Eddy current turbocharger blade speed detection

A commercially available magnetic reluctance sensor is used to determine the angular velocity of turbocharger impeller blades from outside the aluminum housing. Eddy currents are induced in the aluminum blades by blade motion through the magnetic field projected by an externally mounted Samarium-Cobalt permanent magnet. Experiments show that secondary eddy currents and associated ac magnetic fields generated in the aluminum housing provide the prime excitation for a sensor coil located outside the housing. The coil output voltage spectrum shows a strongly peaked structure with peak locations at multiples of the blade passage frequency in the range 1-10 kHz. The sensor output signal decreases with increasing frequency above 2 kHz because of increasingly effective attenuation by the housing. Test results show that a circuit designed to track the blade signal gives an analog voltage output proportional to the frequency of blade passage over the operating range of the Cummins VT-903 and Detroit 8V-71T turbocharged diesel engines. Suggestions are made for the design of a sensor appropriate for both magnetic reluctance and eddy current sensing applications.