Research on a Micro Pulsating Flow Sensor Based on Piezoelectric Film

This paper demonstrates a micro pulsating flow sensor for measuring the pulsating flow rate in small silicone rubber pipelines. The micro pulsating flow sensor with a sensitive structure based on piezoelectric film was designed and fabricated, and the method for measuring the pulsating flow rate through measuring the pressure fluctuation of pulsating flow was proposed. The relationship between fluctuating pressure and pulsating flow rate in small pipeline was theoretically analyzed under unsteady flow condition, and the measurement mechanism model was established. An experimental platform for pulsating flow measurement was built, the measurement mechanism model was verified and the performance of the micro pulsating flow sensor was tested. The experimental results show that within the flow rate range 0.015 m/s - 0.045 m/s, the average measurement error of the micro pulsating flow sensor is no more than 3.04%, and the repeatability is no more than 1.68%. The experimental results have shown that the fabricated micro pulsating flow sensor sample has good measurement performance.