Table Of ContentMechanica1 Engineering Series
Frederick F. Ling
Series Editor
Springer-Science+ Business Media, LLC
Mechanical Engineering Series
Introductory Attitude Dynamics
F.P. Rimrott
Balancing of Bigh-Speed Machinery
M.S. Darlow
Theory of Wire Rope, 2nd ed.
G.A. Costello
Theory of Vibration: An Introduction, 2nd ed.
A.A. Shabana
Theory of Vibration: Discrete and Continuous Systems, 2nd ed.
A.A. Shabana
Laser Machining: Theory and Practice
G. Chryssolouris
Underconstrained Structural Systems
E.N. Kuznetsov
Principles of Beat Transfer in Porous Media, 2nd ed.
M. Kaviany
Mechatronics: Electromechanics and Contromechanics
D.K. Miu
Structural Analysis of Printed Circuit Board Systems
P.A. Engel
Kinematic and Dynamic Simulation of Multibody Systems:
The Real-Time Challenge
J. Gareia de Jal6n and E. Bayo
Bigh Sensitivity Moire:
Experimental Analysis for Mechanics and Materials
D. Post, B. Han, and P. Ifju
Principles of Convective Beat Transfer
M. Kaviany
Laminar Viscous Flow
V.N. Constantinescu
(continued after index)
Ilene J. Busch-Vishniac
Electromechanical Sensors
and Actuators
With 378 Figures
, Springer
Ilene J. Busch-Vishniac
Dean, Whiting School of Engineering
Johns Hopkins University
3400 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218-2681, USA
Series Editor
Frederick F. Ling
Emest F. Gloyna Regents Chair in Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX 78712-1063, USA
and
William Howard Hart Professor Emeritus
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Aeronautical Engineering and Mechanics
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY 12180-3590, USA
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Busch-Vishniac. Hene 1.
Eleetromechanical sensors and actuators I Hene 1. Busch-Vishniae.
p. em. - (Meehanical engineering series)
IncJudes bibliographieal references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4612-7142-0 ISBN 978-1-4612-1434-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4612-1434-2
1. Transdueers. 2. Deteetors. 3. Aetuators. 1. Tide.
II. Series: Mechanical engineering series (Berlin, Germany)
TK7872.T6B87 1998
681'. 2--dc21 98-11966
Printed on acid-free paper.
II;:) 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York
Originally published by Springer-Verlag New York Berlin Heidelberg in 1999
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1999
All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or eopied in whole or in part without the written
permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC), except for brief excerpts in
connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. U se in connection with any form of information storage
and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now
known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use of general descriptive names, trade names,
trademarks, etc., in this publication, even if the former are not especially identified, is not to be taken as a
sign that such names, as understood by the Trade Marks and Merchandise Marks Act, may accordingly be
used freely by anyone.
Production managed by Timothy Taylor; manufacturing supervised by Jacqui Ashri.
Photoeomposed eopy prepared using the eompositor's TEX files.
987 6 5 4 3 2 1
SPIN 10658156
For Ethan, Cady, and Miriam, the lights on my journey.
Mechanical Engineering Series
Frederick F. Ling
Series Editor
Advisory Board
Applied Mechanics FA Leckie
University of California,
Santa Barbara
v.c.
Biomechanics Mow
Columbia University
Computational Mechanics H.T. Yang
University of California,
Santa Barbara
Dynamical Systems and Control K.M. Marshek
University of Texas, Austin
Energetics J.R. Welty
University of Oregon, Eugene
Mechanics of Materials I. Finnie
University of California, Berkeley
Processing K.K. Wang
Cornell University
Production Systems G.-A. Klutke
Texas A&M University
Thermal Science A.E. Bergles
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Tribology W.O. Winer
Georgia Institute of Technology
Series Preface
Mechanical engineering, an engineering discipline borne of the needs of the
industrial revolution, is once again asked to do its substantial share in the call
for industrial renewal. The general call is urgent as we face profound issues of
productivity and competitiveness that require engineering solutions, among oth
ers. The Mechanical Engineering Series features graduate texts and research
monographs intended to address the need for information in contemporary areas
of mechanical engineering.
The series is conceived as a comprehensive one that covers a broad range
of concentrations important to mechanical engineering graduate education and
research. We are fortunate to have a distinguished roster of consulting editors
on the advisory board, each an expert in one of the areas of concentration. The
names of the consulting editors are listed on the facing page of this volume.
The areas of concentration are: applied mechanics; biomechanics; computational
mechanics; dynamic systems and control; energetics; mechanics of materials;
processing; thermal science; and tribology.
