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PROCEEDINGS

OF THE INSTITUTION OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS

Control & Science


Synthesis of inductive displacement-measuring
system using computer-aided design
A.L. Hugill, B.Sc.

Indexing terms: Computer-aided design, Displacement measurement, Transducers

Abstract
A rigorous method used to model linear variable differential transformers (l.v.d.t.s) is applied to a variable-in-
ductance displacement transducer. This method known as 'field modelling' uses a knowledge of the magnetic flux
distribution within the transducer. This flux distribution is obtained from the solution of Maxwell's equation, with
boundary conditions deriving from the geometry and material properties of the transducer. The field equations are
expressed in terms of the magnetic vector potential and, with the use of axial symmetry, reduced to an elliptic
boundary value problem. This problem is approximated by finite-difference equations and solved, numerically, by
the method of successive overtaxation (s.o.r.). A transducer design is modelled, using this method, and the
model is used in the synthesis of a displacement-measuring system. The sensitivity of the synthesised system is
.compared with experimental results obtained from a system with the same design specifications. The sensitivities of
the two systems agree to within 2%. The design of the system is then altered, to improve sensitivity, and the sensi-
tivities of the synthesised and experimental systems are again compared.

List of principal symbols L.V.D.T.S and v.i.d.t.s have been used extensively in industry since
L = self inductance the 1930s. Despite this long period of acceptance, early attempts to
M mutual inductance model these devices rested heavily on simplifying assumptions and
R = resistance lacked rigour.1
B = magnetic flux density vector Recently, however, Abdullah,2'3 using numerical techniques,
H = magnetic field intensity modelled the magnetic flux distribution in a l.v.d.t. He used this flux
E = electric field intensity distribution to accurately determine the sensitivity and linearity of
/ = current density vector the transducer. This technique, known as 'field modelling', is in-
o conductivity herently more accurate than previous modelling techniques as it
/i = relative permeability invokes no unjustified assumptions. Also, since field modelling uses
4> = magnetic flux the magnetic flux distribution of axially symmetric configurations, it
A - magnetic vector potential can also be applied to v.i.d.t.s which have axial symmetry.
/ = current
h = node spacing
X = flux linkage
N = number of windings on a coil
n = total number of nodes within a coil
(R = residual in the method of s.o.r.
(r, 0,z) = cylindrical co-ordinates transducer with
movable core
6 = unit vector in the 6 direction
V = voltage amplifier meter
Bn = component of B normal to a boundary
Ht = component of H tangential to a boundary Fig. 1
a = acceleration factor in s.o.r. Schematic diagram of system
k = iteration number in s.o.r.
transducer coils
1 Introduction
Displacement transducers which operate through the dis-
placement of a mechanical element changing the magnetic flux linkage
of a coil, or system or coils, can be divided into two classes. One class
consists of transducers which rely on the displacement of a mechanical
Fig. 2
element changing the linkage between primary and secondary trans-
former coils. Transducers belonging to this class are commonly called Longitudinal section of gauge head
linear variable differential transformers or l.v.d.t.s. The other class
consists of transducers which rely on the displacement of a mechanical
element changing the flux linkage of a coil or, more often, two coils
connected in a 'push-pull' configuration. Transducers in this class are 2 Description of displacement measuring system
called variously, variable inductance, variable reluctance, or variable The system from which design specifications and experi-
permeance transducers. In this paper members of the second class are mental data are obtained consists of a TESA electronic linear measur-
referred to as variable inductance displacement transducers (vi.d.t.s). ing instrument, series GNM and a TESA model GT10 gauge head. This
system is shown schematically in Fig. 1.
Paper 8100C, first received 21st November 1977 and in revised form 7th The secondary winding of the transformer is centre-tapped to form
February 1978
Mr. Hugill is with the Department of Systems Science, The City University,
the reference arms of the a.c. bridge circuit. The variable arms of the
St. John Street, London EC1 V 4PB, England bridge are the transducer coils in the gauge head (Fig. 2).

