Effect of taper ratio on 2-D mechanical wind sensors.

In this paper, the effect of sensing-structure taper ratio on two-dimensional (2-D) mechanical wind sensors is demonstrated for the first time. The mechanical wind sensor consists of a sensing structure vertically arranged in the center of a cross cantilever. It detects the wind speed and direction by measuring the airflow-induced cantilever deformation with eight strain gauges attached to the beam surface. Five forms of sensing structures with different taper ratios are designed and manufactured to investigate their effects on the performance of 2-D mechanical wind sensors. A series of experiments are conducted and the results reveal that the taper ratio of the sensing structure can affect the measurement range and the sensitivity of the 2-D mechanical wind sensor. A lower taper ratio results in a higher critical wind speed, which makes the mechanical wind sensor a wider measurement range. Moreover, the results also show that a wider measurement range usually means a lower sensitivity for a single device, and hence the measurement range and the sensitivity of the mechanical wind sensor are a contradiction. The effect rule of the taper ratio presented in this paper can provide a valuable reference for the design and manufacture of 2-D mechanical wind sensors. [Display omitted] • This paper systematically investigates the effect of sensing-structure taper ratio on two-dimensional (2-D) mechanical wind sensors for the first time. In previous work, our group found that once the wind speed exceeded a certain critical value, the cylinder sensing structure of the mechanical wind sensor would vibrate violently, causing the sensor output to shake severely. The presence of this vibration makes the motion of the sensing structure deviate from the prediction of Bernoulli law, and the detection capability of the mechanical wind sensor for higher wind speed is limited. • In the field of fluid mechanics, the wind-induced vibration of circular cylinders placed normal to the flow has been investigated extensively, and the taper ratio of the cylinder has been proved to have important impacts on the critical wind speed. Therefore, in this paper, cylinder sensing structures with different taper ratios are utilized to construct the mechanical wind sensors, and the effects of the taper ratios on the sensor performance are systematically explored by experiments. Based on this investigation, the relationship between the sensing-structure taper ratio and the sensor performance can be clarified, and the mechanical wind sensors can achieve optimized performance. The experimental results presented in this paper can provide a valuable reference for the design and manufacture of 2-D mechanical wind sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]