Vibe

Paper Ref: S1146_P0507
3rd International Conference on Integrity, Reliability and Failure, Porto/Portugal, 20-24 July 2009
IMPROVEMENT IN MEASURED SIGNALS OF MEMS

ACCELEROMETER
Abdellatef E. Badri, Jyoti K. Sinha
School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering,
University of Manchester, P.O. Box 88, Manchester, M60 1QD, UK
(Abdellatef.E.Badri@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk, Jyoti.Sinha@manchester.ac.uk)
Alhussein Albarbar
Department of Engineering & Technology
Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M1 5GD
(a.albarbar@mmu.ac.uk)
ABSTRACT
The MEMS accelerometer is relatively new technology in vibration measurement. It has been
observed that the measured signals from the MEMS accelerometer deviate when compared with
the conventional accelerometer. Hence a method has been proposed to correct the measured
MEMS accelerometer signals in the frequency domain.
INTRODUCTION
Vibration measurement and analysis is one of the accepted methods in machinery condition
monitoring techniques; it plays a significant role in the dynamic qualification of newly designed
structural components, prediction of faults and structural aging-related problems, and several
other structural dynamics studies and diagnosis (Sinha, 2008). However, multiple data collection
points are generally required in most of the condition monitoring systems which makes the
system costly if conventional accelerometers are used. Hence, there is a need for cheaper and
reliable alternative for the conventional accelerometers. The MEMS accelerometers are one such
options recently receiving attention due to their low cost and small size (Ratcliffe et al., 2008). It
is a new technology for an accelerometer and produced in a similar fashion as an integrated
circuit manufacturing (Pandiyan et al., 2006). However, the use of MEMS accelerometers is still
limited in the field of condition monitoring because of lack of confidence level in their
performance. A few earlier researches gave comparison of the performance between the MEMS
and conventional accelerometers, mainly related to the frequency content in the spectrum of the
measured signals. It has been observed that the frequencies content in the spectrum of the
measured signal from the MEMS accelerometer are same as the spectrum obtained from the
conventional accelerometer; however the significant deviation has been noticed in the amplitude
and phase (Albarbar et al., 2009). This need to be corrected for the reliable vibration based
diagnosis using the MEMS accelerometers. This can be done either in frequency domain or in
time domain. In practice, many vibration based diagnosis for machines and structures have been
utilising the frequency domain data for the system and fault identifications, hence this paper
presents a correction method for MEMS accelerometer response in the frequency domain.
-1-
PROPOSED IMPROVEMENT METHOD

It has been proposed that the characteristic function (CF) curve for a MEMS accelerometer
signals with respect to the reference conventional accelerometer can be generated and then used
for correction purpose (Badri and Sinha, 2008). The CF curve is nothing but the frequency
response function over the measured frequency range of the MEMS accelerometer generated
from the laboratory test using the sweep-sine excitation.
Test Accelerometer
Signal Processing &

Data display
S.C
Reference
Accelerometer
NIDAQ Card
Shaker
Power Amplifier
Signal Generator
Fig. 1 The Test Setup
The test setup as shown in Figure 1 consists of a small shaker (M/s GW make) together with a
shaker power amplifier, signal generator and a PC based data acquisition for data collection and
storage for further signal processing. Two accelerometers (one reference accelerometer and other
test accelerometer) were attached back to back on the armature of to the shaker. The collected
experimental data have then been analysed to compute the Frequency Response Function (FRF)
using the test accelerometer as output and the reference accelerometer as input using the
following equation
S xy ( )
(1)
FRF ( ) = CF ( ) =
S xx ( )
where, Sxy()is the cross spectral density and Sxx() is the Power Spectral Density (PSD) at
frequency (). y(t) is the test accelerometer signal and x(t) is the reference accelerometer signal.
The functions Sxy() and Sxx () have been compute as
n
(2)
S xy = X r ( ).Yr ( )
r =1
S xx ( ) = X r ( ). X r ( )
r =1
(3)
where, Xr() is the Fourier Transformation (FT) of the rth segment of x(t), X r ( ) is its
complex conjugate, Yr() is the FT of the rth segment of y(t), Yr ( ) is its complex conjugate,
and (.) indicates the mean value.
-2-
This FRF will give both the amplitude ratio and phase relation between two signals, which has
been referred as the CF for the Test accelerometer and used for MEMS signals correction.
CORRECTION IN FREQUENCY DOMAIN

