Abstract
Real-time monitoring of torque in a rotating shaft is not easy to implement with technologies such as optic fiber sensors or strain gages. Surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors are wireless and passive and can be used to monitor strain in moving parts. Commercial solutions (sensors, antennas and interrogation unit) can easily be purchased from some companies; however, they are not customized and may not meet the specificity of the measurements. In order to evaluate the adequacy of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions, temperature and strain sensors fabricated by SENSeOR (Besançon, France) were mounted on a load cell. The sensors were calibrated using a thermal chamber and a universal testing machine. The load cell was then assembled together with a steel shaft that rotated at different speeds inside an oven. The commercial antennas were replaced with an RF (radio frequency) coupler and the sensors were interrogated with the commercial interrogation unit. The influence of rotation in the accuracy on the measurements, as well as the adequacy of the sensors structure, was evaluated. It can be concluded that SAW sensors can be used to measure temperature or torque in a rotating environment; however, some customization of the components is required in order to overcome the limitations posed by COTS sensing solutions.
Highlights
Nondestructive testing techniques are widely used for the early detection of potential failure of a material, component or system
The system that was used in this work is based on a 433 MHz kit fabricated by the French company SENSeOR; the kit includes a temperature sensor, two strain gages and the corresponding interrogation unit
The possibility of using Surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors to measure temperature and torque in the shaft of a power gearbox was evaluated with a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solution fabricated by SENSeOR
Summary
Nondestructive testing techniques are widely used for the early detection of potential failure of a material, component or system. These techniques do not alter nor damage the article under inspection and, as such, provide a valuable tool to increase the safety while minimizing the associated costs. These inspections are usually prescheduled and do not give information about the real behavior of the components during operation. The new trends and the so-called Industry 4.0 is based on SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems, which are an integral part of industrial process
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