Home 

- Education Resources - NDT Course Material - Ultrasound

 

-
Introduction to Ultrasonic Testing

Piezoelectric Transducers

The conversion of electrical pulses to

mechanical vibrations and the conversion of
returned mechanical vibrations back into electrical energy is
the basis for ultrasonic testing. The active element is the heart
of the transducer as it converts the electrical energy to acoustic
energy, and vice versa. The active element is basically a piece
of polarized material (i.e. some parts of the molecule are positively charged, while other parts
of the molecule are negatively charged) with electrodes attached to two of its opposite faces.
When an electric field is applied across the material, the polarized molecules will align
themselves with the electric field, resulting in induced dipoles within the molecular or crystal
structure of the material. This alignment of molecules will cause the material to change
dimensions. This phenomenon is known as electrostriction. In addition, a permanently-
polarized material such as quartz (SiO2) or barium titanate (BaTiO3) will produce an electric
field when the material changes dimensions as a result of an imposed mechanical force. This
phenomenon is known as the piezoelectric effect. Additional information on why certain
materials produce this effect can be found in the linked presentation material, which was
produced by the Valpey Fisher Corporation.

Piezoelectric Effect (PPT, 89kb)   Piezoelectric Elements (PPT, 178kb)

The active element of most acoustic transducers used today is a piezoelectric ceramic, which
can be cut in various ways to produce different wave modes. A large piezoelectric ceramic
element can be seen in the image of a sectioned low frequency transducer. Preceding the
advent of piezoelectric ceramics in the early 1950's, piezoelectric crystals made from quartz
crystals and magnetostrictive materials were primarily used. The active element is still
sometimes referred to as the crystal by old timers in the NDT field. When piezoelectric
ceramics were introduced, they soon became the dominant material for transducers due to their
good piezoelectric properties and their ease of manufacture into a variety of shapes and sizes.
They also operate at low voltage and are usable up to about 300oC. The first piezoceramic in
general use was barium titanate, and that was followed during the 1960's by lead zirconate
titanate compositions, which are now the most commonly employed ceramic for making
transducers. New materials such as piezo-polymers and composites are also being used in
some applications.

The thickness of the active element is determined by the desired frequency of the transducer.
A thin wafer element vibrates with a wavelength that is twice its thickness. Therefore,
piezoelectric crystals are cut to a thickness that is 1/2 the desired radiated wavelength. The
higher the frequency of the transducer, the thinner the active element. The primary reason that
high frequency contact transducers are not produced is because the element is very thin and
too fragile.

  

Pages

 Personality Development

Categories

 Importance Personality Development

 Key Points For Personality Development
 Personality Development
 Resources

Recent Posts

 Criteria of “Personality Development”

 Altering the Subconscious to Affect the Conscious
 Steps that Lead to Good Personality Development
 Freud’s Concepts Surrounding Personality Development
 Rejecting Negativity as a Personality Development Methodology

Blogroll

 counselling
 elemis skin care
 hairstyles
 inspiration blog
 letter writing
 Letters
 motivation
  preschool franchise
 resume
 scholarship

Personality Development
Personality Development quintessentially means enhancing and grooming one’s outer and
inner self to bring about a positive change to your life. Each individual has a distinct persona
that can be developed, polished and refined. This process includes boosting one’s confidence,
improving communication and language speaking abilities, widening ones scope of
knowledge, developing certain hobbies or skills, learning fine etiquettes and manners, adding
style and grace to the way one looks, talks and walks and overall imbibing oneself with
positivity, liveliness and peace.

The whole process of this development takes place over a period of time. Even though there
are many crash courses in personality development that are made available to people of all age
groups, implementing this to your routine and bringing about a positive change in oneself
takes a considerable amount of time. It is not necessary to join a personality development
course; one can take a few tips and develop his or her own aura or charm.

 You may have heard this a million times “Think Positive”. It works.
 Smile. And smile some more. It adds to your face value and to your personality as
well.
 Read a few articles in the newspaper loudly. This will help in communicating fluently.
 Follow table manners and dining etiquettes
 Take good care of your health, dress well, be neat and organized
 Prepare a chart that mentions your strengths and weaknesses. Now concentrate on the
latter and find ways to improve upon the same. Do not forget to strengthen your
strengths.
 Spend some time alone concentrating on you and yourself alone.
 Practice meditation and yoga. It will help you develop inner peace and harmony that
will reflect outside.
 Do not live a monotonous life. Be creative and do something new all the time. Nothing
bigger than the joy of creative satisfaction.


Personality development is gaining more and more importance because it enables people to
create a good impression about themselves on others; it helps them to build and develop
relationships, helps in your career growth and also helps to improve your financial needs.

After all, personality development is nothing but a tool that helps you realize your capabilities
and your strengths making you a stronger, a happier and a cheerful person.

A thermocouple is a junction between two different metals that produces a voltage related to

a temperature difference. Thermocouples are a widely used type of temperature sensor for
measurement and control[1] and can also be used to convert heat into electricity. They are
inexpensive[2] and interchangeable, are supplied fitted with standard connectors, and can measure a
wide range of temperatures. The main limitation is accuracy: system errors of less than one
degree Celsius (C) can be difficult to achieve.[3]

Any junction of dissimilar metals will produce an electric potential related to temperature.
Thermocouples for practical measurement of temperature are junctions of specific alloys which have a
predictable and repeatable relationship between temperature and voltage. Different alloys are used for
different temperature ranges. Properties such as resistance to corrosion may also be important when
choosing a type of thermocouple. Where the measurement point is far from the measuring instrument,
the intermediate connection can be made by extension wires which are less costly than the materials
used to make the sensor. Thermocouples are usually standardized against a reference temperature of
0 degrees Celsius; practical instruments use electronic methods of cold-junction compensation to
adjust for varying temperature at the instrument terminals. Electronic instruments can also compensate
for the varying characteristics of the thermocouple, and so improve the precision and accuracy of
measurements.

Thermocouples are widely used in science and industry; applications include temperature
measurement for kilns, gas turbine exhaust, dieselengines, and other industrial processes.
A thermocouple measuring circuit with a heat source, cold junction and a measuring
instrument.
Contents
 [hide]

1 Principle of operation

2 Practical use
o 2.1 Voltage–temperature relationship

o 2.2 Cold junction compensation

3 Power production

4 Grades
o 4.1 Extension wire

5 Types
o 5.1 K

o 5.2 E

o 5.3 J
 o 5.4 N

o 5.5 Platinum types B, R, and S

o 5.6 T

o 5.7 C

o 5.8 M

o 5.9 Chromel-gold/iron

6 Laws for thermocouples

o 6.1 Law of homogeneous material

o 6.2 Law of intermediate materials

o 6.3 Law of successive or intermediate temperatures

7 Aging of thermocouples

8 Thermocouple comparison

9 Applications
o 9.1 Steel industry

o 9.2 Heating appliance safety

o 9.3 Thermopile radiation sensors

o 9.4 Manufacturing

o 9.5 Radioisotope thermoelectric generators

o 9.6 Process plants

10 See also

11 References

12 External links

[edit]Principle of operation
Main article:  Seebeck effect

In 1821, the German–Estonian physicist Thomas Johann Seebeck discovered that when any

