Variable Conversion Elements

Instrumentation & Measurements

 Introduction
• We have already observed that outputs from measurement sensors often
take the form of voltage signals. These can be measured using the voltage
indicating and test instruments.
• However, we have also discovered that sensor output does not take the form
of an electrical voltage in many cases.
– Examples of these other forms of sensor output include translational displacements
and changes in various electrical parameters such as resistance, inductance,
capacitance, and current.
• In some cases, the output may alternatively take the form of variations in
the phase or frequency of an a.c. electrical signal.
• We therefore need to have a means of converting sensor outputs that are
initially in some non-voltage form into a more convenient form.
• This can be achieved by putting various types of variable conversion
elements into the measurement system.
 Bridge Circuits
• Bridge circuits are used very commonly as a variable conversion
element in measurement systems and produce an output in the
form of a voltage level that changes as the measured physical
quantity changes.
• They provide an accurate method of measuring resistance,
inductance, and capacitance values and enable the detection of
very small changes in these quantities about a nominal value.
• They are of immense importance in measurement system
technology because so many transducers measuring physical
quantities have an output that is expressed as a change in
resistance, inductance, or capacitance.
– A displacement-measuring strain gauge, which has a varying resistance
output, is but one example of this class of transducers.
 Null-Type d.c. Bridge
(Wheatstone Bridge)
• A null-type bridge with d.c. excitation, known commonly as a
Wheatstone bridge, has the
form shown in Figure 9.1.
• The four arms of the bridge consist of the unknown
resistance Ru, two equal value resistors R2 and R3, and
variable resistor Rv (usually a decade resistance box).
• A d.c. voltage Vi is applied across the points AC, and
resistance Rv is varied until the voltage measured across
points BD is zero.
• This null point is usually measured with a high sensitivity
galvanometer.
Illustration
Continued …..
Deflection-Type d.c. Bridge
Continued ….
Example
Solution
 Case where current drawn by measuring
instrument is not negligible
• For various reasons, it is not always possible to meet
the condition that impedance of the instrument
measuring the bridge output voltage is sufficiently
large for the current drawn by it to be negligible.
• Wherever the measurement current is not
negligible, an alternative relationship between
bridge input and bridge output must be derived that
takes the current drawn by the measuring
instrument into account.
Equivalent circuit by Thevenin’s theorem
Example
Solution
 Error Analysis
• In the application of bridge circuits, the contribution of component
value tolerances to total measurement system accuracy limits must
be clearly understood.
• The analysis given here applies to a null-type (Wheatstone) bridge,
but similar principles can be applied for a deflection-type
bridge.
• The maximum measurement error is determined by first finding the
value of Ru in Equation (9.2) with each parameter in the equation set
at that limit of its tolerance that produces the maximum value of Ru.
• Similarly, the minimum possible value of Ru is calculated, and the
required error band is then the span between these maximum and
minimum values.
Example
Solution
Discussion
Apex balancing
Example
Solution
 A.C. Bridges
• Bridges with a.c. excitation are used to measure
unknown impedances (capacitances and inductances).
• Both null and deflection types exist. As for d.c. bridges,
null types are more accurate but also more tedious to
use.
• Therefore, null types are normally reserved for use in
calibration duties and any other application where very
high measurement accuracy is required.
• Otherwise, in all other general applications, deflection
types are preferred.
Null-type impedance bridge
Continued ….
Maxwell Bridge
Example
Example
Deflection-type a.c. bridge
Illustration
Continued …
Example
Example
 Resistance Measurement
• Devices that convert the measured quantity into a change in
resistance include a resistance thermometer, thermistor, wire-
coil pressure gauge, and strain gauge.
• Standard devices and methods available for measuring change in
resistance, which is measured in units of ohms (Ω), include a d.c.
bridge circuit, voltmeter–ammeter method, resistance–
substitution method, digital voltmeter, and ohmmeter.
• Apart from the ohmmeter, these instruments are normally only
used to measure medium values of resistance in the range of 1
Ω to 1 M Ω, but this range is entirely adequate for all current
sensors that convert the measured quantity into a change in
resistance.
 Methods of Measuring
• d.c. Bridge Circuit
• Voltmeter–Ammet er Method.
• Resistance–Substitution Method.
• Use of Digital Voltmeter to Measur e
Resistance.
• Ohmmeter.
 d.c. Bridge Circuit
• d.c. bridge circuits, as discussed earlier, provide the most
commonly used method of measuring medium value resistance
values.
• The best measurement accuracy is provided by the null output
type Wheatstone bridge, and inaccuracy values of less than ±
0.02% are achievable with commercially available instruments.
• Deflection-type bridge circuits are simpler to use in practice than
the null output type, but their measurement accuracy is inferior
and the nonlinear output relationship is an additional difficulty.
• Bridge circuits are particularly useful in converting resistance
changes into voltage signals that can be input directly into
automatic control systems.
Voltmeter–Ammeter Method
Resistance–Substitution Method
Use of Digital Voltmeter to Measure Resistance

