SUGATA MUNSHI Department of Electrical Engineering Jadavpur University

LINEAR VARIABLE DIFFERENTIAL TRANSFORMER ( LVDT)

The LVDT is a short-stroke linear displacement measuring device having extremely fine resolution , high accuracy and good stability. Since a number of physical variables such as pressure, load, velocity and acceleration can be measured in terms of displacement, LVDT forms the basic sensing element in all such measurements. The LVDT is widely used as the basic element in extensometers, electronic comparators, thickness-measuring units and level indicators.

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SUGATA MUNSHI Department of Electrical Engineering Jadavpur University

The LVDT consists of three coaxial coils. A thin-walled three-section bobbin or former of bakelite, teflon, ceramic or other electrical insulating material , carries the primary winding on the middle section and two identical secondary coils on the two side sections. A rod shaped ferromagnetic core normally of Nickel-iron alloy , positioned centrally inside the coil assembly, is provided to move precisely in the axial direction in the former bore. The displacement to be measured is transferred to the magnetic core through suitable linkages. A ferromagnetic sheath covers the outer side of the coils to provide the path for completing the magnetic circuit and also to provide mechanical protection. The secondaries are connected in series opposition. The primary is normally excited by a sinusoidal voltage of RMS value 3 to 15 V and frequency of 50 Hz to 20 KHz. The core has a a longitudinal slot for reducing eddy currents.

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Theory:
With sinusoidal voltage applied to the primary, sinusoidal emfs are induced in the two secondaries. The ferromagnetic core inside the coil assembly provides a preferred path for magnetic flux linking the coils. When the core is symmetrically placed with respect to the two secondaries (i.e. the core is centrally located), equal voltages are induced in the secondaries , and since they are in series opposition, the net output voltage is ideally zero. This position is termed as the Null Position or Electric Zero position. When the core is displaced from the null position, the induced voltage in the secondary towards which it moves , increases, while that in the other secondary decreases. This results in a differential output voltage from the transformer. With proper design of coils, the magnitude of the output signal is made to vary linearly with the displacement of the core on both sides with respect to the null position, over a considerable distance.

CIRCUIT ANALYSIS FOR A FIXED CORE POSITION :

Let Ip (j) be the primary current and Rp and Lp be the primary coil resistance and inductance respectively. Let Eo (j) be the differential output voltage under open circuit condition.

Then,

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E1 ( j ) = j M 1 I p ( j )
E2 ( j ) = j M 2 I p ( j )
E o ( j ) = ( M 1 M 2 ) j I p ( j )
And,

I p ( j ) =

E i ( j ) R p + j L p

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E o ( j ) =

-j (M1 M 2 ) Ei ( j ) R p + j L p

or , -j (M1 M 2 ) / R p Eo ( j ) = Ei ( j ) 1 + j p - (M1 M 2 ) = 1 + 2 p 2

Rp

90 tan 1 p

Where,

p = Lp / R p
- (M1 M 2 )

Eo ( j ) = Ei ( j )

Rp

1+ p

( )

where, ( ) = 90 tan 1 p

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( ) =

for M1 < M 2 180o + ( ) for M1 > M 2

( )

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So there is reversal of phase of the differential output voltage of the LVDT as the core travels from one side of null position to the other.

M1 ~ M2 varies with the displacement of the core from the null position and the variation is linear up to a certain distance.

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If an AC voltmeter with very high input impedance is used to measure the differential output Eo (j) , it will correctly measure the RMS value Eo (thereby giving a measure of the displacement of core from null position), but will not be able to sense the phase information. So the voltmeter reading will not indicate the direction of motion.

In practice when the core is at null position, there will be a small residual output voltage. This voltage is due to the stray capacitive coupling between the primary and the secondaries, and this problem is
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further aggravated by the presence of harmonics in the excitation voltage. Under usual conditions, this is less than 1% of the full-scale output voltage and may be quite acceptable. Thus over the linear range of operation,

Eo = E o = K i xi ,
where, Ki = Static sensitivity of LVDT in mV/mm.

PHASE ANGLE COMPENSATION CIRCUITS METHOD-I

Fig. Equivalent Circuit of LVDT with load R connected. Note : R can represent the internal resistance of a voltmeter

Ll = Effective leakage inductance of the series-opposing combination

of secondaries.
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For the primary winding, Ei = Ip ( R p + j Lp ) j ( M 1 M 2 ) I s Ip = Ei +j ( M 1 M 2 ) I s R p + j Lp (1)

Plugging the expression for I p in (2)

I s ( Rs + R + j Ll ) =

-j ( M1 M 2 ) Ei R p + j Lp

2 (M1 M 2 )2 + Is R p + j Lp

or, 2 ( M1 M 2 ) 2 + R p (R s + + R) + j{Lp ( Rs + R) + Ll R p } 2 Lp Ll Is R p + j Lp -j (M1 M 2 ) Ei R p + j Lp

Eo IR j (M 2 M 1 ) = s = 2 Ei Ei R p (R s + R ) ( M 1 M 2 ) 2 + Lp Ll + j L p ( Rs + R) + Ll R p ..................................... (3)

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M1 M2 = Effective mutual inductance between primary and Combination of secondaries = M (say)

Eo Ei

j (M 2 M 1 ) R p (R s + R) 2 ( M 2 + L p Ll ) + j Lp ( Rs + R ) + Ll R p ..................................... (4)

Hence the condition to be fulfilled for compensation is,

R p (R s + R) = 2 ( M 2 + L p Ll )
That is,

(5)

2 ( M 2 + Lp Ll )
R p (R s + R ) or,

=1

(6)

