Simultaneous Two-Axis Vibration Measurement of a Nonmetallic Cylinder by Electromagnetic Induction and Metallic Foil Loops

This work presents a method based on electromagnetic induction for the simultaneous non-contact measurement of two-axis lateral vibrations of a nonmetallic cylinder. The suggested method employs two pairs of hollow metallic loops, four pairs of permanent magnets and two solenoids. When the cylinder vibrates, eddy currents are generated in the metallic loops due to electromagnetic induction. The current in one pair of loop is induced by the lateral vibration in one direction, while the other by the lateral vibration in the perpendicular direction. The induced currents can be sensed through the remotely installed solenoids. While the proposed technique can be useful for the vibration measurement in hot or insulated cylinders, for which a contact type sensor is hardly applicable, the present study is focused on its underlying measurement mechanism and fundamental experiments. To this end, two-axis vibrations and frequency response functions of a thin nonmetallic cylinder were measured simultaneously by the proposed sensor. They were compared with those extracted by using commercial accelerometers to check the working performance of the proposed measurement technique. The effects of some parameters in the proposed technique, such as the length of the loop, were also investigated.