Pressure Transducer

A pressure transducer is a device which converts an applied pressure into a measurable electrical signal.

A pressure transducer consists of two main parts, an elastic material which will deform when exposed to a pressurized medium and an electrical device which detects the deformation.

The elastic material can be formed into many different shapes and sizes depending on the sensing principle and range of pressures to be measured. The most common method of utilising the elastic material is to form it into a thin flexible membrane called a diaphragm. The electrical device which is combined with the diaphragm to create a pressure transducer can be based on a resistive, capacitive or inductive principle of operation.

The terms sensors, transducers and transmitters often appear to be used interchangeably. To clarify things, a ‘sensor’ can be seen as an umbrella term for devices that perform as a transducer or a transmitter.

In simple terms transducers produce an output voltage that varies with the pressure experienced. The most common distinctions are the following:

●Millivolt-output transducers
●Volt-output transducers

In practice, the excitation voltage for a resistive bridge can be as low as 3V or 5V, or 10V-30V, or higher. Sensitivity is typically only a few millivolts per volt which means the raw output signal has low magnitude.