conductor is subjected to a thermal gradient, it will generate a voltage. This is now known as
the thermoelectric effect or Seebeck effect. Any attempt to measure this voltage necessarily involves
connecting another conductor to the "hot" end. This additional conductor will then also experience the
temperature gradient, and develop a voltage of its own which will oppose the original. Fortunately, the
magnitude of the effect depends on the metal in use. Using a dissimilar metal to complete the circuit
creates a circuit in which the two legs generate different voltages, leaving a small difference in voltage
available for measurement. That difference increases with temperature, and is between 1 and 70
microvolts per degree Celsius (µV/°C) for standard metal combinations.
The voltage is not generated at the junction of the two metals of the thermocouple but rather along that
portion of the length of the two dissimilar metals that is subjected to a temperature gradient. Because
both lengths of dissimilar metals experience the same temperature gradient, the end result is a
measurement of the temperature at the thermocouple junction.
Polynomial Coefficients 0-500 °C[4]
[edit]Practical use
n Type K
[edit]Voltage–temperature relationship 1 25.08355
For typical metals used in thermocouples, the output voltage 2 7.860106x10−2

increases almost linearly with the temperature difference (ΔT) over 3 -2.503131x10−1

a bounded range of temperatures. For precise measurements or 4 8.315270x10−2

5 -1.228034x10−2
measurements outside of the linear temperature range, non-
6 9.804036x10−4
linearity must be corrected. The nonlinear relationship between the
7 -4.413030x10−5
temperature difference (ΔT) and the output voltage (mV) of a
8 1.057734x10−6
thermocouple can be approximated by a polynomial:
9 -1.052755x10−8

The coefficients an are given for n from 0 to between 5 and 13 depending upon the metals. In some
cases better accuracy is obtained with additional non-polynomial terms.[4] A database of voltage as a
function of temperature, and coefficients for computation of temperature from voltage and vice-versa
for many types of thermocouple is available online.[4]

In modern equipment the equation is usually implemented in a digital controller or stored in a look-up
table;[5] older devices use analog circuits.

Piece-wise linear approximations are an alternative to polynomial corrections.[6]

[edit]Cold junction compensation

Thermocouples measure the temperature difference between two points, not absolute temperature. To
measure a single temperature one of the junctions—normally the cold junction—is maintained at a
known reference temperature, and the other junction is at the temperature to be sensed.

Having a junction of known temperature, while useful for laboratory calibration, is not convenient for
most measurement and control applications. Instead, they incorporate an artificial cold junction using a
thermally sensitive device such as a thermistor or diode to measure the temperature of the input
connections at the instrument, with special care being taken to minimize any temperature gradient
between terminals. Hence, the voltage from a known cold junction can be simulated, and the
appropriate correction applied. This is known as cold junction compensation. Some integrated circuits
such as the LT1025 are designed to output a compensated voltage based on thermocouple type and
cold junction temperature.

Alternatively cold junction compensation can be performed by computation using look-up

tables[5] and polynomial interpolation.

[edit]Power production
A thermocouple can produce current, which means it can be used to drive some processes directly,
without the need for extra circuitry and power sources. For example, the power from a thermocouple
can activate a valve when a temperature difference arises. The electrical energy generated by a
thermocouple is converted from the heat which must be supplied to the hot side to maintain the electric
potential. A continuous flow of heat is necessary because the current flowing through the thermocouple
tends to cause the hot side to cool down and the cold side to heat up (the Peltier effect).

Thermocouples can be connected in series to form a thermopile, where all the hot junctions are
exposed to a higher temperature and all the cold junctions to a lower temperature. The output is the
sum of the voltages across the individual junctions, giving larger voltage and power output. Using
the radioactive decay of transuranic elements as a heat source, this arrangement has been used to
power spacecraft on missions too far from the Sun to use solar power.

[edit]Grades

Thermocouple wire is available in several different metallurgical formulations per type, typically, in
decreasing levels of accuracy and cost: special limits of error, standard, and extension grades.
[edit]Extension wire

Extension grade wires made of the same metals as a higher-grade thermocouple are used to connect
it to a measuring instrument some distance away without introducing additional junctions between
dissimilar materials which would generate unwanted voltages; the connections to the extension wires,
being of like metals, do not generate a voltage. In the case of platinum thermocouples, extension wire
is a copper alloy, since it would be prohibitively expensive to use platinum for extension wires. The
extension wire is specified to have a very similar thermal coefficient of EMF to the thermocouple, but
only over a narrow range of temperatures; this reduces the cost significantly.

The temperature-measuring instrument must have high input impedance to prevent any significant
current draw from the thermocouple, to prevent a resistive voltage drop across the wire. Changes in
metallurgy along the length of the thermocouple (such as termination strips or changes in
thermocouple type wire) will introduce another thermocouple junction which affects measurement
accuracy.
[edit]Types

Certain combinations of alloys have become popular as industry standards. Selection of the
combination is driven by cost, availability, convenience, melting point, chemical properties, stability,
and output. Different types are best suited for different applications. They are usually selected based
on the temperature range and sensitivity needed. Thermocouples with low sensitivities (B, R, and S
types) have correspondingly lower resolutions. Other selection criteria include the inertness of the
thermocouple material, and whether it is magnetic or not. Standard thermocouple types are listed
below with the positive electrode first, followed by the negative electrode.

[edit]K

Type K (chromel{90 percent nickel and 10 percent chromium}–alumel)(Alumel consisting of 95%

nickel, 2% manganese, 2% aluminium and 1% silicon) is the most common general purpose
thermocouple with a sensitivity of approximately 41 µV/°C, chromel positive relative to alumel.[7] It is
inexpensive, and a wide variety of probes are available in its −200 °C to +1350 °C / -328 °F to
+2462 °F range. Type K was specified at a time when metallurgy was less advanced than it is today,
and consequently characteristics vary considerably between samples. One of the constituent
metals, nickel, is magnetic; a characteristic of thermocouples made with magnetic material is that they
undergo a step change in output when the magnetic material reaches its Curie point (around 354 °C for
type K thermocouples).

[edit]E

Type E (chromel–constantan)[5] has a high output (68 µV/°C) which makes it well suited

to cryogenic use. Additionally, it is non-magnetic.

[edit]J

Type J (iron–constantan) has a more restricted range than type K (−40 to +750 °C), but higher
sensitivity of about 55 µV/°C.[2] The Curie point of the iron (770 °C)[8] causes an abrupt change in the
characteristic, which determines the upper temperature limit.

[edit]N

Type N (Nicrosil–Nisil) (Nickel-Chromium-Silicon/Nickel-Silicon) thermocouples are suitable for use at

high temperatures, exceeding 1200 °C, due to their stability and ability to resist high
temperature oxidation. Sensitivity is about 39 µV/°C at 900 °C, slightly lower than type K. Designed to
be an improved type K, it is becoming more popular.

[edit]Platinum types B, R, and S

Types B, R, and S thermocouples use platinum or a platinum–rhodium alloy for each conductor. These
are among the most stable thermocouples, but have lower sensitivity than other types, approximately
10 µV/°C. Type B, R, and S thermocouples are usually used only for high temperature measurements
due to their high cost and low sensitivity.

Type B thermocouples use a platinum–rhodium alloy for each conductor. One conductor contains 30%
rhodium while the other conductor contains 6% rhodium. These thermocouples are suited for use at up
to 1800 °C. Type B thermocouples produce the same output at 0 °C and 42 °C, limiting their use below
about 50 °C.

