VibraSens, manufacturer of industrial  vibration monitoring instrumentation, announces accelerometers with an M12 connector designed for predictive maintenance vibration monitoring.

Model 101.51: Top exit sensor with M12 connector. Datasheet 
Model 103.02: Side exit sensor with M12 connector. Datasheet
Item Code used for M12 will be Model Number- Frequency Code- Connector type
Example: 101.51-XX-2 for M12 connectors.

About VibraSens
With a wide range of products from industrial piezoelectric accelerometers, vibration sensors, vibration transmitters, signal conditioners to junction boxes, low noise cable assemblies, connectors, accessories and calibration equipment,  VibraSens , an European company, is one of the best designer and manufacturer of Vibration instrumentation with a glorious track record of over a decade especially in harsh and high temperature environment (500°C, 700°C or even more). Our competitive edge lies in the product innovation, competitive price and superior quality. 

A modern production facility exclusively engaged in the design and manufacture of piezoelectric vibration transducers, piezoelectric pressure sensor and vibration instrumentations help us to maintain a high quality level in our core business. Our manufacturing and test equipment ranges from basic precision machinery for providing high quality sensor components, to custom-built machinery specifically designed for piezoelectric vibration sensor fabrication. During the years of development we have also built some specifically design systems to test our range of piezoelectric accelerometer. We have developed using ®Labview (National Instrument Trademark) a completely automated shaker test system to check the sensitivity and frequency response (up to 10 kHz) of our piezoelectric vibration sensors. Our controlled process includes laser and microplasma welding, helium leak tester, resistance welding, temperature cycling, high temperature brazing. All those processes and others are strictly controlled by our process specification document. We closely work with one of the best European company specialized in the manufacturing of hybrid circuit for the sensor industry. With this partnership, we are sure to stay ahead of this technology for the years to come. 

Customer satisfaction is VibraSens’s prime objective. Service and dedication towards customers, has earned the company its distinguished clientele & distributors from various industries such as Power generation (Gas turbine, Steam turbine, Wind turbine, Hydro generator), Petrochemical & Pipeline industry, Metals & Mining, Pulp and paper, Waste water treatment, etc. VibraSens has products to cater all the industrial needs of their clients. 
For more details please visit: http://vibrasens.com/ 

Reliable level measurement can improve screen-house productivity and reduce downtime.

Reliable level control is essential in the harsh environment of the quarry screen-house, where freshly-mined and crushed stone is sorted by size. However there are many challenges that this vital monitoring equipment will have to withstand, both in terms of the environment of the screen-house and the characteristics of the product being monitored. In this white paper level measurement experts Hycontrol examine the issues surrounding level monitoring in screen-houses and outline the optimum measurement solutions for this challenging environment.

Screen-houses are a standard fixture in the quarry industry. Designs and sizes of screen-houses will vary from site to site, but they all fulfil the same basic function. Usually, belt conveyors are used to drop in processed, crushed stone from the quarry site at the top of the screen-house. The rock is then passed over a series of different-sized vibrating grilles which initially allows the smallest pieces of dust and stone to fall through into a bin below.

As the remaining unsorted rocks descend a ‘staircase’ of slightly angled, vibrating screens, progressively larger pieces of rock up to a size of 60mm are allowed to pass through into the appropriate bins. After screening, the sorted stone can be released from one of the discharge points at the bottom or the side of the bin for use in a wide range of potential applications including aggregate, the production of concrete, roadstone and general construction.

  

The challenges of screen-house level monitoring
Screen-houses are large, difficult, noisy environments full of potential hazards for workers, including high levels of dust, limited visibility and large oscillating plant. As such, appropriate goggles, filter masks and ear defenders must be worn at all times by staff working in the buildings. Clearly this abrasive environment will have a detrimental effect on any equipment that is used, including the vital level measurement instrumentation used to monitor the sorted stone in the bins. Reliable level control is essential not only for inventory purposes when the stone is removed, but more importantly for preventing overfilling of the bins. Product overflow will inevitably lead to equipment damage, plant down-time and a costly clean-up, not to mention the potential for Health & Safety issues. The worst-case scenario is if excess product lifts the screens off their vibrating mountings. Bearing in mind that they can be mounted up to 30 metres above ground level, this is nothing short of a catastrophic event. It will likely cause extensive damage to the screen-house, creating a hazardous working environment and leading to significant down-time whilst the very difficult and potentially dangerous task of repairing the screens is carried out. The cost of such an event is horrendous with lost production and repair charges.

