A Novel Acoustic Filtering Sensor for Real-Time Tension Monitoring of Hoist Wire Ropes

The real-time tension monitoring of wire ropes is a universal way to judge whether the hoist is overloaded in the special working environment of the coal mine. However, due to the strong drafts, unevenness of guide and flexible vibration of wire ropes, it is a challenge to monitor the tension with high accuracy. For this purpose, a new type of acoustic filtering sensor is designed in this study. To adapt to the violent vibration during the monitoring process, a structure with a cylindrical cavity and a narrow gap is designed in the sensor. The coupling between the internal fluid and sensor structure can greatly absorb the vibration energy. With the view of optimizing the filtering performance of the sensor, the influences on the filtering characteristics are presented and analyzed through employing different structural and acoustic parameters in simulations. Finally, acoustic filtering sensor prototypes based on optimized parameters are calibrated and tested in a real coal mine. The results have revealed that our acoustic filtering sensor can not only address the deficiencies of current pressure sensors in coal mining and achieve tension monitoring in real-time, but is also able to diagnose and forecast the occurrence of tension imbalance accidents.