Type R thermocouples use a platinum–rhodium alloy containing 13% rhodium for one conductor and
pure platinum for the other conductor. Type R thermocouples are used up to 1600 °C.

Type S thermocouples are constructed using one wire of 90% Platinum and 10% Rhodium (the
positive or "+" wire) and a second wire of 100% platinum (the negative or "-" wire). Like type R, type S
thermocouples are used up to 1600 °C. In particular, type S is used as the standard of calibration for
the melting point of gold (1064.43 °C).

[edit]T

Type T (copper–constantan) thermocouples are suited for measurements in the −200 to 350 °C range.
Often used as a differential measurement since only copper wire touches the probes. Since both
conductors are non-magnetic, there is no Curie point and thus no abrupt change in characteristics.
Type T thermocouples have a sensitivity of about 43 µV/°C.

[edit]C

Type C (tungsten 5% rhenium – tungsten 26% rhenium) thermocouples are suited for measurements
in the 0 °C to 2320 °C range. This thermocouple is well-suited for vacuum furnacesat extremely high
temperatures. It must never be used in the presence of oxygen at temperatures above 260 °C.

[edit]M

Type M thermocouples use a nickel alloy for each wire. The positive wire contains
18% molybdenum while the negative wire contains 0.8% cobalt. These thermocouples are used in
vacuum furnaces for the same reasons as with type C. Upper temperature is limited to 1400 °C. It is
less commonly used than other types.

[edit]Chromel-gold/iron

In chromel-gold/iron thermocouples, the positive wire is chromel and the negative wire is gold with a
small fraction (0.03–0.15 atom percent) of iron. It can be used for cryogenicapplications (1.2–300 K
and even up to 600 K). Both the sensitivity and the temperature range depends on the iron
concentration. The sensitivity is typically around 15 µV/K at low temperatures and the lowest usable
temperature varies between 1.2 and 4.2 K.

[edit]Laws for thermocouples

[edit]Law of homogeneous material
A thermoelectric current cannot be sustained in a circuit of a single homogeneous material by the
application of heat alone, regardless of how it might vary in cross section. In other words, temperature
changes in the wiring between the input and output do not affect the output voltage, provided all wires
are made of the same materials as the thermocouple. No current flows in the circuit made of a single
metal by the application of heat alone.

[edit]Law of intermediate materials

The algebraic sum of the thermoelectric emfs in a circuit composed of any number of dissimilar
materials is zero if all of the junctions are at a uniform temperature. So If a third metal is inserted in
either wire and if the two new junctions are at the same temperature, there will be no net voltage
generated by the new metal.

[edit]Law of successive or intermediate temperatures

If two dissimilar homogeneous materials produce thermal emf1 when the junctions are at T1 and T2
and produce thermal emf2 when the junctions are at T2 and T3 , the emf generated when the junctions
are at T1 and T3 will be emf1 + emf2,provided T1<T2<T3.

[edit]Aging of thermocouples
Thermoelements are often used at high temperatures and in reactive furnace atmospheres. In this
case the practical lifetime is determined by aging. The thermoelectric coefficients of the wires in the
area of high temperature change with time and the measurement voltage drops. The simple
relationship between the temperature difference of the joints and the measurement voltage is only
correct if each wire is homogeneous. With an aged thermocouple this is not the case. Relevant for the
generation of the measurement voltage are the properties of the metals at a temperature gradient. If an
aged thermocouple is pulled partly out of the furnace, the aged parts from the region previously at high
temperature enter the area of temperature gradient and the measurement error is significantly
increased. However an aged thermocouple that is pushed deeper into the furnace gives a more
accurate reading.

[edit]Thermocouple comparison
The table below describes properties of several different thermocouple types. Within the
tolerance columns, T represents the temperature of the hot junction, in degrees Celsius. For
example, a thermocouple with a tolerance of ±0.0025×T would have a tolerance of ±2.5 °C at
1000 °C.

Temperature Temperature Tolerance Tolerance

IEC Color BS Color ANSI
Type range °C range °C class one class two
code code Color code
(continuous) (short term) (°C) (°C)

±1.5 between ±2.5 between

−40 °C and −40 °C and
375 °C 333 °C
K 0 to +1100 −180 to +1300 ±0.004×T ±0.0075×T
between 375 between 333
°C and 1000 °C and 1200
°C °C

±1.5 between ±2.5 between

−40 °C and −40 °C and
375 °C 333 °C
J 0 to +750 −180 to +800 ±0.004×T ±0.0075×T
between 375 between 333
°C and 750 °C and 750
°C °C

±1.5 between ±2.5 between

−40 °C and −40 °C and
375 °C 333 °C
N 0 to +1100 −270 to +1300 ±0.004×T ±0.0075×T
between 375 between 333
°C and 1000 °C and 1200
°C °C

±1.0 between
0 °C and ±1.5 between
1100 °C 0 °C and 600
±[1 + °C
Not
R 0 to +1600 −50 to +1700 0.003×(T − ±0.0025×T
defined.
1100)] between 600
between °C and 1600
1100 °C and °C
1600 °C
 ±1.0 between
0 °C and ±1.5 between
1100 °C 0 °C and 600
±[1 + °C
Not
S 0 to 1600 −50 to +1750 0.003×(T − ±0.0025×T
defined.
1100)] between 600
between °C and 1600
1100 °C and °C
1600 °C

±0.0025×T
No standard No standard
Not between 600 Not
B +200 to +1700 0 to +1820 use copper use copper
Available °C and 1700 defined.
wire wire
°C

±0.5 between ±1.0 between

−40 °C and −40 °C and
125 °C 133 °C
T −185 to +300 −250 to +400 ±0.004×T ±0.0075×T
between 125 between 133
°C and 350 °C and 350
°C °C

±1.5 between ±2.5 between

−40 °C and −40 °C and
375 °C 333 °C
E 0 to +800 −40 to +900 ±0.004×T ±0.0075×T
between 375 between 333
°C and 800 °C and 900
°C °C

Reproducibility 0.2% of
the voltage; each sensor
Chromel/AuFe −272 to +300 n/a
needs individual
calibration.

[edit]Applications

Thermocouples are suitable for measuring over a large temperature range, up to 2300 °C. They are
less suitable for applications where smaller temperature differences need to be measured with high
accuracy, for example the range 0–100 °C with 0.1 °C accuracy. For such
applications thermistors and resistance temperature detectors are more suitable. Applications include
temperature measurement for kilns, gas turbine exhaust, diesel engines, and other industrial
processes.
[edit]Steel industry
Type B, S, R and K thermocouples are used extensively in the steel and iron industries to monitor
temperatures and chemistry throughout the steel making process. Disposable, immersible, type S
thermocouples are regularly used in the electric arc furnace process to accurately measure the
temperature of steel before tapping. The cooling curve of a small steel sample can be analyzed and
used to estimate the carbon content of molten steel.

