LVDT stands for Linear Variable Differential Transformer.

It is most widely used

inductive transducer that converts input displacement to an electrical signal. It
consists of single primary winding and two secondary windings having equal
number of turns and placed identically on either side of the primary winding. A
movable soft iron core is placed inside a former upon which the windings are

wound. The block diagram of LVDT is as follows: The primary is excited by an

A.C voltage of frequency 50Hz to 20KHz. The secondary are connected in series
opposing when the core is placed in the null position and the output voltage is
zero as equal voltages induced in the secondary cancel each other.
LVDT primary, secondary windings are connected such that applied voltage on
primary and induced voltage on secondary are 180° phase opposition as shown in
the figure. If the core is moved to the left of null position more flux will link S1 than
that of S2. A resultant voltage (Es1 – Es2) which is in phase with primary voltage
will appear across the output.

If the core is moved to the right of null position, the resultant voltage (Es1 – Es2)
is 180° out of phase with primary voltage which will be the output. Thus the output
voltage is a measure of displacement. The variation of output voltage with the

displacement is as shown below:

Linear Variable Differential Transformer(LVDT) has the advantage of having high
sensitivity, high range, ruggedness, low hysteresis, and low power consumption.
Procedure for finding the characteristics of LVDT:-
1. Connect the terminals marked “Primary” on the DPM to the terminals marked
“Primary” on LVDT transformer.
2. Similarly connect “secondary” terminals on the DPM to the “secondary”
terminals on LVDT
3. Keep the pot (P1) in “MAX” in the post anti-clockwise position.
4. Caliberation of DPM:- The magnetic core is so positioned that the
pointer is indicating zero position. If the DPM is not indicating zero, rotate the
plot ‘MN’ to zero to get a zero on DPM. Now displace the core 19mm position
in one of the directions. Adjust the ‘MAX’ plot to get an indication of 19.00 on
DPM.
5. Now displace the core by a small amount in range of ±19mm and note the
scale readings and DPM readings.
6. Draw the graph of input displacement on X-axis and output displacement of Y-

axis. The expected waveform is as follows:

Precautions to be taken for this experiment are
 While connecting the terminals on DPM to transducer follow the color code
carefully.
 Move the LVDT core in a gentle fashion by operating the knob for more
movements.
VVV