Design and test of a novel piezoelectric grain mass flow sensor
Key Laboratory of Modern Agricultural Equipment and Technology, Ministry of Education ＆ Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu 212013, China)
Abstract：To acquire the grain yield information real time, a novel piezoelectric grain mass flow sensor was invented. Processes of single grain impacts on different sensitive elements of sensors which were made of aluminum alloy, steel No.45, ceramic and PVC were simulated respectively in LS-DYNA platform to select right force sensitive element material. Based on the simulation result, aluminum alloy was selected as force sensitive element material. Meanwhile, this sensor′s natural vibration frequency was computed based on the finite element model. From the computing result it′s concluded that this sensor′s natural vibration frequency is different from the combine′s. Furthermore, the program of data acquisition and processing was developed in WINCE platform applying C++ programming language. This sensor′s calibration test shows that its linear relative coefficient is up to 0999 4. Both indoor and farm test results indicate that this sensor is of high precision and prospect for applications.
2011, Vol. 32 
