Capacitive–Inductive Magnetic Plug Sensor With High Adaptability for Online Debris Monitoring

A capacitive–inductive magnetic plug sensor for online condition monitoring is proposed in this article, which can achieve particle counting, debris measurement, and wear rate estimation. The sensor can detect capacitance and inductance parameters, the coil is the outer electrode to detect the dielectric change in capacitance mode, and the coil directly induces magnetic field disturbance in inductance mode. Through introducing a reference unit, Wheatstone bridge circuits are constructed to enhance the response to debris and reduce the interference of oil temperature and viscosity. A postprocessing circuit with filtering and amplifying functions is adopted to improve accuracy. The sensor output characteristics and debris position effect are studied through the experiment. The comprehensive analysis of the detection results in two modes can improve sensor adaptability and overcome the deficiency of low reliability based on a single detection method. This sensor can provide more accurate debris information for the fault diagnosis of hydraulic equipment and is of great significance for intelligent maintenance.