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MEMS accelerometers for mechanical vibrations analysis: a comprehensive review with applications

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Abstract

In this paper, the use of MEMS accelerometers for measuring mechanical vibrations is presented. Also a wide review of the literature is performed by presenting the uses of the MEMS accelerometers in a great number of applications. These sensors are known for their low prices, low power consumption and low sizes, which enhance their use in applications such as energy harvesters, monitoring processes and for educational purposes. In order to propose these sensors for measuring vibrations, a complete evaluation of the MEMS accelerometers was performed by measuring amplitudes and frequencies of oscillations and comparing their dynamic characteristics with other accelerometers with higher precision. Moreover, two experiments were conducted: In the first one, the measurements of the amplitude given by a MEMS and a standard accelerometer while being excited with sinusoidal waves with different frequencies using a vibration exciter were taken and compared. For the second experiment, three MEMS sensors and a piezoelectric accelerometer were used to measure the accelerations of a 3-DOF shear-building excited by an unbalanced DC motor. The signals obtained were compared in the time and frequency domains; for the last case, the wavelet transform, the wavelet coherence and the power spectrum density were used.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for the support.

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Correspondence to Marcus Varanis.

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Technical Editor: Wallace Moreira Bessa, D.Sc.

Appendix: A linkage diagrams

Appendix: A linkage diagrams

For the ADXL-335, there are five attachments in the breakout board: three of them are responsible for the acceleration data output corresponding to the three Cartesian coordinates x, y and z; and the other two are the 5 V and the ground linkage responsible for power supply. Figure 17 shows the connection between the accelerometer and the Arduino board.

The ADXL-345 is connected to the Arduino microcontroller by means of the I2C protocol, for such the connection is made connecting the VCC, the GND, the SCA and the SCL pins of the breakout board with corresponding pins in the Arduino board. This connection can also be consulted in Fig. 18. In addition, the connection of the MPU-6050 with the Arduino is similar to the ADXL-345, and it can be seen in Fig. 19.

Fig. 17
figure 17

Linkage diagram of the ADXL-335 sensor

Fig. 18
figure 18

Linkage diagram of the ADXL-345 sensor

Fig. 19
figure 19

Linkage diagram of the MPU-6050 sensor

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Varanis, M., Silva, A., Mereles, A. et al. MEMS accelerometers for mechanical vibrations analysis: a comprehensive review with applications. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 40, 527 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-018-1445-5

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