The nature of the screen-house environment also restricts the level measurement options available.

Strain-gauge load-cell and force-based systems, which work by fitting special strain sensors to key parts of the load-bearing structure of a vessel, are highly sensitive devices unable to cope with the constant vibration of the screen-house structure.

Contact-based level measurement technologies such as TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry, sometimes erroneously called ‘radar on a rope’) and out-dated plumb-bob meters are both unsuitable for the screen house environment. Whilst both technologies have many other successful applications in the quarry environment, in the screen-house they are far too likely to be damaged by the falling stone and so would be limited to use on the dust bins only.

Therefore we are left with a choice of two technologies that are suitable for screen-house level measurement, namely ultrasonics and radar.

Ultrasonics
Ultrasonic technology provides a highly cost-effective, easy-to-install, non-contact solution for a wide range of solids level measurement applications. The transducer, mounted at the top of the vessel, emits sound waves that are reflected back from the surface of the material. The instrument measures the time-of-flight of these waves in order to calculate distance, from which is discerned the level of product in the vessel.

Frequencies as low as 5 kHz are used on long range solids materials and higher frequencies at 40 kHz or above are used on shorter ranges. The latest low frequency ultrasonics can be used for ranges of up to 60 metres, although a number of environmental and operational factors within the silo can reduce this range. Traditional ultrasonic devices struggled with the effects of false echoes and temperature changes. However, the latest corrective software can compensate for a number of adverse operational factors relating to weak and false echoes caused by dust, internal silo structures (for example ladders or cross braces) and temperature changes affecting time-of-flight.

It should be noted that when using ultrasonics, consideration has to be given to the so-called dead band, a range directly below the transducer face where measurement is not possible. This area can vary from 300mm to 1500mm depending on the frequency being transmitted. However this usually only presents a problem for applications with shorter measurement ranges, rarely affecting screen-house applications.

Radar
FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) Radar level measurement systems use high frequency microwave signals (24-26 GHz) that are unaffected by dust, pressure, temperature, viscosity, vacuum or foam. The measured level is proportional to the difference in frequency between the transmitted microwaves and those reflected back from the product surface.
This technology is suitable for measurement ranges up to 80 metres and provides high levels of accuracy for certain applications. However the effectiveness of radar technology is dependent on the dielectric constant of the material in the vessel. Radar usually works better on products with a dielectric constant of greater than 2.0 and in the instance of rock in a screen-house this is not generally an issue. Radar equipment is more expensive than ultrasonics which may be a deciding factor for certain applications.

Effects of Filling and Emptying
It is important to understand the way in which vessels are filled and emptied when installing level measurement systems in order to optimise performance. This is especially important given the unusual shape and properties of a screen-house. In a normal silo with a width of less than 3 metres, with centrally-located single fill and draw-off points, the way in which material behaves is usually repeatable. A single level sensor, located away from the fill point, will usually provide reliable and consistent results (See figure 1). Please note that, depending on the size of the vessel and properties of the material, it may be necessary to locate the sensor an equal distance between the centre and outer edge of the vessel.

Complications can occur with vessels that have multiple fill and draw-off points, as in the case of quarry screen-houses (See figure 2 below). Typically bins have three discharge points and this will result in unpredictable product level behaviour. This means that a single sensor located on one side or the other of the vessel will not provide an accurate gauge of the contents – for example product may come to rest largely on one side of the bin, and a sensor located on the opposite side may erroneously show the tank to be empty or near-empty. Using the vessel shown in example 1, this would be the case for a sensor located at point (B). With the ‘staircase’ of screens that runs down the centre of the building it is not possible to centrally-locate a sensor in a screen-house - the falling product would soon erode it away. Whilst covers could be fitted it would be totally impractical to gain access in order to service and conduct maintenance on the sensor.

The most effective solution is to mount two level sensors meters, each an equal distance from each side – in the examples above this would be at points (A) and (B). The readings from each sensor are then used to discern the average product height in the vessel. This is done simply by feeding the information from the two probes to a site PLC or locally-mounted display panel where the readings from (A) and (B) are added together then divided by two, giving an average contents level for the vessel. This also provides the user with separate levels for both sides of the screen, making it easier to decide which point to draw the product from – for instance, in example 2 above the product should be taken from draw-off points (1) and (3) to lower the product height at the sides of the bin.