[edit]Heating appliance safety

Many gas-fed heating appliances such as ovens and water heaters make use of a pilot flame to ignite
the main gas burner when required. If it goes out gas may be released, which is a fire risk and a health
hazard. To prevent this some appliances use a thermocouple in a fail-safe circuit to sense when the
pilot light is burning. The tip of the thermocouple is placed in the pilot flame, generating a voltage which
operates the supply valve which feeds gas to the pilot. So long as the pilot flame remains lit, the
thermocouple remains hot, and the pilot gas valve is held open. If the pilot light goes out, the
thermocouple temperature falls, causing the voltage across the thermocouple to drop and the valve to
close. Some combined main burner and pilot gas valves (mainly by honeywell) reduce the power
demand to within the range of a single universal thermocouple heated by a pilot (25mV open circuit
falling by half with the coil connected to 10~12mV @ 0.2~0.25A typically) by sizing the coil to be able
to hold the valve open against a light spring, only after the initial turning on force is provided by a the
user pressing and holding a knob to compress the spring during first lighting. These systems are
identifiable by the 'press and hold for x minutes' in the pilot lighting instructions. (The holding current
requirement of such a valve is much less than a bigger solenoid designed for pulling the valve in from
closed would require.) Special test sets are made to confirm the valve let-go and holding currents as
an ordinary milliameter cannot be used as it introduces more resistance than the gas valve coil. Apart
from testing the open circuit voltage of the thermocouple, and the near short-circuit DC continuity
through the thermocouple gas valve coil, the easiest non-specialist test is substitution of a known good
gas valve.

Some systems, known as millivolt control systems, extend the thermocouple concept to both open and
close the main gas valve as well. Not only does the voltage created by the pilot thermocouple activate
the pilot gas valve, it is also routed through a thermostat to power the main gas valve as well. Here, a
larger voltage is needed than in a pilot flame safety system described above, and a thermopile is used
rather than a single thermocouple. Such a system requires no external source of electricity for its
operation and so can operate during a power failure, provided all the related system components allow
for this. Note that this excludes common forced air furnaces because external power is required to
operate the blower motor, but this feature is especially useful for un-powered convection heaters. A
similar gas shut-off safety mechanism using a thermocouple is sometimes employed to ensure that the
main burner ignites within a certain time period, shutting off the main burner gas supply valve should
that not happen.

Out of concern for energy wasted by the standing pilot, designers of many newer appliances have
switched to an electronically controlled pilot-less ignition, also called intermittent ignition. With no
standing pilot flame, there is no risk of gas buildup should the flame go out, so these appliances do not
need thermocouple-based pilot safety switches. As these designs lose the benefit of operation without
a continuous source of electricity, standing pilots are still used in some appliances. The exception is
later model instantaneous water heaters that use the flow of water to generate the current required to
ignite the gas burner, in conjunction with a thermocouple as a safety cut-off device in the event the gas
fails to ignite, or the flame is extinguished.

[edit]Thermopile radiation sensors

See also:  bolometer

Thermopiles are used for measuring the intensity of incident radiation, typically visible or infrared light,
which heats the hot junctions, while the cold junctions are on a heat sink. It is possible to measure
radiative intensities of only a few μW/cm2 with commercially available thermopile sensors. For
example, some laser power meters are based on such sensors.

[edit]Manufacturing

Thermocouples can generally be used in the testing of prototype electrical and mechanical apparatus.
For example, switchgear under test for its current carrying capacity may have thermocouples installed
and monitored during a heat run test, to confirm that the temperature rise at rated current does not
exceed designed limits.

[edit]Radioisotope thermoelectric generators

Thermopiles can also be applied to generate electricity in radioisotope thermoelectric generators.

[edit]Process plants
Chemical production and petroleum refineries will usually employ computers for logging and limit
testing the many temperatures associated with a process, typically numbering in the hundreds. For
such cases a number of thermocouple leads will be brought to a common reference block (a large
block of copper) containing the second thermocouple of each circuit. The temperature of the block is in
turn measured by a thermistor. Simple computations are used to determine the temperature at each
measured location.

[edit]See also

 Bolometer
 Giuseppe Domenico Botto
 Resistance thermometer
 Thermistor
 List of sensors
 International Temperature Scale of 1990

[edit]References

1. ^ "Thermocouple temperature sensors". Temperatures.com. Retrieved 2007-11-04.

2. ^ a b Ramsden, Ed (September 1, 2000). "Temperature measurement". Sensors. Retrieved 2010-02-19.

3. ^ "Technical Notes: Thermocouple Accuracy". IEC 584-2(1982)+A1(1989). Retrieved 2010-04-28.

4. ^ a b c "NIST ITS-90 Thermocouple Database".

5. ^ a b c Baker, Bonnie C. (September 1, 2000). "Designing the embedded temperature circuit to meet the

system's requirements". Sensors. Retrieved 2010-04-26.

6. ^ "Thermocouple Calibration, Microstar Laboratories"

7. ^ Manual on the Use of Thermocouples in Temperature Measurements. ASTM, 1974

8. ^ Buschow, K. H. J.Encyclopedia of materials  : science and technology, Elsevier, 2001 ISBN 0-08-

043152-6 page 5021 table 1

[edit]External links

 Two Ways to Measure Temperature Using Thermocouples Feature Simplicity, Accuracy, and
Flexibility
 Thermocouple Operating Principle - University Of Cambridge
 Thermocouple Drift - University Of Cambridge
 Thermocouple design guide
 Mineral-Insulated Thermocouple Know-How
 Thermocouple Color Code Chart and Specifications
 Thermocouple Attachment - A Primer
 Thermocouple design

Categories: Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning | Thermom

Introduction
Basic Principles
History
Present State
Future Direction

Physics of Ultrasound
Wave Propagation
Modes of Sound Waves
Properties of Plane Waves
Wavelength/Flaw Detection
Elastic Properties of Solids
Attenuation
Acoustic Impedance
Reflection/Transmission
Refraction & Snell's Law
Mode Conversion
Signal-to-noise Ratio
Wave Interference

Equipment & Transducers

Piezoelectric Transducers
Characteristics of PT 
Radiated Fields
Transducer Beam Spread
Transducer Types
Transducer Testing I
Transducer Testing II
Transducer Modeling
Couplant
EMATs
Pulser-Receivers
Tone Burst Generators
Function Generators
Impedance Matching
Data Presentation 
Error Analysis

Measurement Techniques
Normal Beam Inspection
Angle Beams I
Angle Beams II
Crack Tip Diffraction
Automated Scanning
Velocity Measurements
Measuring Attenuation
Spread Spectrum
Signal Processing
Flaw Reconstruction

Calibration Methods
Calibration Methods
DAC Curves
Curvature Correction 
Thompson-Gray Model
UTSIM
Grain Noise Modeling
References/Standards

Selected Applications
Rail Inspection
Weldments

Reference Material 
UT Material Properties
References

Quizzes
 World History  Entrance Exams in In

World Civilizations K
Egyptian Civilization : S
It is one of the world's longest G
continuous civilizations. In (M
300 BC Upper and Lower  Kendriya Vidy
Egypt were united, beginning a period of and Librarian,
cultural...  More >> (Mains) Exam
 I.I.T. Joint En
 Landmarks in World History (April 10)
 World War I (1914-18) & World  Ballia-Etawah
War II (1939-45) Bank Officers
(April 10)
 Revolutions and Wars of  Uttaranchal G
Independence Assistant Exam
 M.P. Pre-Poly
 Major World Religions (April 10)
 Bank of Barod
 Important Dates of World Exam. (April
History                             [  More  Uttaranchal G
>> ] Cadre Exam. (
 Ballia-Etawah
Bank Office A
17)
 Indian History  Allahabad Ban
Officers Recru
17)                 
Indus Valley Civilization                  [  M
This was the earliest
civilization (between 2500 BC
and 1750 BC) that flourished
in India on the banks of the
river Indus, from frontiers extending from  Career
Manda on the Chenab near ...  More >>

 Hindu Religious Books             UPSC Ci

Jainism and Buddhism Examina
 Major Dynasties of Ancient India Combine
Examina
 Major Dynasties of Medieval India Date/Day
Examination : 19.09.20
 Indian National Movement       
Major Dynasties and Rulers  Major Examin
  

tation. Electromagnetism is the force that causes the interaction between electrically charged particles;
the areas in which this happens are called electromagnetic fields.

