Design and Prototype Production of an Axial Displacement Measurement System by Using LVDT for Propeller Shaft Development Process

Propeller shafts are responsible to transmit torque and rotational movement from an engine to related equipment. In addition, propeller shafts compensate axial and angular movement. Various data are acquired on propeller shafts in real-time because it is dynamic and challenging working conditions. These data provide health monitoring opportunity and information about propeller shaft. Also, these data are used for product design and development process. Data acquisition on propeller shafts is one of the most important subjects for design issue. There is a demand to acquire data like temperature, stress or displacement which sustain functionality. Propeller shaft's sliding part that compensates the axial movement is a special example for this data acquisition need. In this paper, it is focused on how to measure axial displacement on a propeller shaft during field and rig tests. A linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) sensor was designed to detect the axial movement in the slip assembly of the propeller shaft. A signal conditioner circuit was built with AD598 for the signal processing. The system prototype was produced and tested. The sensor measurement range was optimized according to propeller shaft's slip assembly travel distance.