PROC IEE, Vol. 125, No. 5, MA Y1978 All


If the core is in the central position the bridge is inductively If the current in either of the coils is sinusoidal and of the form
balanced and the only voltage across the input of the amplifier will be
a quadrature component coming from any resistive imbalance in the I = lex? (jut) (12)
bridge. A movement of the core from the central position changes then the current density will also be sinusoidal,
the inductances of the variable arms of the bridge in a push-pull
fashion. This results in the bridge being inductively unbalanced, and / = Jeexp(jut)B (13)
gives rise to an inphase component of voltage across the input of the
amplifier. After amplification, the phase-sensitive detector (p.s.d.) where 8 is the unit vector in the 9 direction.
rectifies the inphase component of the signal and eliminates the Assuming hysteresis and saturation effects are negligible (i.e. /i is
quadrature component. The polarity and magnitude of the resulting uniform and constant in any region), the magnetic flux variations will
d.c. signal depend, respectively, on the.-direction and magnitude of the be in phase with current variations and
core displacement. < = 4>exp (jut) (14)

Field modelling therefore eqn. 11 becomes

3.1 Field equations (15)


br2 br
Field modelling consists of modelling the magnetic flux
resulting from energising currents in the transducer coils, within the As the permeability of the ferrite core and magnetic shielding is high
boundaries of the magnetic shielding which encloses the coils and the boundary condition on these surfaces is
moving element. Information, such as inductance, is obtained from
the flux distribution and used to determine the performance of the 3*
= 0 (16)
transducer. The magnetic flux distribution comes from the numerical dn
solution of Maxwell's equations with the boundary conditions and
current densities derived from the geometry and material properties where n is an inwardly directed vector normal to the high-permeability
of the particular transducer under consideration. The practical appli- surface. The boundary condition along the z axis is
cation of this method is restricted to transducers with axial symmetry 4> = 0 (17)
as this allows the problem to be reduced to two dimensions.
Maxwell's equations, neglecting displacement current, are coming from eqn. 10 with r = 0. The open ends of the transducer are
modelled with a higher-permeability boundary as shown in Fig. 3. The
curl H = J 0) permeability of the copper windings and the nonmagnetic material in
divfl = 0 which the core is mounted is taken to be JU0 .
(2)
-dB 3.2 Solution of field equations and calculation of inductance
curl = (3)
bt Eqn. 15 with the boundary conditions described in Fig. 3
The relationships between B and H, and E and J are constitutes an elliptic boundary-value problem with mixed boundary
conditions. This problem is approximated by finite-difference
B = fjJf (4) equations at regularly spaced points in the (r, z) plane. The regularly
spaced points are obtained by dividing the problem region into squares
J = oE (5) or rectangles with lines parallel to the r and z axes. These lines com-
If ju is assumed to be uniform and constant in any region, then eqn. 1 prise the 'mesh' and the points of intersection of these lines are termed
becomes nodes.
The difference equations used in various regions and on boundaries
curl B = nJ (6) in the model are summarised in Appendix 9. These equations are
This assumption is justified in Section 3.3 solved by the method of successive over-relaxation (s.o.r.).5 To obtain
the self and mutual inductances of the coils for a particular core
artificial magnetic s h i e l d i n g , ^ . Q ,,,,
artificial. - , position, coil 1 is energised with a current IeJwt and the field equations
boundary,z-=o \ transducer coils dn \^ boundary,
jnd 9ri are solved. The total flux linkage Xx of coil 1 is given by
5\_, \ / \ JV
region 2 ] |_J region 3 X, = exp(jut) 2$,- = X, exp(jut) (18)
n
axis,$=0 I 3* region 1
core * = o Where <&-, is the value of $ at a node labelled /, and the summation is
3n carried out over all nodes within coil 1. N is the number of windings
Fig. 3 on coil 1, and n is total number of nodes within coil 1.
Transducer as modelled, with the r, z, and 6 co-ordinate directions The inductive e.m.f. across coil 1 will be
As the transducer is axially symmetric, cylindrical polar coordinates
are defined as shown in Fig. 3. Using this symmetry, eqn. 6 can be
written as a 2-dimensional equation in the (r, z) plane,
" " 7,Xl

