Digital Wire Analyzer of Mechanical Tension, Electrical Continuity, and Isolation

Abstract

A digital instrument that allows the measurement of the mechanical tension of an array of wires of known length and density, and the testing of their electrical continuity and isolation, has been developed. The instrument measures wire tension by measuring the fundamental frequency of the wire. Its working principle is to apply direct high voltages on neighboring wires of a wire under test and sweeping the frequency of an alternating high voltage that is also applied on those neighbors. A resonance is observed in the readout signal of the middle wire when the frequency of the alternating high voltage coincides with its fundamental frequency. The instrument automates the process over 128 wires, with eight read out simultaneously. An accuracy of 1% in the measurement of tension is achieved by this digital wire analyzer (DWA).