Maintenance
As we have seen, level equipment in a screen-house is exposed to potentially damaging abrasive material, dust and vibration throughout its working life. Not surprisingly the cleaning and maintenance of level equipment in this unpleasant environment is often neglected.
This is a fundamental error and one that will ultimately accelerate the failure of the equipment. For process-critical equipment, maintenance is essential to ensure ongoing functionality and should be regularly scheduled. This should include not only cleaning and visually checking that the equipment has not become damaged, but also a thorough check of the functionality and calibration of the sensors. This will ensure optimum output levels and eliminate the risk of signal drift. The best solution is for this to be carried out by experienced specialist engineers as part of a regularly scheduled maintenance programme.

Conclusion
The need for reliable level control in screen-houses is clear and well-understood by quarry staff. However achieving that reliability in such a harsh environment continues to be a challenge. It is now accepted that the use of a single sensor will not provide sufficient accuracy, but two sensors will give optimum performance. The chosen instrumentation must provide the precision and reliability required to monitor through a dusty atmosphere, whilst having the robustness and durability to cope with damaging environmental conditions. Ultrasonics and radar both meet these different challenges and, when correctly installed, provide reliable level measuring solutions for the screen house. In parallel, regular maintenance is essential for maintaining and prolonging the working life of this equipment. By ensuring all these factors are considered, better screen house performance and a lower overall cost of ownership can be achieved.

Source: http://www.hub-4.com/news/s2/10040/reliable-level-measurement-can-improve-screen-house-productivity-and-reduce-downtime

Vibration sensor market projected to hold automotive industry as the fastest growing segment till 2020 according to market forecasts

According to the report “Vibration Sensor Market Analysis: By Technology (Capacitance, Piezo-resistive, Strain Gauge) By Material (Ceramics, Quartz, Silicon) By Industry (Automotive, Nuclear, Consumer Electronics, Machine & Structural Monitoring, Mining) Forecast - (2015 - 2020)”, published by IndustryARC, the Vibration Sensor Market in automotive industry to reach $881.3 million by 2020

The Vibration Sensor Market has witnessed significant deployment rate in the past few years majorly in automotive and aerospace industry. The vibration sensors in automobiles perform real time monitoring of the automobile mechanical systems in order to prevent breakdown and intimate the drivers beforehand.

The vibration sensor market in automotive industry is projected to attain market worth of $881.3m by 2020 as per the IndustryARC analysis. The recent advancements in the automobile systems such as driver assistance systems, commercial telematics solutions have embraced the sensor technology at an extensive level and have perforated high ends market of the automotive industry. OEMs are constantly making efforts to make these technologies accessible to a larger customer base rather than serving the niche segment.

The awareness among the end users has remarkably increased and is acknowledging the offered technology. Europe and North America are the dominant regions in the vibration sensors market owing to the presence of leading end user industries in nations such as The U.S.A, Canada, Germany, and the U.K.

Maintenance and Safety of the equipment has always been the prime objective of the manufacturing industry. A number of solutions has been developed integrating electronics into the mechanical components to improve the operational efficiency and minimize the complexity of the process.

Vibration sensors help to analyze the frequency and intensity of vibrations in order to take decisions regarding performance, production and quality of the object in various industries. These sensors are extensively used to determine the specific cause and location of machinery problems.

Vibration sensors are capable of measuring and analyzing displacement, linear velocity, and acceleration. These sensors primarily facilitate measurements of vibration displacement, velocity and acceleration.

With the development of computer technology, electronic technology and manufacturing process, a variety of vibration sensors have drawn attention and importance in various industry verticals. With the shift towards intelligent or automatic monitoring of machinery in manufacturing plants, vibration sensors market is estimated to benefit hugely and grow significantly in coming years.

Apart from automotive, vibration sensor has revealed promising applications for equipment maintenance in non-destructive testing, nuclear, oil & gas industry. Nuclear power plants majorly depend upon vibration monitoring systems for ensuring continuous power generation and safety of personnel and equipment.

Nuclear reactor outage costs are very high and thus unexpected downtime may lead to enormous losses to the company. Thus approximately 90% of the operation cost is utilized for the monitoring of machinery health using equipment such as vibration sensors.

In Oil & Gas industry, the vibration sensor market is speculated to register double digit CAGR by 2020. Vibration monitoring systems are highly effective in determining machinery health, planning maintenance intervals, reducing downtime and avoiding catastrophic loss.