dz br
i
Abdullah2 shows that by the use of the magnetic vector potential A dt
the problem can be expressed in terms of the magnetic flux <(>, z)
passing through a circle of radius r and centre (0,z). The vector
potential A is defined by
Ll (19)
curl A = B (8) ~A = h
div/1 = 0 (9) M 12 is calculated from the same flux distribution, using X 2 , the sum
of the flux linkages of coil 2.
With the use of Stokes' theorem it can be shown that
To obtain L2, coil 2 is energised, the field equations are solved and
*(/-, z) = 2irrA0(r, z) (10) a new value of X2 found. The core is moved to all positions in the
range being considered, and Lx, L2 and Mn are calculated at each
Writing eqn. 8 in component form, and using the relationship defined point. The values of the inductances as a function of core displace-
in eqn. 10, eqn. 7 becomes ment are used in the synthesis of the measuring system.
The convergence criteria used involved finding the difference
(11) between the values of X (of the energised coil) for two successive
dz 2 br2 br iterations. The criterion is
The solution of eqn. 11 (with rJi.s. = 0 in regions with ho current),
with appropriate boundary conditions, gives the magnetic flux 3>(r, z) (20)
at all points in the transducer.
418 PROC. IEE, Vol. 125, No. 5, MAY 1978
where Xfe is the value of X for the kth iteration. 0 was chosen to be 6, Assumptions (a) and (b) were experimentally justified for the
which proved to be adequate as a relative change in X of 10"6 rep- transducer under consideration. Approximations (c) and (d) are justi-
resents a change in the output of the system of 0-015% at the central fied as the permeability of the ferrite is of the order of 1000Mo, and
core position and 0-003% at the maximum core displacement. the permeability of copper {1 (0-94 x 10"s)}/u0- The approxi-
The number of iterations required for convergence is critically mations made in assumption (g) altered geometric dimensions by less
dependent on the acceleration factor a. The optimum acceleration than 2%.
factor aopt was found by a trial and error method similar to that des-
cribed by Forsythe and Wasow (Reference 5, pp. 370-371). |Xfe + 1 -
Xfe I was found as a 'function' of the number of iterations k, as shown 4 Synthesis
in Fig. 4. For a ^ a o p , the function is rough and for a < a o p ( it is The system, shown in Fig. 1, was synthesised with values for
smooth. <xopt was found approximately by this method and the choice all fixed parameters obtained from measurements made on the TESA
further refined by varying it about the first approximation and unit. The fixed parameters include the resistances and fixed induct-
observing the convergence time of solutions. ances in the bridge circuit, the magnitude and frequency of the
A square mesh system was used with a spacing of 0-175 mm in voltage source and the characteristics of the amplifier, p.s.d. and
region 1 (Fig. 3) and a 0-350mm spacing in regions 2 and 3. The use meter. The values of L\, L2 and Mi2 as a function of core displace-
of a coarser mesh in regions 2 and 3 reduced the total number of ment were obtained from the field model. The synthesis process is
nodes from 6250 to 4050, which represents a considerable saving in shown schematically in Fig. 5.
solution time and storage. The loss of accuracy in using the coarser The uncertainty in the value of the bridge output, arising from
mesh is not considered to be significant as the flux density in regions uncertainties in the measurement of fixed parameters was approxi-
2 and 3 is relatively small. mately 1%. The uncertainties in the characteristics of the amplifier,
The number of iterations required for convergence was typically p.s.d. and meter were also around 1%. The total uncertainty in the
1000, taking 2000 s of ICL 1904 A computer time. This time would sensitivity of the system as synthesised, arising from all approxi-
be reduced by a factor of at least 10 if the program were run on a mations, other than those made in the field model, is estimated to
high-speed computer. be less than 3%.

nitial core position


defined

Li.l-2.M12 found
with field nodel

Li.L 2 .M,2
substituted into
bridge equation

V6

core moved to
amplif cation
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 new position
number of iterations.k

Fig. 4
Method for finding the optimum acceleration factor in phase component
of signal rectified by
p.s.d.

