Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Anderson's Bridge
Anderson's Bridge
The arms AD, BC, and CD consist of standard non-inductive resistances R2,
R3, and R4 of known value. It consists of extra junction E to which a variable
resistor r is connected between E and D, a fixed capacitor between E and C, and a
null indicator or detector between E and B.
Operation and Theory of Anderson’s Bridge :
Let,
When the bridge is balanced the same current will also pass through R 3 (in
arm BC) i.e., I1 = I3. Thus the drop I3 R3 (i.e., V3) lies along the phasor I1. Also, we
know that the potential between junctions BC will be equal to the potential
between junctions EC. Hence V3 = Ic/ωC and the drop Ic r in the resistor r will lie
along with Ic.
When the potential across the detector is zero (balanced condition) V4 will be
equal to VEC. Thus V4 is nothing but the sum of drop, in resistor r, and VEC or V3.
Adding the drop Ic r to the V3 we get V4 (i.e., drop I4 R4 in arm CD), also the current
I4 lies along with V4.
Also, when the bridge is at balance condition, the current I2 is the sum of the
currents Ic and I4, also the drop V2 (i.e., I2 R2) in arm AD due to I2 lies along with it.
Therefore, the resultant of the phasors V1 and V3 or V2 and V4 gives supply voltage
V.
Advantages of Anderson's Bridge :
• The problem of sliding balance condition normally faced with low Q
coils is overcome in Anderson's bridge. This is because both the
variable resistances to be adjusted are independent of each other.
Hence, the balance can be obtained easily.
• Instead of a variable capacitor, a fixed capacitor can be used. This
makes the bridge cheaper than Maxwell's bridge.
• Determination of unknown capacitance in terms of known inductance
is also possible.
• The expression for self-inductance of the coil does not change even
with the use of an imperfect capacitor (i.e., the capacitor with
dielectric loss). Instead, only the value of coil resistance is affected.
• For more precise measurements, a second balance is obtained by
short-circuiting the coil, and the inductance of coil leads is calculated.
Finally, the actual self-inductance of the coil is obtained by subtracting
the values of inductances obtained in both the measurement cases.
Disadvantages of Anderson's Bridge :
• The Anderson's bridge (which is a modified form of Maxwell's bridge)
is more complex in terms of circuit connections and computations
when compared to Maxwell's bridge due to the increase in the number
of components used in the circuit.
• The balance equation calculations are also complicated than Maxwell's
bridge calculations.
• Shielding of the bridge circuit is difficult as an additional junction
point is introduced in the circuit.