I am pleased to present this volume in the Series: Electromechanical Sensors
and Actuators, by Ilene Busch-Vishniac. The selection of this volume under
scores again the interest of the Mechanical Engineering series to provide our
readers with topical monographs as well as graduate texts in a wide variety of
fields.
Austin, Texas Frederick F. Ling
Vll
Preface
In the past few decades improvements in electronics have outpaced improve
ments in sensors and actuators so significantly that in virtually all measurement
and control systems it is the sensors and actuators which account for the bulk
of the expense, the majority of the size, and the lion's share of the system
failures. For improvements to be forthcoming, it clearly is necessary to under
stand how sensors and actuators work. The aim of this book is to provide a
detailed description of the various mechanisms that can be exploited in the de
sign of electromechanical sensors and actuators.
There are a number of books available on sensors and measurements, but this
book is a significant departure from the norm. The typical book on sensors or
on measurements is either a compendium of commercially available devices, or
a discussion of techniques used in sensing various parameters (e.g., acceleration,
force, displacement, etc.). What these approaches obscure is that different sorts
of devices might well use the same fundamental coupling mechanism to link
electrical and mechanical behavior. For instance, an ultrasonic cleaner and an
accelerometer might be nearly identical, despite their seemingly disparate appli
cations. In this book, the focus is on the fundamental coupling mechanisms. As
each mechanism is presented, commercially available sensors and actuators
from a wide a range of applications are given.
The standard treatment of measurement also draws a strong distinction be
tween sensing and actuation, although the devices used might be nearly identical
in means of operation. For instance, a solenoid can be used either to sense a
ix
x Preface
position (sensor) or to impose a position (actuator). While the optimal geometric
design and choice of materials might well depend on which of these two opera
tions the transducer is aimed to perform, the fundamental means by which the
electrical and mechanical domains are coupled are identical. In this book, both
sensors and actuators are treated, and the analysis developed applies uniformly
to both unless otherwise stated.
By focusing on the fundamental coupling between electrical and mechanical
energy domains, this book arms the reader with an arsenal that is appropriate
for transducer design. Because the book grew out of notes used in a graduate
course on electromechanical sensors and actuators at The University of Texas,
the analytical developments are the sort we would find in a textbook rather than
a handbook. Additionally, a large number of examples of commercially avail
able transducers are presented. These examples serve to define the state-of-the
art electromechanical transduction, and provide a vehicle for discussion of some
of the more practical issues associated with transducer design and use. A signifi
cant amount of the material contained within has never been previously pub
lished, so this book is a combination of a textbook and a research monograph,
appropriate for both students and practitioners with an interest in the measure
ment and control of mechanical systems.
This book is divided into three parts. Chapters 1 and 2 form the introductory
part of the book, entitled Basic Tools for Transducer Modeling. Chapters 3 to 8
constitute the Transduction Mechanisms part of the book. Each chapter dis
cusses a particular class of transduction mechanisms. For example, Chapter 3
deals with transduction based on changes in the energy stored in an electric
field. Each chapter in this part of the book provides an analytical description of
the transduction mechanisms and examples of devices using that method. These
examples incorporate a wide variety of applications, sizes, scales, and sophisti
cation. Chapters 9 to 11 form the Transducer Theory and Description part of
the book. This section deals with 2-port theory, which applies generally to trans
ducers, and with the meaning of various specifications associated with trans
ducers.
Baltimore, Maryland Ilene J. Busch-Vishniac
Acknowledgments
This manuscript is the culmination of years of conversations with leading au
thorities in the field of transduction. Without the help of my colleagues this text
would never have appeared. I am particularly indebted to Elmer Hixson for
introducing me to his way of thinking about sensors and actuators, and to David
Blackstock and Mark Hamilton for their encouragement while I labored over
this book. I am also grateful to my students, who inspired the writing and helped
me find errors.
Most of this book was written while I was on the faculty of The University
of Texas at Austin. The final stages were completed at Boston University, where
I spent a year on sabbatical thanks to the generosity of Allan Pierce.
A great deal of the painstaking work for this book required the careful atten
tion of Cindy Pflughoft, the world's greatest secretary. Without her willingness
to track down sources and organize my files of catalogs and papers, this book
would not have been possible.
Baltimore, MD Ilene J. Busch-Vishniac
Xl
Description:Mechanical engineering, an engineering discipline borne of the needs of the industrial revolution, is once again asked to do its substantial share in the call for industrial renewal. The general call is urgent as we face profound issues of productivity and competitiveness that require engineering so
