Proposal of New Strain Transducers Based on Piezoelectric Sensors

The high sensitivity of piezoelectric materials to mechanical stress has turned them suitable for use in transducers capable of detecting very slight strains. In this sense, the objective of this paper is the proposal of new configurations of strain transducers based on lead zirconate titanate piezoelectric sensors. Aiming practical applications, for the measurement of dynamic strains in the structures of machines, some transducer prototypes have been developed. For their optimization, the finite-element simulations were performed. The experimental results, obtained with a prototype installed in the bearing house of a rotating machine fault simulator, show the effectiveness of these devices to measure slight dynamic strains. In this way, the measurement of the small dynamic strains in this structure can provide useful information about the machine condition.