Piezoelectric ceramic sensor (PZT) applied to electric current measurements

This work presents an experimental current measurement set based on a Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) ceramic for AC (60 Hz) current measurement. The proposed device is built using a PZT rectangular plate ceramic with one fixed end. A permanent magnet is mounted to the other end of the plate. The interaction between a magnetic field (B) and the device creates a mechanical vibration. Due to the piezoelectric effect, a voltage is presented at the output terminals of the device. This output is proportional to the magnitude of the current flowing in the wire. We present experimental results of the AC 60 Hz current measurement on the 15–110 A. The good sensitivity of the device (approximately 20 mV/A) for a distance of 1.5 cm between device and the magnetic B-field source must be highlighted.