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We propose a piezoelectric–piezoresistive coupling electric field sensor capable of performing large dynamic range AC electric field measurements. The electric field sensor utilizes direct coupling between piezoelectric (PE) materials and piezoresistive (PR) strain gauges, in conjunction with an external signal conditioning circuit, to measure AC electric fields effectively. We verified the feasibility of the scheme using a finite element simulation, fabricated a prototype of the electric field sensor, and characterized the properties of the prototype. The testing results indicate that the sensor exhibits an ac resolution of 50 V/m and a linear measurable electric field range of 0 to over 200 kV/m, which keeps the linearity at less than 0.94% from 1 Hz to over 5 kHz. Furthermore, the sensor also has advantages, such as a small size and low power consumption. The sensor can enhance the comprehensive observability and measurability of digital power grids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-voltage electric field measurement technology has certain applications in electric field measurement of power systems, but due to the limitation of its measurement accuracy and bandwidth, it cannot be used for the measurement of lightning-impulse voltage. In order to calibrate the nonlinearity of the MV-level lightning-impulse voltage measurement system, this paper proposes the design and implementation of a high-precision inductive wideband electric field measuring sensor (EFMS). The influence of the metal shell on the electric field distribution was simulated, and the influence of the electric field non-uniformity coefficient was studied. The characteristics of the EFMS were tested, and the results showed that the EFMS can accurately reproduce the waveform of lightning-impulse voltage and power-frequency voltage, with a proportionality coefficient of 0.05664 V/(kV/m). In mostly uniform and extremely non-uniform fields, the nonlinearity of the EFMS for impulse voltage is less than ±0.25%, and the nonlinearity of the EFMS for power-frequency voltage is less than 0.1%. It is shown that the EFMS can be used for the nonlinearity calibration of ultra-high voltage impulse measurement devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is an editorial introducing a special issue of the journal Sensors on the topic of sensors and signal analysis for dynamic measurement in industrial processes. The editorial highlights the importance of dynamic measurement in industrial processes and the challenges it presents. It also provides a brief overview of the ten accepted papers in the special issue, which cover various topics such as multiphase flow measurement, system calibration, flow boiling monitoring, and high-voltage electric field measurement. The editorial concludes by stating that the papers in the special issue provide valuable insights for researchers in various fields and contribute to the development of related areas. [Extracted from the article]

A three-dimensional (3D) electric field sensing scheme is proposed and experimentally demonstrated based on an integrated lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) platform. The 3D measurement is realized by packing three LNOI-based sensor chips in a triangular-prism-type clamp. For each sensor chip, the optical waveguide has an asymmetrical Michelson interferometer architecture, and the tapered dipole antenna is inclined to the optical waveguide. By finely placing the three sensor chips in the clamp, the three pairs of inclined tapered dipole antennas are mutually orthogonal and can be applied to measure the electric field in three orthogonal polarization directions. The volume of the packaged 3D sensor is 9.5 cm3. In the experiment, a flat response in the frequency range of 10 MHz to 3 GHz is demonstrated. In addition, a 3 × 3 response calibration matrix is obtained and utilized to reduce the measurement error. After calibration, the relative measurement error of the electric field amplitude is smaller than 5.1% for every polarization direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional contact voltage measurement requires a direct electrical connection to the system, which is not easy to install and maintain. The voltage measurement based on the electric field coupling plate capacitance structure does not need to be in contact with the measured object or the ground, which can avoid the above problems. However, most of the existing flat-plate structure voltage measurement sensors are not only expensive to manufacture, but also bulky, and when the relative position between the wire under test and the sensor changes, it will bring great measurement errors, making it difficult to meet actual needs. Aiming to address the above problems, this paper proposes a multi-electrode array structure non-contact voltage sensor and signal processing algorithm. The sensor is manufactured by the PCB process, which effectively reduces the manufacturing cost and process difficulty. The experimental and simulation results show that, when the relative position of the wire and the sensor is offset by 10 mm in the 45° direction, the relative error of the traditional single-electrode voltage sensor is 17.62%, while the relative error of the multi-electrode voltage sensor designed in this paper is only 0.38%. In addition, the ratio error of the sensor under the condition of power frequency of 50 Hz is less than ±1% and the phase difference is less than 4°. The experimental results show that the sensor has good accuracy and linearity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An overview of the electric field mill sensor specifications in applications related to the measurement of