The Pressure Sensor: Creating Solutions for All Types of Industries

A pressure sensor can be used for all types of applications. These types of sensors essentially measure the force required to expand liquids and gas. They also can act as a transducer or switch allowing a predisposed amount of pressure applied to send a signal to other devices in order for further operation to begin or end.

The sensor can monitor and control the function of many different devices. They can also be used in measurement applications, for instance fluid or gas flow, altitude, and force. Because of their dynamic nature, these types of sensors can be used in a variety of industries from tech to manufacturing.

Force collection sensors use a diaphragm, piston, bourdon tube, or bellows to measure strain or force applied. Examples of this type of pressure sensors are optical, piezoelectric, capacitive, and electromagnetic.

Measurements of Strain

Optical types employ the use of a optical fibers or elastic film in order to detect the effect of a predetermined amount of pressure. These are most commonly used when the object being tested is remote or in a high temperature environment.

The Piezoelectric type of sensor uses a quartz material upon a sensing material to measure pressure applied. Most commonly, the piezoelectric type is used to measure highly dynamic pressures.

The Capacitive type sensor couples a diaphragm and a pressure cavity to create a capacitor to detect strain. These are usually comprised of metal, ceramic, and silicon diaphragms.

Electromagnetic sensors measure changes as they are applied to the Hall Effect, LVDT, or the Eddy Principle using a displaced diaphragm.

Common Uses and Applications for the Pressure Sensor

Leak Testing: This type of measurement can be used in many different industry applications. A pressure sensor can measure the amount of leak over time as well as detect where leaks are taking place in a system.

Altitude Testing: Aircraft, rockets, satellites, weather equipment, can all benefit from the measurements calculated from data collected from altitude pressure sensing equipment. Barometric sensing equipment can aid scientists in predicting dangerous weather conditions and is extremely accurate compared to GPS measurement equipment which is only accurate at 20 meters resolution.

Flow Testing: These sensors can measure in conjunction with the venturi effect which can be an extremely useful measurement for high performance vehicle assessment. Bench flow testing for the automotive and motorcycle industry benefit greatly from these types of pressure measurements.

From the manufacturing industry to the life science industry, pressure sensors hold the key to making the most pertinent decisions regarding research and development of a variety of products. The sensor has also revolutionized how we monitor and control thousands of everyday applications.