A.Cellatoglu and K.Balasubramanian, European University of Lefke, Turkey

This paper reports the development of a differential pressure sensor with a geometrical structure accommodating dual diaphragms fixed with cantilever operated mechatronic pickup. Thin metallic spherical diaphragms of shallow shell configuration are employed to yield larger drift resulting in increased sensitivity. The cantilevers are excited electromechanically as to produce vibrations and the frequencies of vibrations are determined by picking up signals with orthogonally arranged opto-couplers linked to the cantilever strips. With each frequency determined a lookup table is referred to obtain the pressure acting on each diaphragm. Then, the average pressure acting on two diaphragms and the differential pressure are computed. They are transmitted digitally and also as analogue currents. With improved performance this pressure sensor would be very much useful for measurement of relatively heavy pneumatic pressure.

Cantilever based mechatronics, differential pressure sensor, diaphragm actuation, pressure transmitter