the atmospheric electric field was conducted. The different design approaches of the field mill sensor interface are presented and analyzed, while the sensitivity-related parameters of a field mill are discussed. The design of a non-complex analog sensor interface that can be employed for the measurement of the electric field in both fair and foul weather conditions, such as thunderstorms, is implemented using discrete components for experimental validation and is optimized in an integrated version in terms of noise and power consumption. Advanced noise simulations are conducted in a 180 nm CMOS process (XH018 XFAB). The energy-autonomous operation of the sensor for extended periods of time is made feasible due to the low power consumption of the front-end circuitry (165 μW at 3 V) as well as the proposed intermittent style of operation of the motor. The total sensing system is low power, and its realization is simple and cost-effective, while also offering adequate sensitivity (45 mV/kV/m), making it comparable to the existing works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the major concerns in the development of three-dimensional (3D) electric field sensors (EFSs) is their susceptibility to cross-axis coupling interference. The output signal for each sensing axis of a 3D EFS is often coupled by electric field components from the two other orthogonal sensing axes. In this paper, a one-dimensional (1D) electric field sensor chip (EFSC) with low cross-axis coupling interference is presented. It is designed to be symmetrical, forming a pair of in-plane symmetrically-located sensing structures. Using a difference circuit, the 1D EFSC is capable of sensing parallel electric fields along symmetrical structures and eliminating cross-axis coupling interference, which is contrast to previously reported 1D EFSCs designed for perpendicular electric field component measurement. Thus, a 3D EFS with low cross-axis coupling interference can be realized using three proposed 1D EFSCs. This 3D EFS has the advantages of low cross-axis coupling interference, small size, and high integration. The testing and calibration systems of the proposed 3D EFS were developed. Experimental results show that in the range of 0–120 kV/m, cross-axis sensitivities are within 5.48%, and the total measurement errors of this 3D EFS are within 6.16%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the operating specifications of existing electric field measuring instruments, measuring technicians must be located far from the instruments to eliminate the influence of the human body occupancy on a spatial electric field. Nevertheless, in order to develop a portable safety protection instrument with an effective electric field warning function for working staff in a high-voltage environment, it is necessary to study the influence of an approaching human body on the measurement of an electric field and to correct the measurement results. A single-shaft electric field measuring instrument called the Type LP-2000, which was developed by our research team, is used as the research object in this study. First, we explain the principle of electric field measurement and describe the capacitance effect produced by the human body. Through a theoretical analysis, we show that the measured electric field value decreases as a human body approaches. Their relationship is linearly proportional. Then, the ratio is identified as a correction coefficient to correct for the influence of human body proximity. The conclusion drawn from the theoretical analysis is proved via simulation. The correction coefficient kb = 1.8010 is obtained on the basis of the linear fitting of simulated data. Finally, a physical experiment is performed. When no human is present, we compare the results from the Type LP-2000 measured with Narda EFA-300 and the simulated value to verify the accuracy of the Type LP-2000. For the case of an approaching human body, the correction coefficient kb* = 1.9094 is obtained by comparing the data measured with the Type LP-2000 to the simulated value. The correction coefficient obtained from the experiment (i.e., kb*) is highly consistent with that obtained from the simulation (i.e., kb). Two experimental programs are set; under these programs, the excitation voltages and distance measuring points are regulated to produce different electric field intensities. Using kb = 1.9094, the corrected measurement of electric field intensity can accurately reflect the original environmental electric field intensity, and the maximal error is less than 6% in all the data comparisons. These results verify the effectiveness of our proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

D-dot sensors can realize the non-contact measurement of transient electric fields, which is widely applied to electromagnetic pulse (EMP) measurements with characteristics of the wide frequency band, high linearity, and good stability. In order to achieve accurate calibration of D-dot sensors in the laboratory environment, this paper proposed a new calibration method based on system identification. Firstly, the D-dot sensor can be considered as a linear time-invariant (LTI) system under corner frequency, thus its frequency response can be characterized by the transfer function of a discrete output error (OE) model. Secondly, based on the partial linear regression of the transfer function curve, the sensitivity coefficient of the D-dot sensor is obtained. By increasing the influence weight of low-frequency components, this proposed method has better calibration performance when the waveform is distorted in the time domain, and can artificially adapt to the operating frequency range of the sensor at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]