Piezoelectric Accelerometer

What Does Piezoelectric Accelerometer Mean?

A piezoelectric accelerometer is a device that uses mechanical vibrations to measure acceleration on a surface. The piezoelectric accelerometer converts mechanical energy and motion into electrical energy proportional to the applied acceleration.

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Techopedia Explains Piezoelectric Accelerometer

The piezoelectric accelerometer’s operational principle measures and converts mechanical force into an electric signal.

Piezoelectric accelerometers work when mechanical force is exerted on the accelerometer. This force is applied directly on to the piezoelectric material, usually crystals, which modifies its internal alignment of negative and positive ions and results in accumulation of a charge on the opposite surface.

This charge is calculated as the voltage generated by the piezoelectric material or the accelerometer, when being exposed to stress or vibration. Piezoelectric accelerometers have various implementations and applications in industrial devices and applications that rely on the evaluation of mechanical force and vibrations for their operation.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…