3.3 Assumptions and approximations made in modelling I


meter read ng for
Two important assumptions made in the modelling are: core displacement
under consideration
(a) no eddy currents are present in the core or the surrounding mag-
netic shielding^
(b) M is uniform and constant within any region of the transducer. Fig. 5
This is equivalent to saying that there are no saturation or non- Synthesis process
linear magnetic effects.
Other assumptions and approximations made are: Results and discussion
(c) the permeability of the ferrite is very much greater than the per- 5.1 Results
meability of air
(d) the permeability of copper and the nonmagnetic material holding The output of the synthesised system is compared with the
the core are the same as air experimental calibration curve in Fig. 6. The values of L\, L2 and Ml2
(e) the current density of a coil is were 8% and 12% higher, respectively, than experimental values.
Despite this the sensitivity of the synthesised system agrees, within
_ NJ the specified uncertainty range, with the experimental sensitivity. The
A' cause of the discrepancy in the values of L\, L2 and M12 is probably
due to assumptions (e), (f) and (g) made in the modelling and also a
where TV = number of turns in the coil discretisation error (Reference 5, pp. 283-329). Abdullah2 shows
that the discretisation error can be reduced using Richardson's extra-
A = area of coil in (r, z) plane polation procedure at the expense of the computer time and pro-
(/) the approximation of X, eqn. 18 gramming effort required to solve the problem for two different mesh
(g) approximations made in fitting geometric boundaries to mesh lines lengths.
(h) neglecting an aperture, used for leads, at one end of the magnetic The number of solution points in the working range is small,
shielding because the mesh spacing (175 /im) is an appreciable fraction of the
(/) approximation of the real gauge head outside the magnetic working range (600jum). A small portion of the output could be
shielding by the artificial high-permeability boundary shown in examined in greater detail by adding extra mesh lines parallel to the r
Fig. 3. axis at both ends of the core. If, for example, a 15/im region were to
PROC. IEE, Vol. 125, No. 5, MAY 1978 419
be examined at points 1 -5/im apart, an additional 500 nodes would be design of axially symmetric v.i.d.t.s and the synthesis of systems using
added. This would increase the number of nodes by 11%, but the these devices. This represents a considerable advance as these trans-
solution time for each point would be decreased as each incremental ducers could not be designed using rigorous procedures before the
core displacement would cause only a small change in field dis- advent of large digital computers. The assumptions made in the field-
tribution. modelling process do not weaken the effectiveness of field modelling
as a design tool.
The major drawback of this technique, the large amount of com-
puter time required, will diminish as computers become more powerful
400 - and readily available.
| +

meter i-eadinc
7 Acknowledgments

200
I would like to thank P.H. Sydenham for guidance through-
" / out this work and assistance in preparation of this paper. I would also
like to thank TESA S.A. (Switzerland) for diagrams used in the
preparation of this paper.
, working range
S core displacement.H m
1 i i i

400 -200 / M 200 m | 400 8 References


/ working range
1 NEUBERT, H.K.P.: 'Instrument transducers' (Oxford University Press,
/ 1975), pp. 163 & 223
r 2 ABDULLAH, F.: 'Field modelling of a linear variable differential trans-
200 - former', Instrument System Centre report, The City University, London,
/ EC1V4PB, 1975
3 ABDULLAH, F. et. al.: 'The application of mathematical models in the
/ - evaluation and design of electromechanical instrument transducers'. J. Appl.
+ Sci.Eng.A, 1977, 2, pp. 3 - 2 6
4 GREENSPAN, D.: 'Lectures on the numerical solution of linear, singular
400 and nonlinear differential equations' (Prentice-Hall, NJ, 1968)
5 FORSYTHE, G.E., and WASOW, W.R. 'Finite difference methods for partial
Fig. 6 differential equation' (John Wiley, NY, 1960)
Comparison of the outputs of the synthesised and experimental 6 ERDELYI, E.A., AHAMED, S.V., and BURTNESS, R.D.: 'Flux distribution
in saturated d.c. machines on no-load', IEEE Trans., 1965, PAS-64, pp. 375,
systems as a function of core displacement 381
experimental curve 7 STOLL, R.L.: 'Numerical method of calculating eddy currents in non-
results of synthesis magnetic conductors',Proc. IEE, 1967 114, (6), pp. 775, 780

