A fluid density sensor based on a resonant tube

Yong Zhu, Dzung Viet Dao and Peter Woodfield

Abstract

A fluid density sensor based on resonance frequency change of a metallic tube is presented. The sensor has been developed without using a complex micro-fabrication process. The sensor is able to identify fluid types/contaminations and improve the performance by reducing testing time, decreasing complexity of testing equipment and reducing sample sizes. The sensor can measure the resonance frequency of its own structure and determine the change in resonance frequency due to the subsequent sample inside the tube. Numerical modelling, analytical modelling and physical testing of a prototype sensor showed comparable results for both the magnitude and resonance frequency shift. The modelling results yielded a resonance frequency shift of 200 Hz from 9.87 kHz to 9.67 kHz after the water was filled into the tube. The actual testing illustrated a resonance frequency change of 280 Hz from 9.11 kHz to 8.83 kHz. The ultimate aim of the work is to determine resonance frequencies of desired samples at a level that could detect genetic disease on a cellular level