Properties of engine oil measured using a surface acoustic wave sensor

Abstract

Shear horizontal surface acoustic wave (SH-SAW) devices are used as sensors for liquid measurements. Liquid properties, such as viscosity and conductivity, can be measured using SH-SAW sensors. Measurements of the deterioration of engine oil are required. In this study, an SH-SAW sensor was applied to measure the properties of three types of oil. First, the properties of olive oils with iron particles were measured to simulate the deterioration of oil. Secondly, two types of engine oil were heated to evaluate the thermal changes in their properties. The properties of the engine oil used by a motorbike for about one year were measured and compared with those of the new one. The obtained results in this study strongly suggest that the SH-SAW sensors for detecting the mechanical and electrical properties of liquids were effective in measuring the properties of oil.

Feasibility Study on Shear Horizontal Surface Acoustic Wave Sensors for Engine Oil Evaluation

“…The results obtained from the differential signal between Ch.1 and Ch.2 are shown in Figure 13 in Reference [16] (also see Figures 7a,b and 14). The results obtained from Ch.1 are shown in Figure 4.…”

“…The used engine oil was extracted from a scooter (JBH-SA39J, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd., Iwata, Japan), that had travelled 6000 km. Photographs of the engine oils are shown in Figure 12 in Reference [16]. Observation results of the engine oils with a microscope are shown in Figure 3.…”

“…A shear horizontal surface acoustic wave (SH-SAW) sensor can detect liquid properties such as viscosity, density, relative permittivity, conductivity, and loaded mass on the SH-SAW propagating surface [13][14][15][16]. The detection mechanism of the mechanical properties and loaded mass occurs through the mechanical perturbation, and the electrical perturbations constitute the mechanism for the electrical properties [13,15,17].…”

“…In our previous research, the new and used engine oils were measured using the SH-SAW sensor [16]. The used engine oil was extracted from a motorbike, with a recorded travel distance of 6000 km.…”

“…The used engine oil was extracted from a motorbike, with a recorded travel distance of 6000 km. The difference between the new and used oils could not be explained from the experimental results by using olive oil, which has almost the same viscosity with the new engine oil [16]. In this paper, three types of the experiments were carried out to explain the differences between the oils: (1) influences of the particles, (2) heating and oxidization, and (3) influences of water in the oil for feasibility study.…”