Accelerometer Transducers: Tech Talk of the Town

Posted by eliteinternet on April 20th, 2021

Today, technology moves pretty quickly. What’s top-of-the-line right now will be defunct trash in only a few years.

Learning about technology as it progresses is the only way to keep. For example, did you know accelerometers can be used for vibration measurement?

Wait… what? What’s an accelerometer? Trust us, we asked the same question.

An accelerometer measures vibration. You may also hear about accelerometer transducers, single-axis, three axis, and triaxial accelerometer configurations. All this tech talk gets complicated pretty fast, so here’s a guide to help you navigate it.

Charge Accelerometers: A charge‐type piezoelectric accelerometer is robust and designed specifically for high‐temperature vibration measurement. The unique design of charge sensors provides a high dynamic range, long‐term stability, and ruggedness. It’s available in singleaxial and triaxial configurations.

CCLD Accelerometers: A CCLD accelerometer is designed specifically to make vibration measurement easy because the preamplifier is built into the accelerometer unit. It features low impedance output, enabling the use of an inexpensive cable. It’s also available in single axial and triaxial configurations.

Industrial Accelerometers: Robust and reliable, it covers a wide range of permanent vibration monitoring applications including operations in wet, dusty, and potentially explosive areas.Charge and CCLD types are both available. Charge types are especially excellent for high‐temperature measurements.

Piezoelectric Accelerometers: Piezoelectric accelerometers are the most popular and widely used for industrial applications. Their lead zirconate titanate (PZT) sensing elements produce electric charge or output under acceleration.

Piezoelectric accelerometers boast that they have very low noise and offer performance superior to capacitive MEMS or piezoresistive accelerometers in all vibration and most shock applications. Many variants are available.

Variable Capacitance MEMS: Variable Capacitive MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) accelerometers are the smallest and least expensive accelerometer option. They’re used in many smartphones.

They can be mounted directly to printed circuit boards, which has made them electrical engineers’ preferred choice.

Although their low cost and small size have made them popular, they offer significantly lower data quality, especially on the higher frequency and amplitude end. They are generally unsuitable for industrial applications.

What are people worried about? What’s a little fan vibration?

Fans are going to vibrate a little. They make noise.

How much is too much? What about a fan that isn’t balanced?

Imagine that sick swaying sound. That means trouble is on the horizon. Woosh... Woosh... Woosh… Use the vibration report to check out that faulty piece.

If accelerometers can help avoid trouble, then it’s better to let them do their job.

Tech talk is though; we hope this guide helps.