Types of Transducers: Electrical Transducers

Written by:  • Edited by: Lamar Stonecypher
Updated Jan 28, 2010

The transducers that convert the mechanical input signals into electrical output signals are called as electrical transducers. The output obtained from the electrical transducers can be read by the humans or it can given as input to the controllers.

What are Electrical Transducers?

The transducers that convert the mechanical input signals of the physical quantity into electrical output signals are called as electrical transducers. The input given to the electrical transducers can be in the form of the displacement, strain, velocity, temperature, flow etc and the output obtained from them can be in the form of current, voltage and change in resistance, inductance and capacitance. The output can be measured easily and it is calibrated against the input, thus enabling the measurement of the value of the input.

II) Electrical Transducers

Here are some of commonly used electrical transducers:

1) Potentiometers: They convert the change in displacement into change in the resistance, which can be measured easily.

2) Bridge circuits: These convert the physical quantity to be measured into the voltage.

3) Wheatstone bridge: It converts the displacement produced by the physical quantity to the current in the circuit.

4) Capacitive sensors or Variable Capacitance Transducers: These comprise of the two parallel plates between which there is dielectric material like air. The change in distance between the two plates produced by the displacement results in change in capacitance, which can be easily measured.

5) Resistive sensors or Variable Resistance Transducers: There is change in the resistance of these sensors when certain physical quantity is applied to it. It is most commonly used in resistance thermometers or thermistors for measurement of temperature.

6) Magnetic sensors: The input given to these sensors is in the form of displacement and the output obtained is in the form of change in inductance or reluctance and production of the eddy currents.

7) Piezoelectric transducers: When force is applied to these transducers, they produce voltage that can be measured easily. They are used for measurement of pressure, acceleration and force.

8) Strain gauges: When strain gauges are strained or stretched there is change in their resistance. They consist of the long wire and are able to detect very small displacements produced by the applied force or pressure.

9) Photo electric transducers: When the light is applied to these transducers they produce voltage.

10) Linear variable differential transformer (LVDT): LVDT is the transformer consisting of the primary and the secondary coil. It converts the displacement into the change in resistance.

11) Ultrasonic Transducers: These transducers use the ultrasonic or ultrasound waves to measure parameters like fluid level, flow rate etc.

Apart from these there are some more electrical type of transducers like moving coil type, changing dielectric type, changing core positions type etc.


Comments

Showing all 14 comments
 
jithin May 10, 2011 7:18 AM
RE: Types of Transducers: Electrical Transducers
what is meant by vibration transducer?
augustus omon Mar 9, 2011 1:34 PM
electric transducer
please i need a detailed information about a relay,circuit breaker and osilloscope.
Amit Oct 26, 2010 11:58 PM
want to know ouput
Hi
I want to know if i can connect the output of Electric transducer to RS485/RS232?
archan Sep 27, 2010 12:22 PM
RE: Types of Transducers: Electrical Transducers
really superb colection
hariram shukla Jun 21, 2010 4:19 AM
working of electrical equipment
I want to know about current & voltage transducers
Pushkar Mar 10, 2010 7:14 PM
Measurement
Classification of measurement
DEVANSHU VERMA Jan 21, 2010 8:23 AM
transducers such as rtd thermocouple,etc
iI THANKS BY MY HEART FOR YOUR HELP THROUGH THIS WEB SITE. AND TOPICS LAUNCHED ON THIS ........ I GOT A LOT OF HELP THROUGH THIS..... I REQUEST YOU TO PASS ME SOME LINKS TO YOUR WEB TOPICS SUCH AS "ANALG SIGNAL GENERATOR AND IT'S ANALYSIS"
I'LL BE GLAD FOR YOUR HELP
zaman Dec 23, 2009 3:51 PM
consistency transducers
what is a consistency transducer??
what is its working principle??
and where is it used(applications)??
ahmed Oct 21, 2009 7:18 PM
help me
i have a dental handpiece and it's motor is rotational movement work but i want transducer that can convert a rotational movement to pulse movement.
what kind of transducer using??
hind( from 0 to 40000rpm )
Isha Aug 30, 2009 11:33 PM
piezoelectric transducer
A feeder head includes suction belts to sequentially feed top sheets from a stack of sheets
(e.g., paper). Before the belts receive suction and drive power, a suction cup raises the top sheet at a location between the belts to produce a corrugated shape in the top sheet which induce separation of a second sheet that might be adhered to the top sheet. A double sheet detector includes a pair of rollers forming a nip through which a fed sheet passes, causing the rollers to separate. The amount of separation is transmitted to a transducer which generates a signal proportional to the sheet thickness. Signals from the transducer are frequently sensed and averaged, so that signal variations resulting from irregularities in the shape of the rollers are canceled out.

Which transducer is used in the abstract above?
Haresh Khemani Aug 8, 2009 7:00 AM
Good article
Dear Santosh,

Thanks for your comments. I shall be soon posting more articles explaining all the transducers in greater details along with their images. Please keep on visiting Mechanical Engineering Channel at Bright Hub for updates.

Thanks,

Haresh
Santosh Birari Aug 8, 2009 6:57 AM
Good article
Good article, can you please give more info about all the transducers?
Haresh Khemani Aug 5, 2009 2:52 AM
RE: Types of Transducers: Electrical Transducers
Dear Pradeep,

There are different methods for measurement of level like three valve method, bubbler method, floats, capacitive devices, ultrsonic devices etc.

Please keep on visiting Bright Hub for soon to be posted articles on these devices.

Thanks,

Haresh
pradeep Aug 5, 2009 2:22 AM
mesurment fluid level usig transduce
Thanking you for that all articales and help us on following.

How can mesure fluid level usig transduce and what is the variable which we have to take for it,,,?
 
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