Effect of IDT position parameters on SAW yarn tension sensor sensitivity

In this paper, the effect of the interdigital transducer (IDT) position parameters on the surface acoustic wave (SAW) yarn tension sensor sensitivity is investigated. The stress–strain characteristic of substrate was studied by the combination of finite element simulation and regression analysis method. According to this characteristic, the function relationship between the SAW yarn tension sensor sensitivity and the IDT position parameters was built using the regression analysis method. The monotonicity of the regression function was also given. On this basis, a novel sensitivity optimal scheme was proposed and solved by the quadratic programming method. Its solution demonstrates that the optimum sensitivity can be obtained when the IDT is 8.9 mm to the left side of the substrate and the IDT is 0.3 mm to the top edge of the substrate within a domain of the IDT position parameters. The SAW yarn tension sensor with corresponding IDT position parameters was fabricated to validate the correctness of the sensitivity optimal scheme. The measured results indicate that the SAW yarn tension sensor sensitivity can reach 813.69 Hz/g, which confirms that the novel scheme is effective.