Now it is assumed that test accelerometer has been used in the field, the measured data is ym(t).
Let Ym,r() is the FT for rth segment of ym(t), this Ym,r() will have error in both amplitude and
phase. Hence, the corrected FT for rth segment can be calculated as:
Ym,r ( ) =
C
Ym ,r ( )
CF ( )
Be j 2 B j ( 2 1 )
= e
A
Ae j1
(4)
Equation (4) will be repeated for all segments of y m (t ) data, say r=1,2,3,..,n segments.
Finally the corrected PSD of the test accelerometer data can be computed as
C
C
S yy
( ) = YmC,r ( ).Ym ,r ( )
r =1
(5)
TEST EXAMPLE 1
Here the PCB accelerometer has been used as a Reference accelerometer and MEMS
accelerometer as the Test accelerometer. The PCB accelerometer is an ICP type with the
technical specifications Sensitivity 100mV/g, Linear frequency range up to 2 kHz, 50 g level.
The MEMS accelerometer is of technical specifications 250mV/g, Frequency range 1.5 kHz, 2
g level. The experiments were conducted using the chirp-sine excitation up to 1 kHz with linear
chip rate of 2.5 kHz/s.
0.5
Acceleration, g
MEMS 1
-0.5
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
Time, s
10
Acceleration, g
PCB Accelerometer
5
0
-5
-10
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
Time, s
Fig. 2 Measured acceleration responses of the MEMS and Reference Accelerometers
The time domain signals for both Test and Reference accelerometers are shown in Figure 2. The
spectra and the FRF of the measured acceleration responses up to 400Hz are also shown in Figure
3 as the excitation level was within 1 g. The deviation in the amplitude and phase of the MEMS
compared to the Reference Accelerometer has been observed as shown in Figure 3(b). Hence,
FRF shown in Figure 3(b) has been referred as the CF for the Test Accelerometer.
-3-
0.5
(a)
MEMS
PCB
F R F A m p litu d e
1
0.9
0.8
0.6
MEMS /PCB Accelerometer
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
50
100
150
0.5
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
200
250
Frequency, Hz
300
350
400
200
0.4
F R F P h ase, d eg .
A c c e le ra tio n , g
0.7
(b)
0.4
50
100
150
200
250
Frequency, Hz
300
350
400

100
0
-100
-200
50
100
150
200
250
Frequency, Hz
300
350
400
Fig. 3 Acceleration responses in frequency domain for the Test and Reference Accelerometers, (a) Amplitude
Spectra, (b) FRF Amplitude and Phase
CORRECTION APPLIED
Now, the corrections have been applied to the measured signals by the Test Accelerometer when
the chirp-sine excitation and sinusoidal excitation at the number of frequencies were used. The
correction method discussed earlier has been used.
CHIRP-SINE MEASUREMENT
Here the output of the Test accelerometer shown in Figure 3(a) has been chosen for the
correction. The corrected amplitude spectrum for the Test Accelerometer is shown in Figure 4,
and it is also compared with the amplitude spectrum of the Reference Accelerometer. The FRF
between the Test Accelerometer and the Reference Accelerometer after correction has also been
computed which is shown in Figure 5. The amplitude ratio is now 1 with 0 degrees phase at all
frequencies. The small scatter seen in the phase angle at different frequencies in Figure 5 is
almost negligible error. Hence, the example shows the advantages of the proposed method.
*MEMS
- PCB
0.9
0.8
A cceleration, g
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
50
100
150
200
Frequency (Hz)
250
300
350
400
Fig. 4 Comparison Amplitude spectra of the Test accelerometer (after correction, line with star) and the Reference
accelerometer (solid line) for the linear chirp-sine excitation
-4-
2

1.5
1
0.5
0
F R F P h ase, d eg.
0
x 10
50
100
150
200
Frequency, Hz
250
300
350
400
250
300
350
400
-14

