General Objective 2-Know The Basic Structure of An Electromechanical Instrument

ELECTRICAL MEASUREMENT &
INSTRUMENTATION I
(CTE 122)
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER ENGINEERING
KADUNA POLYTECHNIC
ENGR. OKPE, Jonah Bameyi
Prepared by Engr. Okpe, Jonah Bameyi ; Department of Computer Engineering, Kaduna Polytechnic, Tudun-Wada, Kaduna, Nigeria
DISCLAIMER
• I have prepared this this document to aid my teaching

assignment with reference from text books and other
notes as sourced, it should not be used as a substitute for
textbooks, and neither should it be commercialized in any
manner. I should not be held accountable for any issues,
legal or otherwise, arising out of use of this NOTES.
General Objective 2:
Know the basic structure of an electromechanical
instrument.
Main parts of Indicating Instruments
Indicating instruments are those which indicate
the value of the quantity under measurement.
The main parts of indicating instruments are:
Pointer.
Pre-Calibrated Scale.
Permanent Magnet
Moving system with spindle, pivoted in

jeweled bearings.
Electromechanical indicating instrument
Electromechanical instruments are electrically operated mechanical
instruments used to measure electrical quantities (Volt, Ampere, Ohm).
For satisfactory operation electromechanical indicating instrument, three

forces are necessary.
They are:
Deflecting force
Controlling force
Damping force
Deflecting force
When there is no input signal to the instrument,

the pointer will be at its zero position.
To deflect the pointer from its zero position, a

force is necessary which is known as deflecting
force.
A system which produces the deflecting force is

known as a deflecting system.
Generally a deflecting system converts an

electrical signal to a mechanical force.
Controlling force
To make the measurement indicated by the pointer definite
(constant) a force is necessary which will be acting in the
opposite direction to the deflecting force.
This force is known as controlling force. A system which

produces this force is known as a controlled system.
When the external signal to be measured by the instrument is

removed, the pointer should return back to the zero position.
This is possibly due to the controlling force and the pointer

will be indicating a steady value when the deflecting torque is
equal to controlling torque.
Td = Tc
The controlling torque is provided in the following ways:
1. Spring control
2. Gravity control
 Spring control
 In this, the spindle of the moving system rests
on two pivots.
 A helical hair spring usually made of
phosphor bronze is attached to the moving
system in such a way that its one end (inner
side) is fixed to the moving system, while the
outer end to a rigid body.
 The stress in the spring exerts, a torque on the
moving mechanism opposite to the motion of
the moving mechanism.
 This torque is proportional to the
angle of deflection.
 Initially when the pointer is at zero

deflected position, the controlling
torque is zero as there exists no stress in
the helical spring.
 At the final deflected position, torque

produced by the spring would become
equal and opposite to deflecting
Spring Control Torque
torque.
 Gravity control
In this method, a small weight is attached to the
moving system in such a way that it gets activated
at the time of deflection and produces a
controlling torque in pro portion to the deflection.
The magnitude of the controlling torque can be

varied by adjusting the position of the controlling
weight upon the arm.
The above figure shows the arrangements and

corresponding positions of the control arm for Gravity Control Torque
zero deflection.
In the zero deflected position of the
pointer, the control weight stands
vertical due to which the force due to
gravity directly acts on the pointer and
no torque exists on the pointer.
As the deflection takes place the control
arm also shifts from vertical position with
an angle to vertical (position) to that of
deflection. Gravity Control Torque
The disadvantages of gravity control are:
i. It gives cramped scale
ii. The instrument has to be kept vertical
However gravity control has the following advantages:
i. It is cheap
ii. It is unaffected by temperature
iii. It is not subjected to fatigue or deterioration with time
Damping force
The deflection torque and controlling torque

produced by systems are electro mechanical.
Due to inertia produced by this system, the

pointer oscillates about it final steady position
before coming to rest. The time required to
take the measurement is more.
To damp out the oscillation quickly, a damping

force is necessary.
Damping force is produced by different systems.
1) Air friction damping
2) Fluid friction damping
3) Eddy current damping
Air friction damping / Air viscous
damping.
In one method – It has an air chamber and a light
piston made of aluminium which is attached to the
moving system.
The piston is mechanically connected to a spindle

through the connecting rod .
The pointer is fixed to the spindle moves over a

calibrated dial.
When the pointer oscillates in clockwise direction,

the piston goes inside and the cylinder gets
compressed.
 The air pushes the piston upwards and the pointer

tends to move in Prepared
anticlockwise direction.
by Engr. Okpe, Jonah Bameyi ; Department of Computer Engineering, Kaduna Polytechnic, Tudun-Wada, Kaduna, Nigeria
If the pointer oscillates in anticlockwise
direction the piston moves away and
the pressure of the air inside cylinder
gets reduced.
The external pressure is more than that

of the internal pressure.
Therefore the piston moves down

wards. The pointer tends to move in
clock wise direction.
In the other method, a light vane which is
made up of aluminum attached to the spindle
where a pointer is also attached.
It moves in a quadrant shaped air chamber.

