Tutorial on capacitive displacement, Potentiometer and LVDT

1. a) A slide wire pot. having a length of 200mm is fabricated by winding wire having dia of 0.25 around
a cylindrical insulating core. Determine the resolution limit of this pot.(4 turns /mm)
b) If the pot. has a resistance of 1kohm and can dissipate 4W of power, determine the voltage
required to maximize the sensitivity(63.45 V). What voltage change corresponds to the resolution
limit?(0.07905V)

2. A resistive potentiometer has a total resistance of 10k-ohm and is rated 4W. If the range of pot. is 0 to
100mm, then its sensitivity is ……..(2V/mm).
a) A constant voltage W.Bridge circuit is employed with a displacement transducer (pot. type) to
convert resistance change to output voltage. If the displacement transducer has a total resistance
of 1kohm, then dR=+/-500ohm if the wiper is moved from the center position to either end. If
the transducer is placed in arm R(1) of the bridge and if R(2)=R(3)=R(4)=500ohm:
i) Determine the output voltage E as a function of dR if E(i)=12V., dR=+500 [2.4V]

3. In a potentiometer transducer, the potentiometer has a total resistance of 24kohm for a total wiper
travel of 120mm.During a measurement the wiper moves between 20mm and 60mm over the
potentiometer.
i) If the voltmeter of 15kohm is used to read the output voltage of the transducer, find
the error due to the loading effect at the two measuring points.(18.23%, 28.56%)
4. Show that in the following potentiometer transducer whose total resistance is RP, the non-linearity is
𝑹𝒑
𝒙𝟐 (𝟏−𝒙)
𝑹𝑳
a function of x.VS 𝑹𝒑 where RL is the load resistance of the potentiometer.
𝟏+ (𝒙)(𝟏−𝑿)
𝑹𝑳
5. An N-Type semiconductor strain gage has a nominal resistance of 1000 ohm and gage factor of –100.
What is the resistance of the gage, when compressive strain of 100 micro is applied?(990 ohm)
6. The expression for the capacitance (C in pF) of a parallel plate capacitor is given by C=6.9410-3
(d2/S). The diameter (d) of each plate is 20 mm and the spacing between the plates (S) is 0.25 mm.
What is the displacement sensitivity of the capacitor? [44.416 pF]
7. A force measurement system consists of linear elements and has an overall steady-state sensitivity of
unity. The dynamics of the system are determined by the second order transfer function of the
sensing element which has a natural frequency ωn = 40 rad s-1and a damping ration of ξ = 0.1.
Calculate the system dynamic error corresponding to the periodic input force signal: F(t) = 50{ sin
10t + (1/3 ) sin 30t + (1/5) sin 50t}. [50{1.0651sin(10t-3.0530-sin10t)-sin10t}+1/3{2.162sin(30t-
18.92)-sin30t}+1/5{1.625sin(50t-156.0375)-sin50t}]
8. What will be the frequency content of output of an LVDT with input mechanical motion of 10Hz
and excitation frequency of 400Hz.
9. a)Prepare a sketch of V1, V2 and Vout signals as a function of time for an LVDT with its core

located in following position.

i) A, B, C
b) Prepare a general sketch of Vout vs time when the phase sensitive demodulator is functioning.

10. A variable dielectric capacitive displacement sensor consists of two square metal plates, side 5cm,
separated by a gap of 1mm. A sheet of dielectric material 1mm thick and the same area as the plates
can be slid between them. Given that the dielectric constant of air is 1 and that of the material is 4,
calculate the capacitance of the sensor when the input displacement x= 0.0, 2.5, 5.0 cm. [88.5pF, 55.3
pF, 22.1 pF]
12. (a) Fig. 1 shows a differential capacitive displacement sensor.
 (i) Write the expression for the capacitance (say, C1) between the plates F1 and M and the
capacitance (say, C2) between F2 and M. (Express in units of nF)
(ii) Show that the function (C2-C1)/(C1+C2) can be used to realize a linear output (which is
proportional to Δd) from C1 and C2. Draw the circuit that can realize this function.

F1, F2 – fixed metallic plates

M – Movable metallic plate

Dielectric – air (ϵ0 = 9 x 10^-12 F/m)

Dimensions are in mm. Dimensions not according to scale

13. In the figure shown below, let xi be periodic motion with a significant frequency content up to 500
Hertz and the excitation frequency is 10000 Hertz. The output signal obtained is then passed through
phase sensitive diode bridge demodulator. We desire the ripple due to higher frequencies to be no more
than 5% of the unfiltered value.

i) Find the frequency range after the demodulation process.[19000Hz- 21000Hz]

ii) Design a low pass filter for the above application such that 5% ripple is desired due to lower
frequency range.[R.C=0.00017s]
 iii) Calculate the time lag introduced due to the low pass filter at 1000Hz [130.2μs].
14. The following figure shows A variable reluctance force sensor which is incorporated in a
deflection bridge circuit. when the applied force is zero the armature is positioned along centre line
AB.

(a) Explain why the sensor would be suitable for measuring force signals containing

frequencies between 0 and 10 Hz.

Given

Overall spring stiffness =103 Nm−1

Effective mass of spring and armature =25 ×10−3 Kg

Damping ratio =0.7

[Since fn=32 Hz, ξ=0.7, |G(jω)| =1 up to 10 Hz }