Piezoelectric based accelerometer design

Today, accelerometers are used to measure mechanical vibrations and acceleration in many fields from automotive to medical sector and space studies. Although it is possible to produce various types of accelerometers with today's technology, piezeoelectric-based accelerometers are widely used due to their advantages. The aim of this thesis is to design a piezoelectric-based accelerometer that can be used in fault detection and early warning systems in industries such as automotive and aerospace where prototype product and development tests require high cost, and to reduce the cost of accelerometer prototypes created by using computer aided design tools with the optained experimental-theoretical comparative data. In the thesis study, first of all, literature research has been done and a preliminary accelerometer design has been created. Determined 14 variables were applied to the model created in the COMSOL - finite element analysis software- and 93 variances were analyzed. Some of these variables were applied on the prototype accelerometer as well. Vibration data collected in the real test setups in the frequency range of 0-10 kHz were compared with the data predicted by COMSOL. These studies were also supported by the acceleration data collected simultaneously with calibrated industrial acceleration sensors. The final design has been decided by considering the physical conditions, geometry, operating frequency range, precision requirement, measurement axis and cost at the application points of the targeted design. It has been observed that the optimized accelerometer produced in accordance with the improved design produces voltage outputs close to the targeted sensitivity values.