Piezoelectric accelerometer

A piezoelectric accelerometer is an accelerometer that employs the piezoelectric effect of certain materials to measure dynamic changes in mechanical variables (e.g., acceleration, vibration, and mechanical shock).

As with all transducers, piezoelectric accelerometers convert one form of energy into another and provide an electrical signal in response to a quantity, property, or condition that is being measured. Using the general sensing method upon which all accelerometers are based, acceleration acts upon a seismic mass that is restrained by a spring or suspended on a cantilever beam, and converts a physical force into an electrical signal. Before the acceleration can be converted into an electrical quantity it must first be converted into either a force or displacement. This conversion is done via the mass spring system shown in the figure to the right.