L p Ll M2 + = 1 R p (R s + R ) R p (R s + R ) or,
2

2 x 2 + p s = 1

(7)

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where, x =

M R p (R s + R ) Lp Rp (R+R s )

p =
and

s = Ll

With phase compensation,

Eo = & Eo = MR Ei L p ( R + Rs ) + Ll Rp for M 2 < M 1 MR Ei Lp ( R + Rs ) + Ll R p for M 2 > M1

Considering
M 2 M1 = K xi , Sensitivity Eo Ko = Ei = KR KR = Lp ( R + Rs ) + Ll R p R p ( R + Rs )( p + s )

xi

OBSERVATIONS:
The condition for compensation involves position of the core.
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which depends on the

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The compensation therefore is valid only for the particular core position for which the above condition is satisfied. If the compensation is carried out with the core at half-scale position, then the deviations from the compensated condition for other core positions, will be small.

METHOD- II

Assumption : The compensating RC network does not have any

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Loading effect on the LVDT. Thus the LVDT and the RC Network may be considered as two noninteracting systems In cascade.

j (M 2 M 1 ) / R p Es ( j ) = 1 + j p Ei ( j )

; p=

Lp Rp

(1)

1 Eo ( j ) 1 j C = = ; =RC 1 Es ( j ) 1+j R+ j C

(2)

j (M 2 M 1 ) / R p Eo ( j ) = Ei ( j ) (1 + j p ) (1 + j )
or j (M 2 M 1 ) / R p Eo ( j ) = Ei ( j ) 1 2 p + j ( + p ) (4)

(3)

For phase compensation the following condition should be satisfied

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p = 1
Considering as before, M2 ~ M1 = K |xi |,with phase compensation,

xi Rp Eo =K Ei + p (6)

Sensitivity of the compensated LVDT is Ko = Eo Ei xi K = Rp (7)

+ p

DYNAMIC MEASUREMENT

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When the core is static at a certain position, the output is a sinusoidal signal whose amplitude is proportional to the displacement of the core from the null point. When the core is in continuous motion, the amplitude of the differential output sinusoid will vary with time. In effect, the output is an amplitude-modulated sinusoid. Readout device such as oscilloscope or pen-recorder is to be used to record the pattern of change in position of core with time.

Let us consider that the LVDT core has an initial positive displacement. From Fig.1 it can be seen that the core travels at a
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constant speed up to the null point and then travels at the same speed. In Fig.2 it is considered that the core travels at a constant speed towards the null point, crosses it, and continues to travel with the same speed. In both cases, the output appears as an Amplitude Modulated sinusoid. In Fig.2, the phase reversal of eo on crossing the null point, is the feature demarcating the two records. Since the excitation frequency is several times the highest core-motion frequency, it is not visually possible to distinguish between the two records. It is desired to have an electrical signal which replicates the pattern of variation of xi with time.

PHASE-SENSITIVE DEMODULATION & FILTERING Let us now try to examine how the output signal of the LVDT can be conditioned to determine both the magnitude and the direction of the core. This can be achieved by using a phase-sensitive demodulation circuit followed by a low-pass filter.

Xi

LVDT

e1 , e2

PSD

eo

LPF

vo

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For this arrangement, it is necessary that all the four terminals of the secondaries should be accessible. In some LVDTs the seriesopposition connection is internal to the casing of the LVDT. This arrangement can not be used in such cases. The phase-sensitive demodulator consists of a pair of full wave bridge rectifiers using semiconductor diodes. FWR-1 rectifies the secondary voltage e1 , while FWR-2 rectifies e2. The output terminal c of FWR-1 and b of FWR-2 are shorted. The output of the PSD is taken from d and a. In each case, the load resistance R is of the order of 1K to 10 K .

d is always at a higher potential than c., hence edc is always positive. a is always at a higher potential than b., hence eba is always negative.
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eo = edc + e ba
Voltage phasors E1 and E 2 are in phase. Ip

E1

E2

Static Displacenent
For positive displacement, edc > eba ; so eo and v o are positive.

For negative displacement, edc < e ba ; so e o and v o are negative.

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Thus, magnitude of vo gives the magnitude of displacement and its polarity gives the direction of motion.

Dynamic Measurement

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In both the cases, record of vo is same as record of xi .

Important Features of LVDT 1. The full range stroke of commercially available LVDTs ranges from about 0.2mm to 75mm, with other sizes available as specials (e.g. a stroke of 250 mm).

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2. With normal excitation bvoltage of 3 to ^V, sensitivity is of the order of 20mV to 1V per mm of displacement, depending on frequency of excitation.

Higher frequency results in higher sensitivity. Smaller stroke LVDTs usually have higher sensitivities.

3. Since the core can move in a stepless manner, theoretically any LVDT will have infinitesimal resolution. In practice the resolution is limited vby the resolution of the voltage measuring device and sometimes by that of the associated mechanism.

4. The LVDTs have low power consumption (less than 1W).

5. The dynamic response of an LVDT is restricted by the mass of the core and by the excitation frequency, since the excitation frequency must be much higher than the core-motion frequencies, so as to be able to distinguish between them and the amplitude modulated output signal. For proper demodulation and filtering , the carrier frequency should be at least 10 times greater than the highest frequency component of the dynamic signal.

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6. The rapid development of solid state electronics permits the production of miniature signal conditioning circuits that can be packaged within the cover of an LVDT. The result is a small self-contained sensor known as Direct current differential transformer (DCDT).

The input to this sensor is DC. The AC excitation signal is produced from this DC input by appropriate circuit within the sensor housing. There are also demodulator, low-pass filter and amplifier circuits.

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