UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

LULEA
Dept. of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
EISLAB

Course
Date
Time

SME101
2005-12-20
9.0013.00

Exam in:
Measurement Systems
Teacher:
Johan Carlson, Ext. (ankn.). 2517
Problems:
5 (5 points per problem)
Tools allowed: BETA (Mathematics Handbook), Physics handbook,
Language dictionary, calculator
Text book: Principles of Measurement Systems, by John Bentley

Solutions
1. A thermocouple sensor has an electromotive force (e.m.f.) in V.
E (T ) = 38.74T + 3.319 102 T 2 + 2.071 104 T 3 2.195 106 T 4 ,
for the range 0 to 400 C. For T = 0 C, E(T ) = 0 V and for T = 400 C,
E(T ) = 20 869 V.
(a) Calculate the expression for the ideal straight line relationship, E (T ) = K T.
Solution: According to the text book, the solution should be...
E (400) = 20869 106 V = 400 K
20869
V/ C 52.17 V/ C.
= K =
400
This gives the equation for the ideal straight line as:
EL (T ) = 52.17 T
(in V).
However, the example in the book is wrong, so a better solution would be
based on
E (400) = 22131 106 V,
which gives

22131
= 55. 328 V/ C
400
(b) Determine the sensitivity of the sensor.
)
, which gives
Solution: Sensitivity is defined as dE(T
dT
K=

dE (T )
d
=
38.74T + 3.319 102 T 2 + 2.071 104 T 3 2.195 106 T 4 =
dT
dT
38. 74 + .0 663 8T + 6. 213 104 T 2 8. 78 106 T 3 ,
which is temperature dependent.
1

(c) Determine the maximum non-linearity of the system, as function of the full-scale
(400 C).
Solution: The non-linearity is given by E (T ) EL (T ), where EL (T ) is the
ideal straight line from exercise (1a),
4

x 10

0.5
0

E(T)

0.5
1
1.5
True model
2
2.5
0

Linear approximation
50

100

150
200
250
Temperature, T

i.e.

300

350

400

N (T ) = E (T ) EL (T ) =
= 38.74T + 3.319 102 T 2 + 2.071 104 T 3 2.195 106 T 4 + 55. 328 T
The derivative w.r.t. T is then


d
38.74T + 3.319 102 T 2 + 2.071 104 T 3 2.195 106 T 4 + 52.17 T
dT
= 90. 91 + .0 663 8T + 6. 213 104 T 2 8. 78 106 T 3 ,
Setting to zero and solving we get the maximum nonlinearity at T = 256. 98

C, which gives the maximum non-linearity as percentage of the full-scale:

E (256.98) EL (256.98)
= 100% = 91.8%
E (400)
2. Two strain gauges are bonded onto a cantilever as shown in the figure below. Given
that the gauges are placed halfway along the cantilever and the cantilever is subject
to a downward force F. Use the tabulated data below to:
Cantilever data
Strain gauge data
Length
l = 25 cm
Gauge factor
G = 2.1
Width
w = 6 cm
Unstrained resistance R0 = 120
Thickness
t = 3 mm
Youngs modulus E = 70 109 Pa
2

(a) Calculate the resistance of each strain gauge for F = 0.5 N and F = 10 N .
Solution:
R = GR0 e,
where (from [8.57])
6 (l x)
F,
wt2 E
m. That is, with all the numbers put in
e=

and x = l/2 = 12.5 102

e=

6 (12.5 102 )
F 1. 984 1 105 F.
2
2
3
9
6 10 (3 10 ) 70 10

So, for F = 0.5 N, we get

R1 = R0 (1 + G e) = 120 1 + 2.1 1. 984 1 105 0.5 = 120. 002 5
R2 = R0 (1 G e) = 119. 997 5 .
Similarly, for F = 10 N, we get


R1 = 120 1 + 2.1 1. 984 1 105 10 = 120.05


R2 = 120 1 2.1 1. 984 1 105 10 = 119. 95
(b) Design a resistive deflection bridge suitable for force measurements in the interval in (a). Motivate your design choices clearly.
Solution: See text book or lab.
3. A resistive sensing element with resistance Rp is connected to a deflection bridge
according to the figure below. The supply voltage was measured 10 times and stored
in the vector

T
Vs = 5.02 4.99 5.0 4.98 5.01 4.99 5.01 5.0 5.01 4.98
.
Assume that Rp = 0.1 and R1 = R2 = R3 = 0.05, and that R1 = R2 = R3 = 200
.
(a) Estimate the mean V s and the standard deviation Vs of the supply voltage.
Solution: The mean is given by
N
10
1 X
1 X
Vs =
Vs [n] =
Vs [n] = 4.990
N n=1
10 n=1

The standard deviation is given by

v
u
N
u 1 X

2
t
Vs [n] V s 0.0137
Vs =
N 1 n=1
Note that the book uses
especially for small N .