Electromagnetism is responsible for practically all the phenomena encountered in daily life, with the
exception of gravity. Ordinary matter takes its form as a result of intermolecular forces between
individual molecules in matter. Electromagnetism is also the force which
holds electronsand protons together inside atoms, which are the building blocks of molecules. This
governs the processes involved in chemistry, which arise from interactions between
the electrons inside and between atoms.

Electromagnetism manifests as both electric fields and magnetic fields. Both fields are simply different
aspects of electromagnetism, and hence are intrinsically related. Thus, a changing electric field
generates a magnetic field; conversely a changing magnetic field generates an electric field. This
effect is called electromagnetic induction, and is the basis of operation for electrical
generators, induction motors, andtransformers. Mathematically speaking, magnetic fields and electric
fields are convertible with relative motion as a four vector.

Electric fields are the cause of several common phenomena, such as electric potential (such as the
voltage of a battery) and electric current(such as the flow of electricity through a flashlight). Magnetic
fields are the cause of the force associated with magnets.

In quantum electrodynamics, electromagnetic interactions between charged particles can be

calculated using the method of Feynman diagrams, in which we picture messenger
particles called virtual photons being exchanged between charged particles. This method can be
derived from the field picture through perturbation theory.

The theoretical implications of electromagnetism led to the development of special relativity by Albert

Einstein in 1905.
 Contents
 [hide]

1 History of the theory

2 Overview

3 Classical electrodynamics

4 The photoelectric effect

5 Units

6 Electromagnetic phenomena

7 See also

8 Notes

9 References

10 Further reading

11 External links

[edit]History of the theory

See also:  history of electromagnetic theory

Originally electricity and magnetism were thought of as two separate forces. This view changed,
however, with the publication of James Clerk Maxwell's 1873 Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism in
which the interactions of positive and negative charges were shown to be regulated by one force.
There are four main effects resulting from these interactions, all of which have been clearly
demonstrated by experiments:

1. Electric charges attract or repel one another with a force inversely proportional to the square
of the distance between them: unlike charges attract, like ones repel.

2. Magnetic poles (or states of polarization at individual points) attract or repel one another in a
similar way and always come in pairs: every north pole is yoked to a south pole.
3. An electric current in a wire creates a circular magnetic field around the wire, its direction
depending on that of the current.
4. A current is induced in a loop of wire when it is moved towards or away from a magnetic field,
or a magnet is moved towards or away from it, the direction of current depending on that of
the movement.

While preparing for an evening lecture on 21 April 1820, Hans Christian Ørsted made a surprising
observation. As he was setting up his materials, he noticed a compass needle deflected from magnetic
north when the electric current from the battery he was using was switched on and off. This deflection
convinced him that magnetic fields radiate from all sides of a wire carrying an electric current, just as
light and heat do, and that it confirmed a direct relationship between electricity and magnetism.

At the time of discovery, Ørsted did not suggest any satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon, nor
did he try to represent the phenomenon in a mathematical framework. However, three months later he
began more intensive investigations. Soon thereafter he published his findings, proving that an electric
current produces a magnetic field as it flows through a wire. The CGS unit of magnetic
induction (oersted) is named in honor of his contributions to the field of electromagnetism.

His findings resulted in intensive research throughout the scientific community in electrodynamics.
They influenced French physicist André-Marie Ampère's developments of a single mathematical form
to represent the magnetic forces between current-carrying conductors. Ørsted's discovery also
represented a major step toward a unified concept of energy.

This unification, which was observed by Michael Faraday, extended by James Clerk Maxwell, and
partially reformulated by Oliver Heaviside and Heinrich Hertz, is one of the key accomplishments of
19th century mathematical physics. It had far-reaching consequences, one of which was the
understanding of the nature of light. Light and other electromagnetic waves take the form of quantized,
self-propagating oscillatory electromagnetic field disturbances called photons. Different frequencies of
oscillation give rise to the different forms ofelectromagnetic radiation, from radio waves at the lowest
frequencies, to visible light at intermediate frequencies, to gamma rays at the highest frequencies.

Ørsted was not the only person to examine the relation between electricity and magnetism. In
1802 Gian Domenico Romagnosi, an Italian legal scholar, deflected a magnetic needle by electrostatic
charges. Actually, no galvanic current existed in the setup and hence no electromagnetism was
present. An account of the discovery was published in 1802 in an Italian newspaper, but it was largely
overlooked by the contemporary scientific community.[1]

[edit]Overview

The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces. The other fundamental forces are:
the strong nuclear force (which holds quarks together, along with its residual strong force effect that
holds atomic nuclei together, to form the nucleus), the weak nuclear force (which causes certain forms
of radioactive decay), and the gravitational force. All other forces (e.g. friction) are ultimately derived
from these fundamental forces.

The electromagnetic force is the one responsible for practically all the phenomena one encounters in
daily life, with the exception of gravity. Roughly speaking, all the forces involved in interactions
between atoms can be traced to the electromagnetic force acting on the electrically
charged protons and electrons inside the atoms. This includes the forces we experience in "pushing"
or "pulling" ordinary material objects, which come from the intermolecular forces between the
individual molecules in our bodies and those in the objects. It also includes all forms of chemical
phenomena, which arise from interactions between electron orbitals.

[edit]Classical electrodynamics

Main article:  Classical electrodynamics

The scientist William Gilbert proposed, in his De Magnete (1600), that electricity and magnetism, while
both capable of causing attraction and repulsion of objects, were distinct effects. Mariners had noticed
that lightning strikes had the ability to disturb a compass needle, but the link between lightning and
electricity was not confirmed until Benjamin Franklin's proposed experiments in 1752. One of the first
to discover and publish a link between man-made electric current and magnetism was Romagnosi,
who in 1802 noticed that connecting a wire across a voltaic pile deflected a nearby compass needle.
However, the effect did not become widely known until 1820, when Ørsted performed a similar
experiment.[2] Ørsted's work influenced Ampère to produce a theory of electromagnetism that set the
subject on a mathematical foundation.

An accurate theory of electromagnetism, known as classical electromagnetism, was developed by

various physicists over the course of the 19th century, culminating in the work ofJames Clerk Maxwell,
who unified the preceding developments into a single theory and discovered the electromagnetic
nature of light. In classical electromagnetism, the electromagnetic field obeys a set of equations known
as Maxwell's equations, and the electromagnetic force is given by the Lorentz force law.