Sensors offering hazardous area approvals are widely used on gas and oil well heads, supply lines, natural gas power engines, multi-stage gas compressors and other machinery operating in hazardous environments.

Source: http://industryarc.com/Report/165/Vibration-Sensors-Market-Forecast.html 

Vibration sensor helps analyze sense of touch

Type an email on your computer. Raise a glass to your lips. Feel for the light switch in a dark room. Simple, everyday tasks can demand subtle interactions between our hands and our surroundings, but, surprisingly, much remains unknown about the mechanics of the sense of touch.

"Most people don't have a very clear picture of how touch sensation actually arises," said UC Santa Barbara faculty member Yon Visell, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and in the campus's Media Arts and Technology graduate program. While people are familiar with touch as consisting of the interaction between two surfaces -- the skin and whatever it is in contact with -- they are less aware of the subtle ways that touch sensing helps us to identify and navigate our surroundings, he said.

For instance, if your fingers are numb, you may still be able to move them, but be hesitant to pick up an object or send a text message, because of the lack of sensation -- think of what happens when your foot or arm falls asleep. According to a study co-authored by Visell that appears in the Proceedings in the National Academy of Sciences, our hands in particular have access to rich tactile information that travels far beyond the tips of our fingers. This may help to explain some remarkable capabilities of the sense of touch -- why, for example, people whose fingers have been anesthetized are still able to feel fine surface detail, as has been demonstrated in prior research.

"The way they seem to be able to do this is by using mechanical signals, or vibrations, that travel beyond the fingers, farther up the arm," said Visell. "The hand has specialized sensory end organs distributed widely in it that can capture such mechanical vibrations at a distance."

Their study used a specialized array of tiny accelerometers, or vibration sensors, worn on the sides and backs of the fingers and hands. With this device, the researchers were able, for the first time, to capture, catalog and analyze patterns of vibration in the skin of the whole hand that were produced during active touch. Actions such as tapping and sliding one or several fingers over different types of material, as well grasping, gripping and indirect tapping (using an object to tap on a surface) all gave rise to distinctive vibration signatures. "We can liken this to the different ways that a bell will sound if it is struck by a metal hammer or a rubber mallet," said Visell.

"How do those signals reflect what it is that we're doing and what it is we're touching? Do parts of the hand nearer to the wrist receive significant information about the shape of the object that we're touching, what it's composed of, or how we're touching it? How are different parts of the hand involved in touch sensing?" Visell said of the fundamental questions that motivated his group to pursue this research. "It is possible that the hand, like the ear, is able to use vibrations produced through contact in order to infer what is being touched, and how the hand is touching it."

According to the study, the vibrations generated through touch, and the distribution of vibrations in the hand, depend very closely on the type of action and the object being manipulated. For instance, vibration patterns produced by tapping a single finger were stronger than those made by grasping, gripping or sliding, but were much more localized in the finger. The patterns of vibration throughout the skin of the hand also varied according to the number of fingers used, the object being manipulated and the action being performed. Tapping the index and middle finger alone was sufficient to elicit vibrations that covered most of the surface of the hand. Even the size of the object being grasped - for example, whether a glass was small or large -- influenced the vibrations that were felt by the hand.

The applications for the information gained in this study are many. They may contribute not only to the foundations of our understanding of touch, but also contribute to fields such as virtual reality by enabling wearable technologies that allow the user to feel if he or she is picking up a feather or a brick while visiting a virtual world. This work may also enable robots to touch and interact more effectively within changing and uncertain environments, and allow future generations of prosthetic hands to provide their wearers with more natural touch feedback, enabling a greater range of functionality to be restored.

Source: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20160329/Vibration-sensor-helps-analyze-sense-of-touch.aspx 

PIEZOELECTRIC SMART MATERIALS GLOBAL MARKET2016-2020

A new report has been added by wiseguyreports in its research database. This market research study segments the global piezoelectric smart materials market by type (ceramics, polymers, and composites), by application (motors, transducers, sensors, and building materials), and by end-users (transportation, healthcare, leisure and sports, construction and infrastructure, and agriculture and food). This report also segments the industry by geography (the Americas, APAC, and EMEA). The key vendors identified in the market are AAC Technologies, Advanced Cerametrics, Arkema, KYOCERA, and Solvay.