1
0
-1
-2
0
50
100
150
200
Frequency, Hz
Fig. 5 FRF plot between the Test accelerometer (after correction) and the Reference accelerometers for the linear
chirp-sine excitation.
THE SINUSOIDAL SIGNALS
The number of test experiments conducted when the shaker was excited sinusoidally at different
frequencies and then responses were measured by both the Test Accelerometer and Reference
Accelerometer. The measured responses by the Test Accelerometer were then corrected using the
CF for the Test Accelerometer. Two typical examples at 145Hz and 377Hz (before and after
correction) are shown in Figures 6-9.
1.5
1.5
MEMS
PCB
(a)
MEMS
PCB
(b)
A cceleratio n , g
A cceleration, g
0.5
0.5
0
120
125
130
135
140
145
Frequency, Hz
150
155
160
165
170
0
120
125
130
135
140
145
Frequency, Hz
150
155
160
165
Fig. 6 Comparison of the amplitude spectra of the Test accelerometer (line with star) and the Reference
accelerometer (line with plus) for the sinusoidal signal at 145 Hz, (a) before correction, (b) after correction
-5-
170
1.5
(a)
0.16
0.14
0.12
0.1
130
135
140
145
Frequency, Hz
150
155
(b)
F R F A m p litu de
0.18
0.5
120
160
125
130
135
140
Frequency, Hz
145
150
155
160
-5
-10
-15
-20
130
135
140
145
Frequency, Hz
150
155
F R F P hase, d eg .
F R F P h a se , d e g .
10
5
0
-5
-10
120
160
125
130
135
140
Frequency, Hz
145
150
155
160
Fig. 7 FRF plots the MEMS with respect to the Reference Accelerometer for the sinusoidal signal at 145Hz
(indicated by circle), (a) before correction, (b) after correction.
1.4
1.2
MEMS
PCB
(a)
1.2
MEMS
PCB
(b)
1
A cceleration, g
A cceleratio n , g
0.8
0.6
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.2
0
350
355
360
365
370
375
Frequency, Hz
380
385
390
395
0
350
400
355
360
365
370
375
Frequency, Hz
380
385
390
395
400
Fig. 8 Comparison of the amplitude spectra of the MEMS (line with star) and the Reference Accelerometer (line
with plus) for the sinusoidal signal at 377Hz, (a) before correction, (b) after correction
(a)
4
0.14
0.135
(b)
3
2
1
0
0.13
350
355
360
365
370
375
Frequency, Hz
380
385
390
395
400
350
9
8
7

