Non-contact Eddy Current Sensor Research Articles

Research and application of deformation measurement method of hydraulic turbine head cover

Aiming at the deformation of hydraulic turbine head cover during operation, a non-contact eddy current sensor is proposed. In this method, the turbine pit wall is taken as the static reference point, a fixed support is erected on it, and the eddy current probe is fixed at the other end of the support. Measure the gap change between the eddy current sensor probe and the head cover to calculate the absolute deformation of the head cover. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by taking the lifting amount test of hydraulic turbine head cover in a power plant as an example. The results show that this method has the characteristics of simple test equipment, strong adaptability and high accuracy, and can be applied to the field test of hydraulic turbine head cover deformation.

Modal Parameter Extraction of a Huge Four Stage Centrifugal Compressor Using Operational Modal Analysis Method

Abstract In recent years, modal analysis has become one of the essential methods for modification and optimization of dynamic characteristics of engineering structures. This is the first published study to identify modal parameters of a complex four-stage centrifugal compressor using Operational Modal Analysis (OMA). Vibrational response was measured continuously with sampling frequency of 44100(Hz) by four noncontact eddy current sensors. Applied loads in actual working condition during compressor’s operation were considered as excitation forces. In this study, modal parameters were extracted and compared using various OMA methods, including Frequency Domain Decomposition (FDD), Enhanced Frequency Domain Decomposition (EFDD) and Stochastic Subspace Identification (SSI). PULSETM commercial software as well as an in-house MATLAB code employed to data analysis. The results show that SSI method has a higher accuracy compared to FDD and EFDD methods. However, FDD shows better results when system damping is low in one of the modes.

Analysis of Spindle Rotary Precision Based on Two-Point Methods

Two-point method designed of the test system for application, the precision of the motorized spindle rotation was dynamic measurements. The system consists of standard bars, high-precision non-contact eddy current sensor. Analyzed by a mathematical model to establish error separation, measurement of two spindle rotation accuracy. The use of two isolated error method for processing the experimental data obtained spindle rotation accuracy at different speeds. Studies have shown that when the spindle speed of 10,000 rpm rotational error is small and tends to be more stable. Identify the factors that affect the accuracy of spindle rotation and summarized. Spindle rotation accuracy on-line monitoring and speed control provides an important theoretical, experimental basis.

Research on Output Characteristics of Piezoelectric Accelerometers for Low-Frequency Vibration

Piezoelectric accelerometers are widely used for the measurement of middle- or high-frequency vibration. It is necessary to verify via experiments whether piezoelectric accelerometers can accurately measure low-frequency vibration. An experiment is designed to test the output characteristics of piezoelectric accelerometers for vibration of 1~5 Hz frequency, using a standard vibrator at low frequency (≤5Hz) and an accurately calibrated non-contact eddy current sensor as datum sensor. The experiment shows that the output characteristics of piezoelectric accelerometers are relatively stable when measuring vibration of 4~5Hz frequency. However, the output characteristics of accelerometers change with the frequencies and accelerations of vibration when the vibration frequencies are 1~3 Hz. It will affect the accuracy of vibration measurement.

Autogenous Shrinkage in Plain Cement Mixtures

Determination of a realistic model for the estimation of autogenous shrinkage in plain cement mixtures has been an ongoing research among researchers in high performance concrete. While no standard test method exists for the determination of autogenous shrinkage, various researchers have designed different test methods for measurement of autogenous shrinkage. Current study involved the experimental determination of autogenous shrinkage using the test method developed by O.M.Jensen and co-workers, complimented with non-contact eddy current sensors. Measurements were conducted from as early as 1.5 hours from the time of casting. The samples were placed in a constant temperature chamber and the temperature of the sample was also monitored using a thermocouple. The study was carried out on plain cement mixtures at three water cement ratios of 0.25, 0.32 and 0.38. Measurements were also conducted on simple sealed prismatic samples but these measurements could only be collected after 24 hours of casting. The work is supplemented with CEMHYD3D simulations of the samples at similar water-cement ratios under sealed conditions so as to understand the development of the microstructure of the cement responsible for autogenous shrinkage. While experimental determination of internal relative humidity is quite difficult, data regarding chemical shrinkage, amount of water left and the development of the discontinuous capillary network from the simulations help to understand the determined experimental values of autogenous shrinkage. A detailed explanation on the causes of autogenous shrinkage and the basic mechanism responsible for it has been presented.

Realization of a tunable crystal lens as an instrument to focus gamma rays

The Argonne/Toulouse collaboration is developing a crystal lens diffraction telescope for use as an astrophysical detector in the energy range of 200–1.3 MeV. The lens consists of eight rings of diffraction crystals that all focus a narrow band of energies on a common HPGe detector. The inclination angle of these crystals controls the energy band being focused and will need to be adjusted over a range of 0.5–1.5° with arcsecond precision to cover this energy band. At Argonne National Laboratory, a new lens frame was constructed, and the inner ring was equipped with 16 Ge crystals of 1 cm 3 size. The orientation of each crystal was adjusted using a piezo-based picomotor in combination with a noncontact eddy-current sensor. The sensors have 0.1–0.2 arcsecond resolution; the motors have a step size of 0.05–0.2 arcseconds. By changing the crystal inclination and the distance of the detector from the lens, we were able to focus the 662 keV radiation from a 137Cs source at 24.75 m, as well as line energies at 276, 303, 356, and 383 keV from a 133Ba source at 24.45 m. The sensor and system stability were demonstrated by alternately focusing different line energies. We were able to simulate scans in energy of a spaceborne instrument, as well as the enlargening of the energy response by a slight detuning of the lens crystals.