The product segment of the piezoelectric market can depend on the basis Piezoelectric Sensors, Piezoelectric Actuators, Piezoelectric Motors, Piezoelectric Transducers, Piezoelectric Generators and others. The material segmentation can be further classified into Piezoelectric Crystals, Piezoelectric Ceramics, Piezoelectric Polymer and Piezoelectric Composites. The piezoelectric market can be segmented on the basis of material, product and application. The uses of a piezoelectric sensor varies from measuring pressure, acceleration, temperature to strain or force, finally converting it into an electrical charge. The normal voltage of a piezoelectric sensor can depend from microvolts to hundreds of volts, with simultaneous variations in the signal conditioning circuitry. These materials often reflect many electrical side-effects due to the numerous piezoelectric properties due to changes in temperature and radiation. The Curie brothers in 1880 found various piezoelectric properties in the left over ceramic and plastic materials. The charge mode pressure sensor has a voltage amplifier and the leakage caused is fixed by a capacitance and resistance values along with low noise cable and external source voltage amplifier. At times, it has been acknowledged that there is an electrical insulation resistance that is quite large to make the charge drop down to a zero. In simple terms, the crystals of quartz in a piezoelectric sensor generate a charge due to the pressure applied. Piezo meaning pressure in Greek, which when applied to the polarized crystal, results in a mechanical deformation, finally turns into an electrical charge. An additional advantage of a piezo sensor in this application is that the piezo sensor beam is not affected by dust in the bin that may result during the material charging operation.Piezoelectric Sensor is a sensor based on piezoelectric effect which means the energy is being transformed between mechanical and electrical forms. This information along with information of the geometry of the vessel and the position of the sensor and the characteristics of the material in the bin allows for accurate calculation of the amount of material in the bin. Knowing the speed of the sound wave in air, and the transit time for this sound wave to travel to the material surface and back to the sensor, one can determine the distance of the material surface from the sensor. These sensors operate by intermittently shooting a sound beam at the surface level of the material in the bin, and receiving back the reflection of that sound beam as it reflects off of the surface. Piezo level sensors can determine the amount of material remaining in a bin, and can be used to control the bin contents. This transit time difference is related to the velocity of the flow in the vessel, and therefore the flow or volume/second can be determined with the configuration of the vessel and the characteristics of the liquid. Piezoelectric liquid flow sensors are often used in pairs and operate by utilizing the difference in transit time for a signal traveling in the direction of fluid flow compared to the transit time for a signal traveling against the fluid flow. An example of this sensor system would be the throttling of a valve in the following applications for piezo flow and level sensors. This system can yield a preprogrammed response that will control some aspect of the process by keeping the operation within desired operating parameters. Contact APC Today Using Ultrasonic Sensors With LiquidsĪnother group of piezo sensors operate on the principle of measuring distance in a fluid, primarily through the use of transit time measurements and a corresponding data processing system. A piezoelectric sensor of this type is often used to measure vibration of motor bearings, or other device, to determine the wear on the bearing so that maintenance can be performed before there is a catastrophic bearing failure.Īn automotive knock sensor is another example of an accelerometer sensor that is used to measure the engine vibration to adjust the fuel / air ratio to reduce engine vibration and “engine pinging”, thereby resulting in improved engine performance. Accelerometer sensors often measure vibration or acceleration of various devices, such as motors, pumps, etc. One example of such a piezo sensor is an accelerometer.

This sensor signal often results in a response from the system. Piezoelectric sensors convert a physical, acceleration, pressure, or other input to an electrical signal that serves as an input to a data processing system.

Piezo sensor