Orbit Newsletter

Digital Publication
Q2 2021

Accelerometers: How do they work?

Part 1 in a 3-part Series
Chris McMillen, Senior Product Manager – Sensors

Types of accelerometers
There are numerous types of lab and industrial accelerometers, including purely mechanical devices (such as mechanical
vibration switches), fiber optic, strain gage, piezoelectric, piezoresistive, capacitive, MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems),
and others. MEMS designs, in particular, are increasing in popularity where high accuracy is not required. However, piezoelectric
designs are by far the most prevalent in machinery monitoring applications and will thus be the focus in part 1 of this 3-part
series. Part 2 will run in the September issue of Orbit and will examine selection criteria for seismic sensors (accelerometers and
velocity sensors). We’ll wrap up the series with part 3 in the December issue of Orbit with an examination of MEMS technology and
where it fits in the spectrum of condition monitoring solutions for less-critical assets.

Principle of operation: the simple version

A piezoelectric1 accelerometer is a profoundly simple device at its fundamental level: when you stress2 the material inside by
applying force, a change in electrical charge is produced, and this change is proportional to the amount of force.

A material exhibiting the piezoelectric effect will experience a change in electrical charge when stress (force) is applied,
whether compression, tension, or shear.

1
 he piezoelectric effect was discovered in 1880 by Pierre and Jacques Curie. Initially called “pyroelectricity”, the name “piezoelectricity” was
T
proposed by W.G. Hankel based on the Greek word πιεζειν [piezein] which means to squeeze or press.
2
This stress can be in the form of compression, tension, or shear (twist) forces.
From high school physics and Newton’s Second Law of motion, we know that acceleration and force are related to one another by
the familiar equation F = m ∙ a where

F = Force (in Newtons)

m = mass (in kilograms)

a = acceleration (in m/sec2)

It is precisely because of this relationship between force and acceleration that we can take what is fundamentally a force-
detecting sensor and use it to measure acceleration; they are directly proportional to one another in systems where the mass is
unchanging.

Analogous comments can be made regarding piezoresistive and capacitive accelerometers; instead of a proportional change in
electrical charge based on force, they experience a proportional change in electrical resistance or capacitance, respectively.

What are they made of?

The material inside a piezoelectric accelerometer varies from crystals (natural and synthetic), to ceramics, to polymers, but have
one thing in common: they all exhibit the piezoelectric effect. In other words, they respond to force (stress) with a proportional
change in electric charge.

In general, crystals (quartz is the most commonly used) exhibit

a smaller piezoelectric effect than ceramics. However, the
piezoelectric properties of ceramics can degrade over time
while those of crystals are more stable. In contrast, ceramics
such as PZT3 exhibit stronger piezoelectric properties, requiring
less amplification and resulting in superior signal-to-noise
ratios (SNR). PZT can also be artificially aged to help reduce the
degradation that occurs with natural aging. The industry has
thus largely moved toward ceramics, allowing smaller signal
levels to be accurately measured and lower noise floors to be
achieved.

In addition to the move toward ceramic materials rather

than crystals, the industry has also moved toward shear-
mode designs rather than compression-mode designs.
Early accelerometers used compression-mode designs
largely because they were easier to manufacture. However,
as manufacturing technology has progressed, shear-mode
designs have moved to the forefront because they have
numerous advantages:

• They produce a stronger electrical output for a given force

(better SNR)

• They are less sensitive to thermal transients and mechanical

preloads such as base strain

• L ess prone to so-called “ski slope” effect

3
Lead Zirconate Titinate
 How are they constructed?
Compression-mode designs, as mentioned previously, are the
simplest to manufacture. So-called “single ended” designs are
the most susceptible to base strain because the piezoelectric
element (PE) is connected directly to the base of the accelerometer
housing. Consequently, any distortion in the mounting surface
transfers directly to the PE and manifests as false vibration. Surface
preparation is extremely important as a result.

Isolated compression-mode designs compensate for this by

using various means of isolation including special washers and by
reducing the amount of surface area between the PE and the base.

Shear-mode designs have increased in popularity as noted

previously because they offer advantages relevant to machinery
vibration measurements – particularly rolling element bearing
monitoring where the ability to resolve small signal amplitudes
is important.