1
N

even for standard deviation. This is WRONG,

(b) Derive an expression for the total variance, E2 of E, as a function of the resistance Rp , where


R1
R2
E = Vs

.
R1 + Rp R2 + R3
Solution: The total variance is given by

2

2

2

2

2
E
E
E
E
E
2
2
2
2
2
E =
Vs +
R2 +
R2 +
R3 +
R2 p
Vs
R1
R2
R3
Rp
The partial derivatives are:

E
Vs

2

E
R1

2

E
R2

2

E
R3

2

E
Rp

2

R1
R2
=

R1 + Rp R2 + R3
!2
Rp
= Vs
(R1 + Rp )2

2
R3
= Vs
(R2 + R3 )2

2
R2
= Vs
(R2 + R3 )2
!2
R1
= Vs
.
(R1 + Rp )2

2

(c) Looking at a 2E , how much of the total variation does the supply voltage
variation account for, when Rp = 150 ?
Solution: Putting in numerical values, we get

2

2
200
200
150
2
2
E =

(0.0137) + 4.99
0.0025+
200 + 150 200 + 200
(200 + 150)2

2

2
200
200
+ 4.99
0.0025 + 4.99
0.0025+
(200 + 200)2
(200 + 200)2

2
200
+ 4.99
0.01
(200 + 150)2
1. 252 1 106

= 2E = 2 1. 252 1 106 2.2380 103

This corresponds to a 95 % confidence interval for the output, E. The contri-

bution from Vs is


2
2
E
R1
R2
2
Vs =

V2s
Vs
R1 + Rp R2 + R3

2
200
200
=

(0.0137)2
200 + 150 200 + 200
1. 629 4 103
As a percentage of the 2E interval, this is
r 
2
E

V2s
2
Vs
2 9. 576 0 107
=
100 % 87. 45 %.
2E
2.2380 103
4. A temperature measurement system is given in the figure below, with transfer functions of the individual elements as in the figure.
(a) Calculate the dynamic error E (T ) of the system. Which element in the system
is the dominant cause of this error?
Solution: We want to know the dynamic error, E (t), when the system input is
a unit step, u (t). This was unclear in the problem description, but was clarified
during the exam. From [4.45] in the text book we have the system Laplace
transform
1
1
1
1
=
4
s 1 + 10s (1 + 10 s) (1 + 1/200s)2
1
A
B
Cs + D
.
=

+
4
s s + 0.1 s + 10
(s + 200)2

T M (s) =

The error is thus

1
A
B
Cs + D
1

+
=
2
4
s s + 0.1 s + 10
s
(s + 200)
A
B
Cs + D
=

+
,
4
s + 0.1 s + 10
(s + 200)2

E (s) = T M (s) T T (s) =

which gives
h
i
4
E (t) = Ae0.1t + Be10 t + Ee200t (1 + 200t) .
We see that the B and E terms decay rapidly to zero, while the first term takes
about 50 s to decay. Thus, the first block is dominant when it comes to the
dynamic error.
5

(b) Assume that the input temperature is varying as

TT (t) = 5 sin(102 t) + 2 sin (50t) .
What is the output of the system? Explain this behavior.
Solution: Sinusoidal input gives sinusoidal output, with output
|G (j0 )| sin (0 t + arg G (j0 )) .
In this case, |G (j)|, is


 1

1
1
1

|G (j)| = 
j 1 + 10j (1 + 104 j) (1 + 1/200j)2 
With = 102 , this is


 1

1
1
1

 80
=
2
2
2
4
2
j10 1 + 10j10 (1 + 10 j10 ) (1 + 1/200j102 ) 
and with = 50 this is



 1
1
1
1
5


 i50 1 + 10i50 (1 + 104 i50) (1 + 1/200i50)2  4 10 .
The same principle is used to calculate the argument. The important part
here is, however to realize that the 50 Hz part will almost negligible in the
output. This is because the system acts as a low-pass filter. Fast temperature
fluctuations will not be captured using this system.
5. An ultrasonic Doppler flowmeter is used to measure the flowrate of particles suspended in a liquid. The setup is shown in the figure below. The transmitting transducer is transmitting a continuous sound wave at f = 1 MHz and the velocity of the
particles is in the range of 5 to 20 m/s. The angle = 30 , and the speed of sound
in the fluid is c = 1485 m/s.
(a) Explain the working principle of this flowmeter and give an approximate expression for the flow velocity, v, in terms of the Doppler shift f . You may assume
that only the frequency of the Doppler signal is used, not the amplitude.
Hint: You may also assume that v/c is small.
Solution: The motion will cause a frequency shift of the received signal, which
is proportional to the velocity of the fluid. Using the assumptions given in the
problem, we can use equation [16.58] in the text book, giving
2f
(cos ) v
c
cf
= v =
.
2f cos

f =

(b) What is the minimum sampling frequency required for a analog-to-digital converter (ADC) recording f ?
Solution: For a flow of 5 m/s, we have
f5 =

2 106
cos (30 ) 5 5831. 8 Hz
1485

For a flow of 20 m/s we have

2 106
cos (30 ) 20 = 23327 Hz
1485
The sampling theorem states that we need to sample faster than twice the
maxmimum frequency. This means we need to sample faster than 2 23327 =
46654 Hz, i.e. faster than 46.7 kHz.
(c) Mistakes when installing the flowmeter causes the angle to vary randomly around
= 30 , so that the true angle is Gaussian distributed with mean = 30 and
standard deviation = 1 . Determine a 95 % confidence interval (corresponding to 2) for the flow velocity, v. What is the maximum error due to this
misalignment as percentage of the maximum flow velocity?
Solution: From (a) we have
v=

cf
.
2f cos

The variance of the measured velocity is

2

 2
c f
v
2
2
=
sin 2
v =
2

2 f cos
For the numerical values given in the problem, this gives
2v 0.001f.
The maximum error is at the highest velocity, and with an angular error at one
extreme end of the interval. Given that the error is Gaussian, it is unlikely to
have angular errors of more than 3 or 4 . For 20 m/s and an angle of 34 ,
we will receive a f of
f =

2f
2 106
(cos ) v =
(cos 34 ) 20 = 22331 Hz,
c
1485

and given that we believe the angle to be 30 , we will estimate the velocity
according to
cf
1485 22331
v=
=
19. 15 m/s,
2f cos
2 106 cos 30
7

thus the error is

error =

1485 22331
20 0.85 m/s
2 106 cos 30

As a percentage of the full scale velocity this is

0.85
100 % = 4. 25 %
20