One of the peculiarities of classical electromagnetism is that it is difficult to reconcile with classical

mechanics, but it is compatible with special relativity. According to Maxwell's equations, the speed of
light in a vacuum is a universal constant, dependent only on the electrical permittivity and magnetic
permeability of free space. This violates Galilean invariance, a long-standing cornerstone of classical
mechanics. One way to reconcile the two theories is to assume the existence of a luminiferous
aether through which the light propagates. However, subsequent experimental efforts failed to detect
the presence of the aether. After important contributions of Hendrik Lorentz and Henri Poincaré, in
1905, Albert Einstein solved the problem with the introduction of special relativity, which replaces
classical kinematics with a new theory of kinematics that is compatible with classical
electromagnetism. (For more information, see History of special relativity.)

In addition, relativity theory shows that in moving frames of reference a magnetic field transforms to a
field with a nonzero electric component and vice versa; thus firmly showing that they are two sides of
the same coin, and thus the term "electromagnetism". (For more information, see Classical
electromagnetism and special relativity.)

[edit]The photoelectric effect

Main article:  Photoelectric effect

In another paper published in that same year, Albert Einstein undermined the very foundations of
classical electromagnetism. His theory of the photoelectric effect (for which he won the Nobel prize for
physics) posited that light could exist in discrete particle-like quantities, which later came to be known
as photons. Einstein's theory of the photoelectric effect extended the insights that appeared in the
solution of the ultraviolet catastrophe presented by Max Planck in 1900. In his work, Planck showed
that hot objects emit electromagnetic radiation in discrete packets, which leads to a finite
total energy emitted as black body radiation. Both of these results were in direct contradiction with the
classical view of light as a continuous wave, although it is now known that the photoelectric effect does
not, in fact, compel one to any conclusion about light being made of "photons", as discussed in
the photoelectric effectarticle.[citation needed] Planck's and Einstein's theories were progenitors of quantum
mechanics, which, when formulated in 1925, necessitated the invention of a quantum theory of
electromagnetism. This theory, completed in the 1940s, is known as quantum electrodynamics (or
"QED"), and, in situations where perturbation theory is applicable, is one of the most accurate theories
known to physics.

[edit]Units

Electromagnetic units are part of a system of electrical units based primarily upon the magnetic
properties of electric currents, the fundamental SI unit being the ampere. The units are:

 ampere (current)

 coulomb (charge)
 farad (capacitance)
 henry (inductance)
 ohm (resistance)
 volt (electric potential)
 watt (power)
 tesla (magnetic field)
 weber (flux)

In the electromagnetic cgs system, electric current is a fundamental quantity defined via Ampère's

law and takes the permeability as a dimensionless quantity (relative permeability) whose
value in a vacuum is unity. As a consequence, the square of the speed of light appears
explicitly in some of the equations interrelating quantities in this system.
SI electromagnetism unitsv · d · e
[3]
Symbol Name of Quantity Derived Units Unit Base Units
I Electric current ampere (SI base unit) A A (= W/V = C/s)
Q Electric charge coulomb C A·s
U, ΔV,
Potential difference; Electromotive force volt V J/C = kg·m2·s−3·A−1
Δφ; E
Electric
R; Z; X ohm Ω V/A = kg·m2·s−3·A−2
resistance; Impedance; Reactance
ρ Resistivity ohm metre Ω·m kg·m3·s−3·A−2
P Electric power watt W V·A = kg·m2·s−3
C Capacitance farad F C/V = kg−1·m−2·A2·s4
E Electric field strength volt per metre V/m N/C = kg·m·A−1·s−3
Coulomb per square
D Electric displacement field C/m2 A·s·m−2
metre
ε Permittivity farad per metre F/m kg−1·m−3·A2·s4
χe Electric susceptibility (dimensionless) - -
G; Y; B Conductance; Admittance; Susceptance siemens S Ω−1 = kg−1·m−2·s3·A2
κ, γ, σ Conductivity siemens per metre S/m kg−1·m−3·s3·A2
Magnetic flux density, Magnetic Wb/m2 = kg·s−2·A−1 =
B tesla T
induction N·A−1·m−1
Φ Magnetic flux weber Wb V·s = kg·m2·s−2·A−1
H Magnetic field strength ampere per metre A/m A·m−1
Wb/A = V·s/A =
L, M Inductance henry H
kg·m2·s−2·A−2
μ Permeability henry per metre H/m kg·m·s−2·A−2
χ Magnetic susceptibility (Unitless) - -

[edit]Electromagnetic phenomena

With the exception of gravitation, electromagnetic phenomena as described by quantum

electrodynamics (which includes as a limiting case classical electrodynamics) account for almost all
physical phenomena observable to the unaided human senses, including light and
other electromagnetic radiation, all of chemistry, most of mechanics (excepting gravitation), and of
course magnetism and electricity. Magnetic monopoles (and "Gilbert" dipoles) are not strictly
electromagnetic phenomena, since in standard electromagnetism, magnetic fields are generated not
by true "magnetic charge" but by currents. There are, however, condensed matter analogs of magnetic
monopoles in exotic materials (spin ice) created in the laboratory.[4]
[edit]See also
Electromagnetism portal

 Abraham-Lorentz force

 Classical electromagnetism
 Computational electromagnetics
 Double-slit experiment
 Electricity
 Electromagnet
 Electromagnetic wave equation
 Electromechanics
 Electrostatics
 Electroweak interaction
 Force between magnets
 Formulation
 Magnetism
 Quantum electrodynamics
 Optics
 Theory of Everything (model)
 Waveguide
 Relativistic electromagnetism
 X-ray
 Wheeler-Feynman absorber theory

[edit]Notes

1. ^ Martins, Roberto de Andrade. "Romagnosi and Volta’s Pile: Early Difficulties in the

Interpretation of Voltaic Electricity". In Fabio Bevilacqua and Lucio Fregonese (eds). Nuova

Voltiana: Studies on Volta and his Times. vol. 3. Università degli Studi di Pavia. pp. 81–102.

Retrieved 2010-12-02.

2. ^ Stern, Dr. David P.; Dr. Mauricio Peredo (2001-11-25). "Magnetic Fields -- History".

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Retrieved 2009-11-27.

3. ^ International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (1993). Quantities, Units and

Symbols in Physical Chemistry, 2nd edition, Oxford: Blackwell Science. ISBN 0-632-03583-8.

pp. 14–15.Electronic version.
 4. ^ "'Magnetic electricity' discovered". BBC News. 2009-10-14. Retrieved 2010-05-01.

[edit]References

Web

 Nave, R.. "Magnetic Field Strength H". Retrieved 2007-06-04

 Keitch, Paul. "Magnetic Field Strength and Magnetic Flux Density". Archived November 7, 2007 at

the Wayback Machine.
 Oppelt, Arnulf (2006-11-02). "magnetic field strength". Retrieved 2007-06-04

 "magnetic field strength converter". Retrieved 2007-06-04

Books

 Durney, Carl H. and Johnson, Curtis C. (1969). Introduction to modern electromagnetics. McGraw-

Hill. ISBN 0-07-018388-0.

 Rao, Nannapaneni N. (1994). Elements of engineering electromagnetics (4th ed.). Prentice

Hall. ISBN 0-13-948746-8.
 Tipler, Paul (1998). Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Vol. 2: Light, Electricity and

Magnetism (4th ed.). W. H. Freeman. ISBN 1-57259-492-6.

 Griffiths, David J. (1998). Introduction to Electrodynamics (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-

805326-X.
 Jackson, John D. (1998). Classical Electrodynamics (3rd ed.). Wiley. ISBN 0-471-30932-X.

