Vibrating Wire Sensor Using Spectral Analysis

In a system that includes a vibrating wire gauge, a method for estimating a physical property of the system, the method comprising:

• digitizing a response of an excited vibrating wire in a vibrating wire gauge;
• converting the digitized response into a frequency spectrum;
• interpolating the frequency spectrum to determine a resonant frequency of the vibrating wire;
• and
• determining a physical property of the system using the resonant frequency.

A system for estimating the resonant frequency of a vibrating wire in a vibrating wire gauge, the system comprising:

• an interface adapted to connect with a vibrating gauge, wherein data collected from an excited wire in the vibrating gauge is received in the connected interface;
• and
• a processing unit connected to the interface, the processing unit comprising:
• a data acquisition system that samples and generates digitized data from a signal received over the interface from the vibrating gauge;
• and
• computer processing unit that transforms the digitized data into a frequency spectrum and identifies an estimated resonant frequency of the vibrating wire from the frequency spectrum.