6
350
355
360
365
370
375
Frequency, Hz
380
385
390
395
400
40
10
0.15
0.145
355
360
365
370
375
Frequency, Hz
380
385
390
395
400
20
0
-20
-40
-60
350
355
360
365
370
375
Frequency, Hz
380
385
390
395
-6-
400
TEST EXAMPLE 2
Similar experiment has been done on another MEMS accelerometer of technical specifications
170mV/g, Frequency range 1.5 kHz, 1.7 g level. The CF has been estimated for this Test
Accelerometer and then used for correcting number of sinusoidal signals measured by this
MEMS accelerometer. Two typical examples at 237.5 Hz and 377 Hz. Few typical examples at
237.5Hz and 377Hz (before and after correction) are shown in Figures 10-13. The amplitude
spectrum of the Test accelerometer at 237.5 Hz and 377 Hz before correction show significant
deviation in the response of the Test accelerometer compared with the spectrum of the Reference
accelerometer as shown in Figures 10 (a) and Figure 12 (a) respectively. In fact, this deviation
was not only in amplitude but also in phase as can be seen from the FRF plots shown in Figures
11 (a) and 13 (a).
1.4
MEMS
PCB
0.8
0.6
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.2
0
230
232
234
236
238
240
Frequency, Hz
242
244
246
248
MEMS
PCB
(b)
1.2
Acceleration, g
(a)
1.2
250
0
230
232
234
236
238
240
Frequency, Hz
242
244
246
248
Fig. 10 Comparison of the amplitude spectra of the MEMS (line with star) and the Reference Accelerometer (line
with plus) for the sinusoidal signal at 237.5 Hz, (a) before correction, (b) after correction
However, the FRF plots after correction shown in Figures 11(b) and 13(b) indicate amplitude
nearly equal to 1 and phase close to 0 degrees.
2.5
(b)
MEMS/PCB Accelerometer
(a)
1.5
1
0.5
0
230
232
234
236
238
240
Frequency, Hz
242
244
246
248
1.5
1
0.5
230
250
232
234
236
238
240
242
244
246
248
250
Frequency, Hz
110
60
FR F P hase, deg.
108
106
40
20
104
230
232
234
236
238
240
Frequency, Hz
242
244
246
248
0
230
250
232
234
236
238
240
242
244
246
248
250
Frequency, Hz
Fig. 11 FRF plots the MEMS with respect to the Reference Accelerometer for the sinusoidal signal at 237.5 Hz
-7-
1.4
1.2
MEMS
PCB
(a)
MEMS
PCB
(b)
1.2
1
0.8
0.8
0.6
0.6
0.4
0.4
0.2
0.2
0
350
355
360
365
370
375
Frequency, Hz
380
385
390
395
0
350
400
355
360
365
370
375
Frequency, Hz
380
385
390
395
400
Fig. 12 Comparison of the amplitude spectra of the Test accelerometer (line with star) and the Reference
accelerometer (line with plus) for the sinusoidal signal at 377 Hz, (a) before correction, (b) after correction
0.8
8
(a)
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
360
365
370
375
Frequency, Hz
380
385
100
0
-100
-200
360
365
370
375
Frequency, Hz
380
385
390
200
200
0
360
390
(b)
365
370
375
Frequency, Hz
380
385
390
100
0
-100
-200
360
365
370
375
Frequency, Hz
380
385
390
CONCLUSIONS
The amplitude and phase of two typical Test accelerometers (MEMS accelerometers) response
showed significant deviation when compared with a conventional reference accelerometer.
Hence, a method for correcting both amplitude and phase response of any accelerometer in
frequency domain has been presented. The method is based on the generation of a characteristic
function (CF) using well known reference accelerometer in Lab test and then this CF has been
used in correcting the signals in frequency domain. The method has been qualified through
number of tests. The promising results indicate that the suggested approach can be used for the
practical applications if the reliability of the measured signals from an accelerometer is
suspected.
-8-
REFERENCES
Albarbar A, Badri A., Sinha Jyoti K, Starr A. Performance evaluation of MEMS accelerometers.
Measurement, 42; 5; 2009, p. 790-795.
Badri A.E., Sinha JK. Correcting Amplitude and Phase Measurement of Accelerometer in
Frequency Domain. Proceeding of The Fifth International Conference on Condition Monitoring
& Machinery Failure Prevention Technologies (2008) 94-100.
Pandiyan J., Umapathy M., Balachandar S., Arumugam M. Design of Industrial Vibration
Transmitter Using MEMS Accelerometer. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 34; 2006
p.442447.
Ratcliffe C., Heider D., Crane R., Krauthauser C., Yoon M.K., Gillespie Jr. J.W. Investigation
into the use of low cost MEMS accelerometers for vibration based damage detection. Composite
Structures, 82; 2008 p. 6170.
Sinha JK. Vibration based Diagnosis Techniques used in Nuclear Power Plants: An Overview of
Experiences. Nuclear Engineering and Design 238; 9; 2008, p. 2439-2452.
-9-

Vibe

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Vibe

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Paper Ref: S1146_P0507

IMPROVEMENT IN MEASURED SIGNALS OF MEMS

PROPOSED IMPROVEMENT METHOD

Signal Processing &

Fig. 1 The Test Setup

CORRECTION IN FREQUENCY DOMAIN

Fig. 2 Measured acceleration responses of the MEMS and Reference Accelerometers

MEMS /PCB Accelerometer

MEMS /PCB Accelerometer

MEMS /PCB Accelerometer

MEMS /PCB Accelerometer

THE SINUSOIDAL SIGNALS

MEMS /PCB Accelerometer

MEMS /PCB Accelerometer

MEMS /PCB Accelerometer

MEMS /PCB Accelerometer

MEMS /PCB Accelerometer

MEMS /PCB Accelerometer

MEMS /PCB Accelerometer

MEMS /PCB Accelerometer

You might also like