5.2 Field modelling as a design tool 9 Appendix


All geometric parameters in the model, such as core length Nodal equations
and diameter, dimensions and positions of the coils and magnetic
shielding and the winding and current densities of the coils, can be Using a five-point difference scheme, the approximation of
easily altered, provided axial symmetry is maintained, and the effect eqn. 11 (in regions with no current) on the general mesh shown in
of any change quickly assessed. Also, since the model provides infor- Fig. 7 is4
mation on the magnetic flux density, transducers can be designed to
operate below the saturation level of the magnetic material used in _L + _ ! . _ (^4-^2)
* i
construction. /ii/j 3 A2^4 r0h2hn + ^3)
One parameter which was altered in the model was the direction of
the current in one of the coils, producing opposing magnetic fields in
the core. This modified system was synthesised, using the values of 2r 0 +/i 2
L\, L2 and Mi2 obtained previously, and the sensitivity calculated. h3(hx+h3)
The sensitivity was 2-5 times higher than the sensitivity of the = 0 (21)
standard system. The experimental system was modified by simply
interchanging the appropriate leads to produce opposing fields in the Where <Pn is the value of <J> at the node n, and r0 is the r co-ordinate
transducer. The sensitivities of the synthesised and experimental of node 0. For a square mesh with hx = h2 h3 = h4 = h, eqn. 21
systems differed by 7%. becomes
A comparison of the maximum flux density for the aiding and
opposing fields was obtained by energising both coils in the field
model with current densities of the appropriate magnitude and - 4* 0 + * , ^- | =0
2 j
direction for the two cases. The maximum flux density in the core
was then calculated using the flux distribution and the geometry of (22)
the core. It was fould that the system with opposing fields had a The difference equations for all nodes in the transducer, using a
maximum flux density in the core which was 70% of the maximum square mesh, can be written in the general form
flux density in the transducer with aiding fields.
In addition to the design of new transducers, field modelling, with ,4 o*o + ^ i * i + A2<S>2 + A3<i>3 + ^ 4 * 4 = ^ s (23)
appropriately graded mesh lines, could be used to analyse the effect
of certain types of perturbation in new and existing designs. The The expressions for Ao . . . As are summarised inTable 1.
types of perturbation which could be examined are those which
change the geometric parameters of the transducer in such a way that
axial symmetry is not lost. An example of this type of perturbation
is thermal expansion of transducer elements.
The effect of core losses and magnetic nonlinearity and saturation
could be included in the model as this theory has been developed for 3 h, 0 h, 1
other applications.6-7 This would not be necessary for most appli-
cations, as a knowledge of B as a function of current, and the mag-
netic properties of possible construction materials enables these two
effects to be designed out of the system by a suitable choice of
current density, frequency and magnetic material.

6 Conclusions
This paper shows by modelling a transducer and testing the Fig. 7
model that field modelling can be used as a powerful tool in the General mesh mode
420 PROC. IEE, Vol. 125, No. 5, MAY 1978
Table 1
SUMMARY OF EXPRESSIONS

EQN Position of node 0 Ao A, A, A3 A4 As

Mo-0
away from
Nl 3 , . boundary 1 1 0
-4 2r0
no current 2r0

2 T ,
Mo. Jfl away from

N2
3 , J.
boundary,
current fa ....,,
permeabUity

2
///\ current:
"(1 ~ 27>x
N3 VVVj J.:r>r0
0 :r<r0

2
" current: + _h_

N4 3
Y :r>r
A9y '
V//
2
adjacent
3 1 to$=0
N5 0 0
boundary,
*"^ no current

2
Mo > 0 on corner
3 1 of current
N6
carrying
region
4

2
Mo high M
1 boundary:
N7
M= : z<z 0
:
M= Mo ^ Z o
2 1
2r 0
0
-I 0

2///
/,.='*> highM
//y\ boundary
N8 M = : r>r 0 1 0 1 2 0
Mo M = Mo : r<r 0
4

/,M=CO/ typical
3 //y\ comer of h
N9 -6 1 2 0
highM 2r 0 2r 0
Mo boundary
4

PROC. IEE, Vol. 125, No. 5, MAY 1978 421

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