This article will provide you the basic guidance with what is a Capacitive Transducer, How does it works, Its construction and some of its application.
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This article will provide you the basic guidance with what is a Capacitive Transducer, How does it works, Its construction and some of its application.
This article will provide you the basic guidance with what is a Capacitive Transducer, How does it works, Its construction and some of its application.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
This article will provide you the basic guidance with what is a Capacitive Transducer, How does it works, Its construction and some of its application.
Copyright:
Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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Transducers
What is a Transducer?
An electronic instrumentation system consists of a number of
components which together are used to perform a measurement and record the result. An instrumentation system generally consists of three major elements: an input device, a signal conditioning device and processing device and an output device.
The input device receives the quantity that is to be measured
and delivers a proportional electrical signal to the signal conditioning device. In the signal conditioning device, the signal is amplified, filtered or modified to a format acceptable to the output device. The output device may be a simple indicating meter, an oscilloscope, or a chart recorder for visual display. The kind of system depends on what is to be measured and how the measurement result is to be presented.
The input quantity for most instrumentation system is non-
electrical. In order to use electrical methods and techniques for measurement or control of input non-electrical quantity, it must be converted into an electrical signal. And this conversion is made by a device called “Transducers”.
We can also define “Transformers” in simple words as it is
device which is used for the conversion of energy from its one form to the other. Capacitive Transducers
What is capacitive transducer?
Capacitive transducers are nothing but the capacitors with the
variable capacitance. These are mainly used for the measurement of displacement, pressure etc. It is a Passive type of Transducer.
Principle of Operation:
The capacitive transducers works on the familiar capacitance
equation of parallel plate capacitor, which is given by:
C= εo x εr x A/ d
Where C is the capacitance of the capacitor or the variable
capacitance transducer
εo is the absolute permittivity
εr is the relative permittivity
The product of εo & εr is also called as the dielectric constant of the
capacitive transducer.
A is the area of the plates
d is the distance between the plates
Construction and working:
The capacitive transducer comprises of two parallel metal
plates that are separated by the material such as air, which is called as the dielectric material. In the typical capacitor, the distance between the two plates is kept varying.
In the instruments using capacitance transducers the value of
the capacitance changes due to the change in the value of the input quantity that is to be measured. This change in capacitance can be measured easily and it is calibrated against the input quantity, thus the value of the input quantity can be measured directly. Capacitance of the Capacitive Transducers
The capacitance C between the two plates of capacitive transducers
is given by:
C = εo x εr x A/ d
Where C is the capacitance of the capacitor or the variable
capacitance transducer
εo is the absolute permittivity
εr is the relative permittivity
The product of εo & εr is also called as the dielectric constant of the
capacitive transducer.
A is the area of the plates
D is the distance between the plates
Now from the equation, we get to know that the capacitance of
capacitive transducer depends on the area of the plates and the distance between the plates and it also changes with the change in the dielectric constant of the dielectric material used in it. Depending on the parameter that changes for the capacitive transducers, they are of three types as mentioned below:
1) Changing Dielectric Constant type of Capacitive
Transducers
In this type of capacitive transducer the dielectric material
between the two plates changes, due to which the capacitance of the transducer also changes. When there is a change in the input quantity to be measured, the value of the dielectric constant also changes providing a change in the capacitance of the capacitive transducer. This capacitance, calibrated against the input quantity, directly gives the value of the quantity to be measured.
This principle is used for measurement of level in the
hydrogen container, where the change in level of hydrogen between the two plates results in change of the dielectric constant of the capacitance transducer. Apart from level, this principle can also be used for measurement of humidity and moisture content of the air.
2) Changing Area of the Plates of Capacitive Transducers
The capacitance of the variable capacitance transducer also
changes with the area of the two plates. This principle is used in the torquemeter, used for measurement of the torque on the shaft. This comprises of the sleeve that has teeth cut axially and the matching shaft that has similar teeth at its periphery. 3) Changing Distance between the Plates of Capacitive Transducers
In these capacitive transducers the distance between the
plates is variable, while the area of the plates and the dielectric constant remain constant. This is the most commonly used type of variable capacitance transducer.
For measurement of the displacement of the object, one plate
of the capacitance transducer is kept fixed, while the other is connected to the object. When the object moves, the plate of the capacitance transducer also moves, this results in change in distance between the two plates and the change in the capacitance. The changed capacitance is measured easily and it calibrated against the input quantity, which is displacement. This principle can also be used to measure pressure, velocity, acceleration etc. Advantages and Disadvantages of Capacitive Transducers:
Advantages:
Very little force is required to operate them and hence they
are very useful in small systems. They are extremely sensitive. They have a good frequency response and can measure both the static as well as dynamic changes. A resolution of 2.5 x 10^-3 mm may be obtained with these transducers.
Disadvantages:
The metallic part of the capacitor must be insulated from
each other. Their performance is severely affected by dirt and other contaminants because they change the dielectric constant. They are sensitive to temperature variations and there are possibilities of erratic or distorted signals due to long lead length.