Why we use Negative Voltage in Vibration Measurement?

As a 20-year Bently Nevada employee, and as someone responsible for answering

such questions over the years within our company as well as externally, allow me to
explain the rather interesting circumstances behind the use of negative voltages (-24
vdc) for powering eddy current vibration oscillator/demodulator devices. I will then
proceed to explain the operating principles behind the eddy current proximity probe
and how it converts physical gap between the probe and its target into a voltage.

First, the question of negative voltage. The short answer is that When Don Bently
worked on making solid-state versions of the eddy-current measurement system (it
was actually originally designed in the 1930s by GE engineers using vacuum tubes),
he had a choice between using N-P-N transistors or P-N-P transistors. At the time,
transistors were quite expensive, so he chose the least expensive of the two: P-N-P
(apparently, PNP transistors they were less expensive to manufacture 50 years ago
than their NPN counterparts).

Because the circuits used PNP transistors, a negative bias voltage was required
rather than a positive bias voltage. Don chose -18V. This was later changed to -24V
to allow more linear range from the transducer.

At that time, the industrial instrumentation community had not yet standardized on
+24 vdc, and by the time they did, there were so many Bently Nevada eddy current
vibration sensors installed that changing to +24V rather than -24V was not greeting
with enthusiasm by users. Hence, it has remained -24V to this day.

This was not a deliberate effort to “be different” or “non-conformist” on the part of
Bently Nevada. It was quite literally based on which components were the least
expensive when the technology was originally introduced 50-plus years ago.

Now, the question of how an eddy-current proximity probe works:

An eddy-current probe works by passing an alternating current through a coil of

wire and measuring the coil’s impedance. This impedance changes when the probe is
brought near an electrically conductive material and the impedance change is
proportional to the physical gap between the coil and the conductive target. The
sensing electronics in turn convert this impedance change to a voltage, providing an
electrical output directly proportional to physical gap which is directly proportional
to vibration.