Measurement

And
Instrumentations
DR. Eng. Samir Elshamy

1 DR. Eng. Samir Elshamy

MEASUREMENT SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
The treatment of instrument and measurement system
characteristics can be divided into two distinct categories:
(i) Static characteristics
(ii) Dynamic characteristics.

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• Static Characteristics.
• Some applications involve the measurement of quantities that
are either constant or vary slowly with time.
• Normally static characteristics of a measurement system are,
in general, those that must be considered when the system or
instrument is used to measure a condition not varying with
time.

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• Dynamic Characteristics.
• However many measurements are concerned with rapidly
varying quantities and, therefore, for such cases we must
examine the dynamic relations which exist between the output
and the input.

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• STATIC CALIBRATION
• The static calibration refers to a situation wherein all inputs, whether
desirable or undesirable, interfering or non-interfering, modifying or
non-modifying are kept constant at one time except for one input. This
input which is under study is varied over some range of constant values,
causing the output or outputs to vary over some range of values. This
procedure is repeated for every other input of interest thereby
developing a family of output-input relationships.

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• The calibration of all instruments is important since it affords
the opportunity to check the instrument against a known
standard thereby helping in evaluation of errors and
accuracy. Calibration procedures involve a comparison of the
particular instrument with either:
1) A primary standard
2) A secondary standard with a higher accuracy than the
instrument to be calibrated
3) An instrument of known accuracy.

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STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
The main static characteristics discussed here are:
(i) Accuracy
(ii) Sensitivity
(iii) Reproducibility
(iv) Drift
(v) Static error and
(vi) Dead Zone
• The qualities (i), (ii) and (iii) are desirable,
• while qualities (iv), (v) and (vi) are undesirable.
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ERRORS IN MEASUREMENTS
• Measurements done in a laboratory or at some other place
always involve errors.
• No measurement is free from errors.
• If the precision of the equipment is adequate, no matter what
its accuracy is, a discrepancy will always be observed
between two measured results.

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TRUE VALUE
• the average of an infinite number of measured values when the average
deviation due to the various contributing factors tends to zero.
• Such an ideal situation is impossible to realize in practice and hence it
is not possible to determine the "True Value" of a quantity by
experimental means.
• The reason for this is that the positive deviations from the true value do
not equal the negative deviations and hence do not cancel each other.

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STATIC ERROR
• The most important characteristic of an instrument or
measurement system is its accuracy,
• which is the agreement of the instrument reading with the true
value of quantity being measured.
• The accuracy of an instrument is measured in terms of its
error

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• We have mentioned earlier that it is impossible to measure the
true value of a quantity.
• An approximation of the "true value" obtained by sufficiently
extended series of measurements and also taking into account
parameters and conditions to which corrections may be applied,
we obtain, what is called the best measured value of the quantity.
• While it is never possible to measure the true or exact value of a
quantity, it is nearly always possible to give a best measured
value.
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• Static error is defined as the difference between the measured
value and the true value of the quantity.
𝛿A = Am – At

𝛿A = error,
Am = measured value of quantity,
At = true value of quantity.
𝛿A is also called the absolute static error of quantity A.
∈𝑂 = 𝛿A
∈𝑂 = absolute static error of quantity A (under measurement).
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SCALE RANGE AND SCALE SPAN
• In an analog indicating instrument the value of measured is
indicated on a scale by a pointer while in a recording instrument
it is indicated on a chart by a pen mechanism.
• The choice of proper range for instruments is important in
instrumentation.
• The instrument Range is given by : Range = Xmax
• The instrument span is given by : Span = Xmax - Xmin
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• For a pyrometer calibrated between 0 to 1000C, the range is
1000oC and span is also 1000C.
• For a thermometer calibrated between 200 to 500 C, the range
is 500 C but the span is 500 – 200 = 300C.
• For a thermometer having a calibration of – 40 C to + 400 C
the range is 400 C and the span is 400 – (- 40) = 440 C.

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SCALE READABILITY
• The scale readability is a term frequently used for analog type instruments.
• This indicates the closeness with which the scale of an analog type of
instrument can be read.
• It is obvious that this characteristic depends on both the instrument and the
observer.
• For example, an instrument having a scale span of 200 mm would have
higher readability than an instrument having a scale span of 100 mm. Also,
it is clear that a more discriminating observer will give an instrument a
better readability than an observer having lesser discriminating powers.

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Repeatability
• describes the closeness of output readings, when the same input is
applied repetitively over a short period of time with the same
measurement conditions, same instrument and observer, same location
and same conditions of use maintained throughout.

Reproducibility
• describes the closeness of output readings for the same input when
there are changes in the method of measurement, observer, measuring
instrument, location, conditions of use and time of measurement.
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No Drift means that with a given input the measured values do not
change with time.
• Drift may be classified into three categories:
1) Zero Drift
2) Span Drift or Sensitivity Drift
3) Zonal Drift

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Zero Drift.
If the whole calibration gradually shifts due to slippage, permanent set, or
due to undue warming up of electronic tube circuits, zero drift sets in. This
can be prevented by zero setting. The input-output characteristics with zero
drift are shown in Fig

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Span Drift or Sensitivity Drift
If there is proportional change in the indication all along the upward scale, the
drift is called span drift or sensitivity drift. The characteristics with span drift are
shown in Fig.

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Zonal Drift.
In case the drift occurs only over a portion of span of an instrument, it is called
zonal drift. or characteristics with both zero and span drift

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• There, are many environmental factors which cause drift.
• They may be stray electric and magnetic fields, thermal emfs, changes
in temperature, mechanical vibrations, wear and tear, and high
mechanical stresses developed in some parts of the instruments and
systems.

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 Accuracy and Precision

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LINEARITY
• One of the best characteristics of an instrument or a measurement
system is considered to be linearity, that is, the output is linearly
proportional to the input.
• Most of the systems require a linear behavior as it is desirable.

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DEAD TIME
• Dead time is defined as the time required by a
measurement system to begin to respond to a change in the
measured.
• Dead time, in fact, is the time before the instrument begins
to respond after the measured quantity has been changed.

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DEAD ZONE
• It is defined as the largest change of input quantity for which
there is no output of the instrument.
• For example, the input applied to the instrument may not be
sufficient to overcome the friction and will, in that case, not
move at all.
• It will move only when the input is such that it produces a
driving force which can overcome friction forces.
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Thanks for your
kind attention
30 DR. Eng. Samir Elshamy