 Rothwell, Edward J.; Cloud, Michael J. (2001). Electromagnetics. CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-1397-

X.
 Wangsness, Roald K.; Cloud, Michael J. (1986). Electromagnetic Fields (2nd Edition).

Wiley. ISBN 0-471-81186-6.
 Dibner, Bern (1961). Oersted and the discovery of electromagnetism. Blaisdell Publishing

Company. ISSN 99-0317066-1 ; 18.

[edit]Further reading

 Purcell, Edward M. (1985). Electricity and Magnetism Berkeley Physics Course Volume 2

(2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-004908-4.

 Moliton, André (2006-12). Basic electromagnetism and materials. New York City: Springer-
Verlag New York, LLC. ISBN 9780387302843.
 [edit]External links

 Electromagnetic Force - from Eric Weisstein's World of Physics

 Ties That Bind Atoms Weaker Than Thought - LiveScience.com

 Physics 221B notes – quantization
 Physics 221B notes – interaction
 Quarked Electromagnetic force - A good introduction for kids
 MIT OpenCourseWare 8.02: Electricity & Magnetism Free,
independent study course
with video lectures, homework help videos, assignments, course notes and more.

[show]v · d · eThe Four Fundamental Interactions of Physics

[show]v · d · eGeneral subfields within physics
[show]v · d · eMagnetic states

Categories: Electric and magnetic fields in

matter | Magnetism | Electromagnetism | Electrodynamics | Fundamental physics concepts

 Log in / create account

 Article
 Discussion
 Read
 Edit
 View history

In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical

energy to electrical energy. The reverse conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy is
done by a motor; motors and generators have many similarities. A generator forces electrons in
the windings to flow through the externalelectrical circuit. It is somewhat analogous to a water
pump, which creates a flow of water but does not create the water inside. The source of
mechanical energy may be a reciprocating or turbine steam engine, water falling through
a turbine or waterwheel, an internal combustion engine, a wind turbine, a
hand crank, compressed air or any other source of mechanical energy.
Early 20th century alternator made inBudapest, Hungary, in the power generating hall of a hydroelectric station

Early Ganz Generator in Zwevegem,West Flanders, Belgium

 Contents
 [hide]

1 Historical developments

o 1.1 Jedlik's dynamo

o 1.2 Faraday's disk

o 1.3 Dynamo

o 1.4 Other rotating electromagnetic generators

o 1.5 MHD generator

2 Terminology

3 Excitation

4 DC Equivalent circuit

5 Vehicle-mounted generators

6 Engine-generator

7 Human powered electrical generators

8 Linear electric generator

9 Tachogenerator

10 See also

11 References

12 External links

[edit]Historical developments
Before the connection between magnetism and electricity was discovered, electrostatic
generators were invented that used electrostaticprinciples. These generated very
high voltages and low currents. They operated by using moving electrically charged belts, plates
and disks to carry charge to a high potential electrode. The charge was generated using either of
two mechanisms:

 Electrostatic induction
 The triboelectric effect, where the contact between two insulators leaves them charged.

Because of their inefficiency and the difficulty of insulating machines producing very high
voltages, electrostatic generators had low power ratings and were never used for generation of
commercially significant quantities of electric power. The Wimshurst machine and Van de Graaff
generator are examples of these machines that have survived.
[edit]Jedlik's dynamo
Main article:  Jedlik's dynamo

In 1827, Hungarian Anyos Jedlik started experimenting with electromagnetic rotating devices

which he called electromagnetic self-rotors. In the prototype of the single-pole electric starter
(finished between 1852 and 1854) both the stationary and the revolving parts were
electromagnetic. He formulated the concept of the dynamo at least 6 years
before Siemens and Wheatstone but didn't patent it as he thought he wasn't the first to realize
this. In essence the concept is that instead of permanent magnets, two electromagnets opposite
to each other induce the magnetic field around the rotor. It was also the discovery of the principle
of self-excitation.[1]

[edit]Faraday's disk

Faraday disk, the first electric generator. The horseshoe-shaped magnet (A) created a magnetic field through the
disk (D). When the disk was turned this induced an electric current radially outward from the center toward the rim.
The current flowed out through the sliding spring contact m, through the external circuit, and back into the center of
the disk through the axle.

In the years of 1831–1832, Michael Faraday discovered the operating principle of

electromagnetic generators. The principle, later calledFaraday's law, is that an electromotive
force is generated in an electrical conductor that encircles a varying magnetic flux. He also built
the first electromagnetic generator, called the Faraday disk, a type of homopolar generator, using
a copper disc rotating between the poles of a horseshoe magnet. It produced a small DC voltage.

This design was inefficient due to self-cancelling counterflows of current in regions not under the
influence of the magnetic field. While current was induced directly underneath the magnet, the
current would circulate backwards in regions outside the influence of the magnetic field. This
counterflow limits the power output to the pickup wires and induces waste heating of the copper
disc. Later homopolar generators would solve this problem by using an array of magnets
arranged around the disc perimeter to maintain a steady field effect in one current-flow direction.
Another disadvantage was that the output voltage was very low, due to the single current path
through the magnetic flux. Experimenters found that using multiple turns of wire in a coil could
produce higher more useful voltages. Since the output voltage is proportional to the number of
turns, generators could be easily designed to produce any desired voltage by varying the number
of turns. Wire windings became a basic feature of all subsequent generator designs.

[edit]Dynamo
Main article:  Dynamo

Dynamos are no longer used for power generation due to the size and complexity of the commutator needed for
high power applications. This large belt-driven high-current dynamo produced 310 amperes at 7 volts, or 2,170
watts, when spinning at 1400 RPM.

Dynamo Electric Machine [End View, Partly Section] (U.S. Patent 284,110)

The dynamo was the first electrical generator capable of delivering power for industry. The
dynamo uses electromagnetic principles to convert mechanical rotation into a pulsing direct
current (DC) through the use of a commutator. The first dynamo was built by Hippolyte Pixii in
1832.

Through a series of accidental discoveries, the dynamo became the source of many later
inventions, including the DC electric motor, the AC alternator, the AC synchronous motor, and
the rotary converter.

A dynamo machine consists of a stationary structure, which provides a constant magnetic field,
and a set of rotating windings which turn within that field. On small machines the constant
magnetic field may be provided by one or more permanent magnets; larger machines have the
constant magnetic field provided by one or more electromagnets, which are usually called field
coils.

Large power generation dynamos are now rarely seen due to the now nearly universal use
of alternating current for power distribution and solid state electronic AC to DC power conversion.
But before the principles of AC were discovered, very large direct-current dynamos were the only
means of power generation and distribution. Now power generation dynamos are mostly a
curiosity.

[edit]Other rotating electromagnetic generators

Without a commutator, a dynamo becomes an alternator, which is a synchronous singly-fed
generator. When used to feed anelectric power grid, an alternator must always operate at a
constant speed that is precisely synchronized to the electrical frequency of the power grid. A DC
generator can operate at any speed within mechanical limits but always outputs a direct current
waveform.

Other types of generators, such as the asynchronous or induction singly-fed generator,

the doubly-fed generator, or the brushless wound-rotor doubly-fed generator, do not incorporate
permanent magnets or field windings (i.e., electromagnets) that establish a constant magnetic
field, and as a result, are seeing success in variable speed constant frequency applications, such
as wind turbines or other renewable energy technologies.