• A digital voltmeter can also be used for

measuring resistance if an accurate current
source is included within it that passes current
through the resistance.
• This can give a measurement inaccuracy as
small as ± 0.1%.
Ohmmeter
Inductance Measurement
Capacitance Measurement
Continued ….
 Current Measurement
• Current measurement is needed for devices such as
the thermocouple-gauge pressure
sensor and the ionization gauge that have an output
in the form of a varying electrical current.
• It is often also needed in signal transmission systems
that convert the measured signal into
a varying current.
• The upper frequency limit for a.c. current
measurement can be raised by rectifying the
current prior to measurement.
 Continued …
• To minimize the loading effect on the measured
system, any current-measuring instrument must
have a small resistance.
• This is opposite of the case for voltage
measurement where the instrument is required
to have a high resistance for minimal
circuit loading.
Measurement of currents
(At both the signal level and higher magnitudes)
Frequency Measurement
 Instruments for Measuring Frequency

• Digital Counter/Timer.
• Phase-Locked Loop.
• Oscilloscope.
• Wien Bridge.
 Digital Counter/Timer
• A digital counter/timer is the most accurate and flexible
instrument available for measuring frequency.
• Inaccuracy can be reduced down to 1 part in 108, and all
frequencies between d.c. and several gigahertz can be
measured.
• The essential component within a counter/timer instrument is
an oscillator , which provides a very accurately known and stable
reference frequency , which is typically either 100 kHz or 1 MHz.
• This is often maintained in a temperature-regulated
environment within the instrument to guarantee its accuracy.
• The oscillator output is transformed by a pulse shaper circuit
into a train of pulses and applied to an electronic gate.
Block Diagram
 Continued ….
• Successive pulses at the reference frequency
alternately open and close the gate.
• The input signal of unknown frequency is
similarly transformed into a train of pulses and
applied to the gate.
• The number of these pulses that get through
the gate during the time that it is open during
each gate cycle is proportional to the frequency
of the unknown signal.
 Phase-Locked Loop
• A phase-locked loop is a circuit consisting of a phase-sensitive detector, a
voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), and amplifiers, connected in a closed
loop system as shown in Figure 9.16.
• In a VCO, the oscillation frequency is proportional to the applied voltage.
• Operation of a phase-locked loop is as follows.
– The phase-sensitive detector compares the phase of the amplified input signal
with the phase of the VCO output.
– Any phase difference generates an error signal, which is amplified and fed back
to the VCO.
– This adjusts the frequency of the VCO until the error signal goes to zero, and thus
the VCO becomes locked to the frequency of the input signal.
– The d.c. output from the VCO is then proportional to the input signal frequency.
Block Diagram
 Oscilloscope
• Many digital oscilloscopes (particularly the more
expensive ones) have a push button on the front panel
that causes the instrument to automatically compute and
display the frequency of the input signal as a numeric
value.
• Where this direct facility is not available (in some digital
oscilloscopes and all analogue ones), two alternative ways
of using the instrument to measure frequency are
available.
– Time-base adjustment.
– Lisajous patterns.
 Time-base adjustment
• The internal time base can be adjusted until the distance
between two successive cycles of the
measured signal can be read against the calibrated
graticule on the screen.
• Measurement accuracy by this method is limited, but can
be optimized by measuring between points in the
cycle where the slope of the waveform is steep, generally
where it is crossing through from the
negative to the positive part of the cycle.
• Calculation of the unknown frequency from this measured
time interval is relatively simple.
 Lisajous patterns
• Lisajous patterns are produced by applying a known
reference frequency sine wave to the y
input (vertical deflection plates) of the oscilloscope
and the unknown frequency sinusoidal signal to the x
input (horizontal deflection plates).
• A pattern is produced on the screen according
to the frequency ratio between the two signals, and
if the numerator and denominator in the ratio of the
two signals both represent an integral number of
cycles, the pattern is stationary.
Wien Bridge
 Phase Measurement
• Instruments that convert the measured variable into a
phase change in a sinusoidal electrical signal include a
transit time ultrasonic flowmeter, radar level sensor, LVDT,
and resolver.
• The most accurate instrument for measuring the phase
difference between two signals is the electronic
counter/timer.
• However, other methods also exist.
• These include plotting the signals on an X–Y plotter using
an oscilloscope and a phase-sensitive detector.
 Instruments for Measuring Phase
• Electronic Counter/Timer.
• X–Y Plotter.
• Oscilloscope.
• Phase-Sensi tive Detector.
Electronic Counter/Timer
Block Diagram
X–Y Plotter
Diagram
Oscilloscope
 Phase-Sensitive Detector
• A phase-sensitive detector can be used to
measure the phase difference between two
signals that have an identical frequency.