Design and Simulation of a Differential Resonant Pressure Sensor

Abstract

Pressure is one of the critical physical attributes that need to be continuously monitored, accurately measured, and recorded in most of manufacturing industries. This paper proposed a novel depiction of a differential resonant-based pressure sensor with a circular diaphragm and boss structure for gauging pressure in the range of 0–10 bar. The applied pressure is converted into a differential frequency signal at the two beams having one edge rigidly fixed and the other one, connected to a central structure which is coupled to the boss structure of the diaphragm. Both the analytical and numerical modeling were performed on the sensor design. Optimum sensor dimensions were scaled during numerical simulation in such a way that the diaphragm bestows maximum deflection when pressure is applied to it. The differential arrangement of the beams also helps in maintaining their stability for any ambient temperature divergence. Analytical model results performed using MATLAB were also found to be in accordance with the numerical simulation done on COMSOL Multiphysics. Stainless steel was used as the material for the simulations and was also intended to be the material for the fabrication of the sensor. Using stainless steel as the fabricating material and the sensor’s self-packaging design gives it the ability to perform well even at high temperatures and also provides protection from general corrosive environments