Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Fundamental Things About How Pressure Sensors Work

Fundamental Things About How Pressure Sensors Work
By Adriana Noton


Pressure sensors are very popular in our times as they are the best systems for measuring pressure when it comes to fluid substances. When a container is full of liquid, for instance, and more liquid is released in the container, the sensor detects the increase in force and transforms it into an electric charge. After the transformation, the signal obtained will be transmitted further to the interpreter device. This is how equipment like this is functioning.

Not only the direct force can be calculated, but also other parameters will be obtained indirectly. This involves the level of fluid in the container, the speed of flowing and others. Any type of information can be provided by these readers. The measurement can be static and dynamic.

During the steam age the first devices were made and they became very popular. Since then, the technology has evolved a lot, and they have adapted. Their popularity is still the same in our times. They can be split in three categories depending on how they work: variable capacitance, strain gage and piezoelectric.

The pressure sensor can be found in different shapes and designs; they can be classified after performance or price, after the range of measurement and the temperature range of use. There are some dynamic sensors that can measure rapid changes in speed or pressure, these ones have a high performance and are made of quartz.

The strain gage systems are made of two things: the strain gauge and the diaphragm. The diaphragm detects the changing in force when the level of the fluid grows. Then the strain gauge will oppose resistance for that force, and the resistance will be calculated by a DAQ module (Data Acquisition System).

When it comes to the devices that use variable capacitance, these are made of two metal plates. Actually it is one metal plate and a metal diaphragm. When the force changes, the distance between the plates changes as well and this indicates the difference in pressure. Like the accelerometer, these devices are more stable than others but they do not function well in high temperature conditions. Also they are harder to assemble then the other types.

Being made of quartz crystals, the piezoelectric sensors use the properties which are owned by these crystals from nature. They have this feature that allows them to make an electrical charge when they detect a force increase. The signal created must be amplified with the proper circuitry. They are not as resistant as other materials to vibration exposure or to any type of shock.

In normal conditions, the signal generated through these methods is weak. It is measured in mV, which is a measure unit one thousand times smaller than the Volt. The Volt numbers obtained are related to the intensity of the force. This means that for 0 Volts, 0 Bars are corresponding as pressure measuring and in this case there is no generated signal. If the limit is five Volts, then the Pressure will be five Bars.

Pressure sensors are devices that are very common in our days. They are used in many industrial domains. For example, they have a good role in the food industry. Regardless of their type, they are good tools for measuring the force generated by different fluids. But they also measure the fluid speed, the level of a fluid inside a container or many other valuable details.




About the Author:



Fundamental Things About How Pressure Sensors Work

0 comments:

Post a Comment

 
My Simple Clean News powered by blogger.com
Blogerized By Zomskin Design by Blogger Templates Simple Clean