Inductive Transducer

(LVDT & RVDT)

Date: March 29, 2014

Inductive Transducers

Inductive transducers operate on the principle of variation of self

inductance of a coil or on the principle of variation of mutual
inductance.
Inductance of a coil, L is defined as

Assuming linear relationship between flux, ? current, i producing

the flux, we can write

where is the permeability of the core material

around which the coil is wound,
N is the number of turns of the coil,
A is the area of cross-section of magnetic flux
path,

Linear Variable Differential Transformation (LVDT)

LVDT works on the principle of variation of mutual
inductance.
It is one of the most popular types of displacement sensor.
It has good linearity over a wide range of displacement.
Moreover the mass of the moving body is small, and the
moving body does not make any contact with the static
part, thus minimizing the frictional resistance.
Commercial LVDTs are available with full scale
displacement range of 0.25mm to 25mm.
Due to the low inertia of the core, the LVDT has a good
dynamic characteristics and can be used for time varying
displacement measurement range.

The construction and principle of operation of LVDT can

be explained with Fig. 2(a) and Fig. 2(b).
It works on the principle
of
variation
of
the
mutual
inductance
between two coils with
displacement.
It consists of a primary
winding
and
two
identical
secondary
windings
of
a
transformer, wound over
a tubular former, and a
ferromagnetic core of
annealed
nickel-iron
alloy moves through the
former.
The
two
secondary
windings are connected

The primary winding is excited by 1-10V r.m.s. A.C.

voltage source, the frequency of excitation may be
anywhere in the range of 50 Hz to 50 KHz.
The output voltage is zero
when the core is at central
position (voltage induced in
both
the
secondary
windings are same, so the
difference is zero), but
increasing as the core
moves away from the
central position, in either
direction.
Thus,
from
the
measurement of the output
voltage only, one cannot
predict, the direction of the
core movement.
A phase sensitive detector

It is connected at the
output of the LVDT and
compares the phase of
the secondary output
with the primary signal to
judge the direction of
movement.
The output of the phase
sensitive detector after
low
pass
filtering
becomes a d.c voltage
for a steady deflection.
The output voltage after
PSD vs. Displacement
characteristics is shown
in Fig. 2(c).

LVDT Components
Ferrous core

Epoxy encapsulation

Primary coil
Secondary coil
Bore shaft
Magnetic shielding
Stainless steel end caps
Secondary coil
High density glass filled coil
forms

Signal conditioning
circuitry
Cross section of a DCLVDT

Working of LVDT:
Let's study the working of LVDT by splitting the cases
into 3 based on the iron core position inside the
insulated former.
Case 1:
On applying an external force which is the displacement,
if the core reminds in the null position itself without
providing any movement then the voltage induced in
both the secondary windings are equal which results in
net output is equal to zero
i.e., Esec1-Esec2=0

Case 2:
When an external force is appilied and if the steel iron
core tends to move in the left hand side direction
then the emf voltage induced in the secondary coil is
greater when compared to the emf induced in the
secondary coil 2. Therefore the net output will be
Esec1-Esec2
Case 3:
When an external force is applied and if the steel iron
core moves in the right hand side direction then the
emf induced in the secondary coil 2 is greater when
compared to the emf voltage induced in the
secondary coil 1. therefore the net output voltage will
be Esec2-Esec1

Advantages of LVDT:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Infinite resolution is present in LVDT

High output
LVDT gives High sensitivity
Very good linearity
Ruggedness
LVDT Provides Less friction
Low hysteresis
LVDT gives Low power consumption.

Disadvantages of LVDT:
* Very high displacement is required for generating high
voltages.
* Shielding is required since it is sensitive to magnetic
field.
* The performance of the transducer gets affected by
vibrations
Applications of LVDT:
* Its is greatly affected by temperature changes.
LVDT is used to measure displacement ranging
from fraction millimeter to centimeter.
Acting as a secondary transducer, LVDT can be
used as a device to measure force, weight and
pressure, etc.

LVDT as Secondary Transducer