The full output performance of any generator can be optimized with electronic control but only
the doubly-fed generators or thebrushless wound-rotor doubly-fed generator incorporate
electronic control with power ratings that are substantially less than the power output of the
generator under control, which by itself offer cost, reliability and efficiency benefits.

[edit]MHD generator
Main article:  MHD generator
A magnetohydrodynamic generator directly extracts electric power from moving hot gases
through a magnetic field, without the use of rotating electromagnetic machinery. MHD generators
were originally developed because the output of a plasma MHD generator is a flame, well able to
heat the boilers of a steam power plant. The first practical design was the AVCO Mk. 25,
developed in 1965. The U.S. government funded substantial development, culminating in a 25
MW demonstration plant in 1987. In the Soviet Union from 1972 until the late 1980s, the MHD
plant U 25 was in regular commercial operation on the Moscow power system with a rating of 25
MW, the largest MHD plant rating in the world at that time.[2] MHD generators operated as
a topping cycle are currently (2007) less efficient than combined-cycle gas turbines.

[edit]Terminology

Rotor from generator at Hoover Dam,United States

The two main parts of a generator or motor can be described in either mechanical or electrical
terms:[3]

Mechanical:

 Rotor: The rotating part of an electrical machine

 Stator: The stationary part of an electrical machine

Electrical:

 Armature: The power-producing component of an electrical machine. In a generator,

alternator, or dynamo the armature windings generate the electric current. The armature can
be on either the rotor or the stator.
 Field: The magnetic field component of an electrical machine. The magnetic field of the
dynamo or alternator can be provided by either electromagnets or permanent magnets
mounted on either the rotor or the stator.

Because power transferred into the field circuit is much less than in the armature circuit, AC
generators nearly always have the field winding on the rotor and the stator as the armature
winding. Only a small amount of field current must be transferred to the moving rotor, using slip
rings. Direct current machines (dynamos) require a commutator on the rotating shaft to convert
the alternating current produced by the armature todirect current, so the armature winding is on
the rotor of the machine.

[edit]Excitation

A small early 1900s 75 KVA direct-driven power station AC alternator, with a separate belt-driven exciter
generator.
Main article:  Excitation (magnetic)

An electric generator or electric motor that uses field coils rather than permanent magnets
requires a current to be present in the field coils for the device to be able to work. If the field coils
are not powered, the rotor in a generator can spin without producing any usable electrical energy,
while the rotor of a motor may not spin at all.

Smaller generators are sometimes self-excited, which means the field coils are powered by the
current produced by the generator itself. The field coils are connected in series or parallel with the
armature winding. When the generator first starts to turn, the small amount of remanent
magnetism present in the iron core provides a magnetic field to get it started, generating a small
current in the armature. This flows through the field coils, creating a larger magnetic field which
generates a larger armature current. This "bootstrap" process continues until the magnetic field in
the core levels off due to saturation and the generator reaches a steady state power output.
Very large power station generators often utilize a separate smaller generator to excite the field
coils of the larger. In the event of a severe widespread power outage where islanding of power
stations has occurred, the stations may need to perform a black start to excite the fields of their
largest generators, in order to restore customer power service.

[edit]DC Equivalent circuit

Equivalent circuit of generator and load.

G = generator
VG=generator open-circuit voltage
RG=generator internal resistance
VL=generator on-load voltage
RL=load resistance

The equivalent circuit of a generator and load is shown in the diagram to the right. The
generator's VG and RG parameters can be determined by measuring the winding resistance
(corrected to operating temperature), and measuring the open-circuit and loaded voltage for a
defined current load.

[edit]Vehicle-mounted generators
Early motor vehicles until about the 1960s tended to use DC generators with electromechanical
regulators. These have now been replaced byalternators with built-in rectifier circuits, which are
less costly and lighter for equivalent output. Automotive alternators power the electrical systems
on the vehicle and recharge the battery after starting. Rated output will typically be in the range
50-100 A at 12 V, depending on the designed electrical load within the vehicle. Some cars now
have electrically-powered steering assistance and air conditioning, which places a high load on
the electrical system. Large commercial vehicles are more likely to use 24 V to give sufficient
power at the starter motor to turn over a large diesel engine. Vehicle alternators do not use
permanent magnets and are typically only 50-60% efficient over a wide speed range.
[4]
 Motorcycle alternators often use permanent magnet stators made with rare earth magnets,
since they can be made smaller and lighter than other types. See also hybrid vehicle.
Some of the smallest generators commonly found power bicycle lights. These tend to be 0.5
ampere, permanent-magnet alternators supplying 3-6 W at 6 V or 12 V. Being powered by the
rider, efficiency is at a premium, so these may incorporate rare-earth magnets and are designed
and manufactured with great precision. Nevertheless, the maximum efficiency is only around 80%
for the best of these generators—60% is more typical—due in part to the rolling friction at the
tyre–generator interface from poor alignment, the small size of the generator, bearing losses and
cheap design. The use of permanent magnets means that efficiency falls even further at high
speeds because the magnetic field strength cannot be controlled in any way. Hub generators
remedy many of these flaws since they are internal to the bicycle hub and do not require an
interface between the generator and tyre. Until recently, these generators have been expensive
and hard to find. Major bicycle component manufacturers like Shimano and SRAM have only just
entered this market. However, significant gains can be expected in future as cycling becomes
more mainstream transportation and LED technology allows brighter lighting at the reduced
current these generators are capable of providing.

Sailing yachts may use a water or wind powered generator to trickle-charge the batteries. A
small propeller, wind turbine or impeller is connected to a low-power alternator and rectifier to
supply currents of up to 12 A at typical cruising speeds.

[edit]Engine-generator

Main article:  Engine-generator

An engine-generator is the combination of an electrical generator and an engine (prime mover)

mounted together to form a single piece of self-contained equipment. The engines used are
usually piston engines, but gas turbines can also be used. Many different versions are available -
ranging from very small portable petrol powered sets to large turbine installations.

[edit]Human powered electrical generators

Main article:  Self-powered equipment

A generator can also be driven by human muscle power (for instance, in field radio station
equipment).

Human powered direct current generators are commercially available, and have been the project
of some DIY enthusiasts. Typically operated by means of pedal power, a converted bicycle
trainer, or a foot pump, such generators can be practically used to charge batteries, and in some
cases are designed with an integral inverter. The average adult could generate about 125-200
watts on a pedal powered generator, but at a power of 200 W, a typical healthy human will reach
complete exhaustion and fail to produce any more power after approximately 1.3 hours.
[5]
 Portable radio receivers with a crank are made to reduce battery purchase requirements,
see clockwork radio.

[edit]Linear electric generator

In the simplest form of linear electric generator, a sliding magnet moves back and forth through
a solenoid - a spool of copper wire. An alternating current is induced in the loops of wire
byFaraday's law of induction each time the magnet slides through. This type of generator is used
in the Faraday flashlight. Larger linear electricity generators are used in wave powerschemes.

[edit]Tachogenerator

Tachogenerators are frequently used to power tachometers to measure the speeds of electric

motors, engines, and the equipment they power. Generators generate voltage roughly
proportional to shaft speed. With precise construction and design, generators can be built to
produce very precise voltages for certain ranges of shaft speeds

[edit]See also

Wikimedia Commons has

media related to: Electrical
generators

Energy portal

 Faraday's law of induction

 Alternator