High Precision Resonant Sensor Evaluation with Application to Fluid Sensing

A general performance estimation method for resonant sensors, applicable to a wide class of electromechanical transducers is shown. The approach is demonstrated for the challenging example of a resonating viscosity and density sensor suitable for oil condition monitoring, fuel or biological sample analysis. The ultimate sensor precision and the separability of density and viscosity from measured frequency spectra are estimated. It will be shown that an accuracy comparable to that of laboratory instruments can be achieved by using adequate resonating structures in conjunction with an optimized measurement chain. Results obtained with an optimized measurement system designed for online oil condition monitoring are shown.