When the pointer moves, the vane also moves
and compresses the air.
The pressure of the compressed air provides

the necessary damping force to reduce the
oscillations of the pointer.
The vane displaces air and a damping
force is created on the vane that produces
a damping torque on the spindle.
When the spindle is at rest, the damping

force is zero and when the movement is
quicker the damping force is greater.
The vane should not touch the chamber

walls if it happened it will cause serious
errors in the deflection of pointer.
Fluid friction damping
 This form of damping is similar to air friction damping.
 Oil is used in place of air and as the viscosity of oil is
greater, the damping force is also correspondingly greater.
 In this method of damping, a light vane is attached to the
spindle which is dipped in a pot of high viscus damping oil.
 The motion of the moving system is always opposed by the
friction of the damping oil.
 The damping force created increases with the increase in velocity of the vane.
 There exists no damping force when the vane is stationery.
Eddy current damping
 An aluminum circular disc is fixed to
the spindle.
 This disc is made to move in the
magnetic field produced by a
permanent magnet.
 When the disc oscillates it cuts the
magnetic flux produced by damping
magnet.
 An emf is induced in the circular disc
by faradays law.
 Eddy currents are established in the disc
since it has several closed paths.
 By Lenz’s law, the current carrying disc
produced a force in a direction opposite
to oscillating force.
 The damping force can be varied by
varying the projection of the magnet
over the circular disc.
References
A. K. Sawhney. (1985). A Course In Electrical And Electronic Measurements And
Instrumentation (Fourth Edition).
Alan S. Morris. (2005). Measurement and Instrumentation Principles (Third Edition).
Butterworth-Heinemann.
Morris, A. S., & Langari, R. (2012). Measurement and Instrumentation Theory and
Application. Elsevier.
Nbte, & Unesco-nigeria. (2008). Electrical/Electronic Instrumentation I (Issue December
2008). Unesco-nigeria Technical & Vocational Education Revitalisation Project-phase I.
Theraja. (2005). A Textbook Of Electrical Technology: Vol. I (First Multicoloured
Edition).

General Objective 2-Know The Basic Structure of An Electromechanical Instrument

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ELECTRICAL MEASUREMENT &

ENGR. OKPE, Jonah Bameyi

• I have prepared this this document to aid my teaching

The main parts of indicating instruments are:

Moving system with spindle, pivoted in

For satisfactory operation electromechanical indicating instrument, three

When there is no input signal to the instrument,

To deflect the pointer from its zero position, a

A system which produces the deflecting force is

Generally a deflecting system converts an

This force is known as controlling force. A system which

When the external signal to be measured by the instrument is

This is possibly due to the controlling force and the pointer

 Initially when the pointer is at zero

 At the final deflected position, torque

The magnitude of the controlling torque can be

The above figure shows the arrangements and

pointer, the control weight stands

vertical due to which the force due to

gravity directly acts on the pointer and

no torque exists on the pointer.

As the deflection takes place the control

arm also shifts from vertical position with

an angle to vertical (position) to that of

deflection. Gravity Control Torque

i. It gives cramped scale

ii. The instrument has to be kept vertical

However gravity control has the following advantages:

ii. It is unaffected by temperature

iii. It is not subjected to fatigue or deterioration with time

The deflection torque and controlling torque

Due to inertia produced by this system, the

To damp out the oscillation quickly, a damping

1) Air friction damping

2) Fluid friction damping

3) Eddy current damping

The piston is mechanically connected to a spindle

The pointer is fixed to the spindle moves over a

When the pointer oscillates in clockwise direction,

 The air pushes the piston upwards and the pointer

The external pressure is more than that

Therefore the piston moves down

It moves in a quadrant shaped air chamber.

The pressure of the compressed air provides

When the spindle is at rest, the damping

The vane should not touch the chamber

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