Design, Modeling, and Experiment of a Piezoelectric Pressure Sensor Based on a Thickness-Shear-Mode Crystal Resonator

This paper presents the design, modeling, and experimental demonstration of a novel pressure sensor using an AT-cut quartz crystal resonator with beat frequency analysis-based temperature compensation technique. The combination of a compact design of the proposed pie-zoelectric crystal resonator structure and temperature compensation technique has advantages such as high accuracy, low cost, and good performance attributes. The sensor measures pressure and temperature simultaneously with a single AT-cut quartz resonator, thus avoiding the thermal lag problem in the commercial multiresonator-based pressure sensors. The pressure sensor is designed using computer-aided design software and CAE software (COMSOL Multiphysics). Finite-element analysis (FEA) of the pressure sensor is performed to analyze the stress–strain of the sensor's mechanical structure. A 3-D-printing prototype of the sensor was fabricated, and the sensing principle was verified using a force–frequency analysis apparatus. Subsequently, a full-up pressure sensor was fabricated with a stainless steel housing and a built-in crystal oscillator circuit. Based on the FEA and experimental results, we have determined that the maximum pressure the sensor can safely measure is 45 psi. Test results performed on the stainless steel product show a good linear relationship between the input (pressure) and the output (frequency).