
conductivity to decrease response time

the coil is protected from the environment by a

sheath or protective tube that inevitably
increases response time but may be necessary
in hostile environments

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 RTD - Characteristic
Sensitivity
values of temperature coefficient 0,
the linear fractional change in resistance
with temperature
(i.e platinum of 0.004/C, nickel of 0.005/C)

Response time
RTD has a response time of 0.5 to 5 seconds
or more. The slowness of response is due to the thermal
conductivity

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 RTD - Characteristic
range
- The effective range of RTDs depends principally on the type of
wire used as the active element
- typical platinum RTD may have a range of -100C to 650C,
whereas an RTD constructed from nickel might typically have a
specified range of -180C to 300C.

dissipation constant
- since RTD is a resistor, there is an I2R power dissipated that causes
a slight heating effect, called the self-heating
- (i.e. a 25 mW/C dissipation constant shows that if I2R power
losses in the RTD equal 25 mW, then the RTD will be heated by
1C.)
T temperatur e rise ( o C)
P
T P power dissipated in W
PD PD constant in W/ o C 21

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 RTD - Characteristic
R/R
o
NIKEL

7
COPPER
6

5 PLATINUM

3
TUNSTEN

1 o
C
200 400 600 800 1000
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 RTD Signal Conditioning
due the very small changes of resistance with temperature
(0.4%), the RTD is generally used in a bridge circuit

The compensation line in the R3 of the bridge is required

when the lead lengths are so long that thermal gradients
along the RTD leg may cause changes in line resistance

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 Example
RTD has a resistance of 50 at 10C. When the temperature
increase, the resistance of RTD will increase linearly and the
relationship can be calculated as follows:
RT=R10(1+T) where10=0.004

A simple circuit as shown in Figure 1 is used to study the principle

of RTD. Calculate the voltage output (V) at temperature 10C and
200C.

30
25 V
20
+
RTD V
0-
Figure 1 24

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 Thermistor

Thermistor (thermally
sensitive resistors) similar
to RTDs, resistors whose
resistance changes with
temperature

manufactured from metal

oxide semiconductor
material which is
encapsulated in a glass or
epoxy bead
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 Thermistor - Characteristic
high sensitivity thus extremely responsive to changes
in temperature ( i.e a 2252 W thermistor has a
sensitivity of 100 W/C at room temperature but a
100 W RTD has a sensitivity of 0.4 W/C)

Non linear behavior between the change of

resistance as respect to the temperature input

fast response times

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 Thermistor - Characteristic

Example Question: Kalsi (3rd ed) pg427

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 Position and Displacement Transducers
Types
Variable Resistive device
Variable Capacitance device
Variable Inductive device

Change in the position or displacement causes change in

resistance/ capacitance/ inductance

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 Displacement vs Distance
Distance is refers to "how much ground an object has covered"
during its motion.

Displacement refers to "how far out of place an object is"; it is the

object's overall change in position.

A man walks 4m East, 2m South, 4m West

& finally 2m North. During the course of
motion, he has "covered 12 meters of ground,
Hence, the distance = 12 m

Yet when he is finished walking, he is not "out of place" - i.e., there

is no displacement for his motion, because he is still on the same
starting point, hence the displacement = 0 m

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 Resistive transducer
physical variable under measurement causes a
resistance change in the sensing element
portion of resistance represents position

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 Resistive transducer
A displacement transducer with a shaft stroke of 3.0 inches is
applied in the circuit below where (a) is the construction of the
transducer and (b) is the schematic diagram. The total resistance
of the potentiometer is 5 k, and the applied voltage VT = 5.0 V.
When the wiper is 0.9 inches from B, what is the value of the
output voltage Vo?

0.9in
R2 = x5000W =1500W
3.0in
R 1500W
Vo = 2 VT = x5.0V =1.5V
RT 5000W

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 Capacitive Transducer
The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is
dielectric constant
0 A 0 8.854 x 10-12 F/m
C A the area of the plate
d d distance between plate

Three configuration to change the capacitance

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 Three configuration to change the capacitance

Figure 1: Types of capacitive sensor design.

Equations for the above illustrated designs:

e o eA e o eA
Figure 1b: C= , d changes
d d+x

e o eA e oe ( A - wx )
Figure 1c: C= , A changes, wx or A is the
d d
change of A

e oe 1 A1 e oe 2 A2 e o w(e 2 l - e 2 x + e 1 x)
Figure 1d: C= +
d d d 33

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 Example:

An electrode-diaphragm pressure transducer has plates

whose area is 5 x 10-3 m2 and whose distance between
plates is 1 x 10-3 m. Calculate its capacitance if it measures
air pressure. The dielectric constant of air is = 1.
eeo A
C=
d
-3 2 -12
(1)(5x10 m )(8.854x10 F / m)
= -3
1x10 m
= 44.25pF
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 Inductive Transducer
Consider a set of two coils sharing the same core (i.e. transformer)
The primary coil is driven by a power source and the secondary coil
produces voltage induced from the primary coil.
The voltage on the secondary coil depends on mutual inductance
between the two coils. If the core is made movable in response to the
displacement of a target object, the mutual inductance will change and
resulting in a voltage change in the secondary coil.

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 Inductive Transducer -LVDT
By adding another identical secondary coil to the previous inductive
transducer, it can be extended to a linear variable differential
transformer (LVDT).
Two secondary coils are wound in opposite directions such that if the
core moves to either direction, the induced voltage on one of the
secondary coil increases and decreases in the other.
When the core is located at the centre and induced equal magnitude
of voltage for both coils, the output will be zero.

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 Inductive Transducer - RVDT
A similar transducer to LVDT, the rotary
variable differential transformer (RVDT) is for
measuring angular displacement and
It operates in the same manner as LVDT

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 Strain Measurement
device used to measure
deformation (strain) of an object

insulating flexible metallic foil

pattern

As the object is deformed, the

foil is deformed, causing its
electrical resistance to change

resistance change, usually

measured using a Wheatstone
bridge

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 Strain Gauge

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 Strain Gauge - Operation

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 Strain Gauge

When an object is stretched due to an external force

and the length of the object increases from L to L+L,
the ratio L/L is called strain, G
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 Strain Gauge

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 Application of strain gauge
strain on wings of aircrafts

strain on buildings
due to wind or
earthquake.

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 Application of strain gauge
Stress on the bridge

Strain on the rails

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 Since the change of resistance produced by
stress or strain is small, it needs accurate
instrument to measure the small change. This is
possible by use of wheatstone bridge.

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