Non-contact AC current measurement using vibration analysis of a MEMS piezoelectric cantilever beam.

Abstract

This paper proposes a non-contact system to measure electrical current crossing a wire. To do so, design and simulation of a piezoelectric cantilever beam with a tip mass is presented using mathematical modeling. The sandwich cantilever beam is composed of two piezoelectric layers and a mid-layer made up of steel. For mathematical modeling, the governing differential equation of the beam is extracted and solved by Galerkin method. Then the output voltage is calculated for different values of external forces. The force applied to the tip mass from the magnetic field of wire is used as external excitation force of the beam. According to the response of the output voltage, the current crossing the wire is calculated. Validation of the model is demonstrated compared to other references. In results section, frequency response behavior and influence of the geometric parameters on output voltage are analyzed. Appropriate values of these parameters should be used in design process of this non-contact sensor to have an observable applied force from the current carrying wire.