Charge mode designs

As noted earlier, the fundamental operating principle of a
piezoelectric accelerometer is a change in electric charge in
response to acceleration (force). Thus, the native output is a
proportional charge (such as 50pC/g) – not a proportional
voltage (such as 100mV/g). Before the accelerometer can be
used as an input to a monitoring system, the charge must be
converted to a voltage. This can be done either through the use
of an external device (usually called a charge amplifier4) or via
integral electronics inside the accelerometer housing. A natural
question that arises is why one would ever use an external charge
amplifier when the charge conversion can be accomplished internal
to the accelerometer itself. The reason is temperature. While the
electronics in a charge amplifier can be made relatively insensitive
to changes in temperature up to about 300°F (~150°C), beyond that
the output is influenced too heavily by temperature, nor can the
electronics used in charge conversion survive such temperatures.
To avoid these problems, when accelerometers will be mounted
on machines with very high surface temperatures – such as gas
turbines – it is customary to separate the accelerometer itself
from the charge amplifier. This allows the charge amplifier to be
located in an environment that is at a lower temperature (usually
below 300°F) while the sensing element itself can tolerate much
higher temperatures. For example, the Bently Nevada 330900 High-
Temperature Velocity and Acceleration Sensor (HTVAS) allows the
sensing element to be mounted on surfaces up to 900°F (482°C)
while the separate charge amplifier is limited to 257°F (125°C). The
sensing element and the charge amplifier is linked by mineral
insulated, hardline cable that is also rated to 900°F (482°C). As
another example, the Bently Nevada 350501 charge amplifier can
sustain temperatures of only up to 158°F, but the sensing elements
to which it connects (such as Bently Nevada part number 45357-01)
can sustain temperatures of up to 750°F (398°C).

4
 ther signal conditioning electronics will also be included in this device other than just charge conversion. For example, filtering and integration
O
may accompany the charge conversion. For this reason, the charge amplifier may be sometimes called a signal conditioner or just “electronics”.
Integral designs
SIGNAL
With exception of high-temperature applications as noted CONDITIONER
in the previous section, it is far more common to encounter
accelerometers for industrial vibration monitoring that have
the charge amplifier integrated with the sensing element.
Examples include the Bently Nevada 330400, 330525, 330500,
330525, 200350, 200355, 330700, AM3100T2-Z2, and numerous
others. These devices give a native output sensitivity in volts SENSING
such as 100mV/mil or 100mV/in/sec for self-integrating ELEMENT
accelerometers with a velocity output.
Early Bently Nevada accelerometers dating back to the
1980s such as the 23732 had integral charge conversion,
but used an external interface module that amplified the
raw accelerometer signal from 25mV/g to an industry-
standard 100mV/g while allowing the use of -24Vdc to power
the system so that the same excitation could be used for The Bently Nevada 330750 High Temperature
acceleration systems as for proximity probe systems. As Velocity Sensor (HTVS) is an example of
the years passed, our accelerometer designs improved, the
need for external interface modules disappeared, and we
an accelerometer that uses a separate
introduced the 330400 and 330425 models to be backwards charge amplifier to allow use in very high
compatible with monitors using the older 23732 and similar
temperature applications. The charge
sensors. However, because the older interface modules used
three wires (power, signal, common), our 330400 and 330425 amplifier also integrates the native
accelerometers also used three wires. acceleration output to velocity and is thus
called a signal conditioner. Integral cable
lengths of up to 8m can be used to separate
the sensing element from the signal
conditioner, ensuring the signal conditioner
is well-removed from the temperatures
incurred by the sensing element (often the
surface of an aeroderivative gas turbine).

Early Bently Nevada accelerometer systems such as the 23732

used a separate interface module and had a 3-wire design
(PWR, SIG, COM). Because the accelerometer had a high-
impedance output, special low-noise coaxial cable had to
be used between the sensor and its interface module. The
330400 and 330425 were developed as replacements for these
older systems and do not require external interface modules
or special coaxial cable. They retain a 3-wire design and are
electrically identical to these older systems. This allows the
older 3-wire transducers with separate interface modules to be
upgraded without changing the monitoring system.
IEPE accelerometers
With the introduction of the IEPE (Integral Electronics Piezo-Electric)
standard for accelerometers, 2-wire designs have become ubiquitous
and enjoy numerous advantages:
• Run on standard, readily available +24Vdc instrument power and
use constant-current excitation (usually 3mA)
• Can drive long cable lengths without need of special low-noise
coaxial or other cable
• Can use standard, shielded 2-wire cable rather than 3-wire cable
• Have a low output impedance
• Are readily interchangeable with many instruments and monitors
supporting IEPE-type inputs
Most Bently Nevada monitoring systems including our new Orbit 60
platform support IEPE accelerometers, charge mode accelerometers
using external charge amplifiers, and our own legacy and current
3-wire accelerometer systems for maximum flexibility and choice. IEPE accelerometers are very popular
and supported in numerous Bently
Nevada monitoring platforms.

Future installments
We hope this basic introduction to accelerometers has proven helpful. As we continue this series of articles on accelerometers
with Part 2 in our September issue, we’ll address the question of why accelerometers are not used for every vibration application
even though we can obtain both velocity and displacement readings from acceleration through single- and double-integration.
We’ll also examine the applications where self-integrating accelerometers (so-called “piezo velocity” sensors) should be used
versus older moving-coil velocity sensors and whether a legitimate place for moving-coil devices remains or not (spoiler alert:
yes, it does). We’ll wrap up the series in our December issue with Part 3 by looking into the emergence of MEMS-type designs, their
pros and cons, and the places that they can be successfully applied as part of a modern condition monitoring strategy.

Chris McMillen
Senior Product Manager – Sensors

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