Outlook of the piezoelectric smart materials market

Smart materials are special building materials whose properties change when subjected to external stimuli such as stress, temperature, moisture, pH, or magnetic field.  Piezoelectric materials are a class of smart materials that produce a voltage when mechanical stress is applied. These materials are widely used in sensors and help in measuring fluid density, the force of impact, and fluid composition. Technavio’s market research analysts have estimated the global piezoelectric smart materials market to grow at an impressive CAGR of close to 13% over the forecast period. The increasing demand for piezoelectric smart materials from the military and aerospace sector is expected to drive the market for piezoelectric smart materials globally. These materials help in controlling the airflow across the wings of an aircraft and maintaining it during take-off and landing. Furthermore, these materials are also used to solve common problems with the aircraft, such as engine vibration, high cabin noise levels, ice formation on wings, flow separation due to turbulence, and control surfaces in cold climatic conditions. Also, piezoelectric materials find extensive applications in military and defense sector like smart sensors, smart nanorobotics, smart combat suits, and smart skins. Therefore, the numerous applications of piezoelectric smart materials in military and aerospace industry will spur the growth of this market until the end of 2020.

In this market research study, analysts have estimated factors like the increasing applications of piezoelectric materials in nanotechnology to impel the prospects for market growth until the end of the forecast period. For example, piezoelectric smart materials are used in the manufacture of smart nanofibers that are used in light-emitting transistors and advanced organic solar cells. The recent advancements in the nanotechnology sector will, in turn, bolster this market’s growth potential during the forecast period.

Segmentation by application and analysis of the piezoelectric smart materials market

• Motors
• Transducers
• Sensors
• Building materials

During 2015, the automobile motors industry dominated the piezoelectric smart materials market with a market share of more than 60%. Factors such as rapid growth in the automobile industry will translate into the demand for piezoelectric materials during the forecast period.

Geographical segmentation of the piezoelectric smart materials market

• Americas
• APAC
• EMEA

In this market study report, the analysts have estimated the Americas to be the largest market for piezoelectric smart materials during the forecast period. The increasing demand for MEMS sensors, used in airbags and anti-lock braking systems, will translate into the demand for piezoelectric smart materials in the Americas. The market for piezoelectric smart materials will account for a market share of more than 47% until the end of 2020.

Complete report in detailed: https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/global-piezoelectric-smart-materials-market2016-2020

Global Vibration Sensor Market is Expected to Exceed USD 33 Billion by 2020

Technavio analysts forecast the global vibration sensor market to post a CAGR of over 6% during the forecast period. In order to calculate the market size, Technavio considers revenue generated from the sales of vibration sensors in the following application segments: aerospace, automotive, industrial machinery, healthcare, and consumer electronics.

The four major factors responsible for the growth of global vibration sensor market are as follows:

1. Stringent road safety regulations
2. Rising need for machine monitoring
3. High demand for effective maintenance
4. Slow replacement cycle of old machines

Read full article: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160201005500/en/Technavio-Expects-Global-Vibration-Sensor-Market-Exceed 

US Air Force to use vibration sensors to detect vehicles in anti-access and denied areas.

Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, announced an

upcoming program this week for Vibrometry Interrogation for Battlefield Exploitation
(VIBE). The objective of VIBE is to develop combat identification (CID) automatic
target recognition (ATR) for vibrometry sensor data for use within anti-access/area
denial (A2/AD) environments.

Vibrometry sensors utilize the principal of micro-Doppler measurements between the
sensor and target caused by surface deflections. These deflections are due to vibrations mainly caused by mechanical systems (motors) or transformer hum (magnetostriction) during operation of military and civilian vehicles and equipment. These measurements enhance air-to-ground (A/G) and air-to-air (A/A) remote identification of targets. The
addition of vibration measurement to the sensor suite provides an additional non-imagery based identification modality at ranges where traditional electro-optical imaging is resolution limited. The vibrometry modality also provides unique capabilities in settings where a vibration signature is available such as facility interrogation, power plant assessment, obscured targets, and Battle Damage Assessment (BDA).

One of the VIBE program's key challenges will be to extracting features from vibrometry
signatures that remain consistent, and filter out irrelevant noise. For this project
Air Force researchers are not interested in any proprietary hardware, software, or
data solutions. Instead, the program will focus on basic algorithm development.
Program funding will be about $15 million from 2016 to 2022, researchers say.

For more information please follow the link: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=2cd88d2c41b98042ff665877a11dfc96&tab=core&_cview=0