Chapter 1

Engineering Experimentation and

Measurement

Dr. Ing. Wondwossen Bogale

Director of University Industry-Linkage and Technology
Transfer – Addis Ababa University,
Coordinator , Ethio -European Business Innovation Center
and
Assistant Professor at Addis Ababa University

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 Personal Information
• BSc in Mechanical Engineering – Mekelle Univeristy

• MSc in Mechanical Systems design - Politecnico di Milano, Italy

• PhD in Energy and Nuclear Science - Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Areas of Expertise
• Energy recovery from Biomass and Waste

 Combustion, gasification and Pyrolysis

• Wind Energy Assessment

• Modelling and Simulation of convectional power plants

• Biogas plant and Biogas upgrading

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 Personal Information

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 Personal Information

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 Personal Information

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 Personal Information

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 Preparation of Charcoal from paper

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 Preparation of Charcoal from agricultural wastes

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 Preparation of Charcoal from Flower waste

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Preparation of Charcoal from Flower waste

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 Diesel Production from used Tire

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 Introduction
• Experimentation is the backbone of modern
physical science.
• In engineering, carefully designed experiments are
needed to conceive and verify theoretical
concepts, develop new methods and products,
commission sophisticated new engineering systems,
and evaluate the performance and behavior of
existing products.
• Experimentation and the design of measurement
systems are major engineering activities.

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 Why Measurement ?

• Measurement is the first step that leads to

control and eventually to improvement
• If you can’t measure something, you can’t
understand it. If you can’t understand it, you
can’t control it. If you cant control it, you
can’t improve it. What gets measured gets
done. One accurate measurement is worth a
thousand expert opinions.
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 Why Measurement ?
• There is no science without measurements, no
quality without testing, and no global markets
without standards (Commission of the European
Union)
• The life and soul of science is its practical application.
• When you can measure what you are speaking
about, and express it in numbers, you know
something about it; but when you cannot measure
it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your
knowledge of it is of a meager and unsatisfactory
kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but
you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced it to
the stage of science (Sir William Thompson, Lord
Kelvin (1824-1907))
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 Introduction
• To design the experiment, the engineer must be
able to specify the physical variables to be
investigated and the role they will play in later
analytical work.
• Then, to design or procure the instrumentation
for the experiment, the engineer must have a
knowledge of the governing principles of a
broad range of instruments.
• Finally, to analyze the data, the experimental
engineer must have a combination of keen
insight into the physical principles of the
processes being investigated and a knowledge
of the limitations of the data.
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 Introduction
• Measurement System : This term measurement system
includes all components in a chain of hardware and
software that leads from the measured variable to
processed data.
• In a modern automobile there are as many as 40 –50
sensors (measuring devices) used in implementing
various functions necessary to the operation of the car.
• Knowledge of the instruments available for various
measurements, how they operate, and how they
interface with other parts of the system is essential
for every engineer.
• Modern engineering systems rely heavily on a multitude
of sensors for monitoring and control to achieve
optimum operation.
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 Introduction
• Research involves a combination of analytical and
experimental work.
• The theoretician strives to explain or predict the
results of experiments on the basis of analytical
models which are in accordance with fundamental
physical principles
• In some cases the theories are modified or revised
to take into account the results of the new
experimental data.

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 Introduction

• Science proposes hypotheses or theories

based on observations and these need to be
validated with carefully performed
experiments that use many measurements.
• When once a theory has been established it
may be used to make predictions which may
themselves be confirmed by further
experiments.
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 Example: Experimental vs. Model

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 Disasters due to measurement Errors

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 The Mars Climate Orbiter
• Designed to orbit Mars as the first interplanetary
weather satellite, the Mars Orbiter was lost in 1999
because the Nasa team used metric units while a
contractor used imperial.
• The $125m probe came too close to Mars as it tried to
manoeuvre into orbit, and is thought to have been
destroyed by the planet's atmosphere.
• An investigation said the "root cause" of the loss was
the "failed translation of English units into metric
units" in a piece of ground software.

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 The "Gimli Glider"
• In 1983, an Air Canada flight ran out of fuel above Gimli,
Manitoba.
• Canada had switched to the metric system in 1970, and the
plane is reported to have been Air Canada's first aircraft to
use metric measurements.
• The plane's on-board fuel gauge was not working, so the
crew used measuring "dripsticks" to check how much fuel the
plane took on during refuelling. Things went wrong when
they converted this measurement of volume into one of
weight.
• They got the number right, but the unit wrong - mistaking
pounds of fuel for kilograms. As a result the plane was
carrying about half as much fuel as they thought.
• Luckily, the pilot was able to land the plane safely on the
Gimli runway, giving the plane the nickname "Gimli Glider".
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1.1. Application of Eng’g Experimentation and Measurement

• Engineering measurement applications can

broadly be broken into two categories.
• The first of these is measurement in
engineering experimentation, in which new
information is being sought, and the second
is measurement in operational devices for
monitoring and control purposes.

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 1.1.1. Measurement in Engineering Experimentation

• Engineering experimentation, which in a

general sense involves using the measurement
process to seek new information, ranges in
scope from experiments to establish new
concepts all the way to testing of existing
products to determine maintenance
requirements.
• Such experimentation falls broadly into three
categories:
1. Research experimentation
2. Development experimentation
3. Performance testing
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 1.1.1. Measurement in Engineering Experimentation
• The primary difference between research and
development is that in the former, concepts for
new products or processes are being sought
(often unsuccessfully), while in the latter,
known concepts are being used to establish
potential commercial products.
• Carbon-fiber composites represent a relatively
recent example of the research and
development process.
• Carbon-fiber composites are now used
commercially for such diverse products as golf
clubs and aircraft control surfaces.
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 1.1.1. Measurement in Engineering Experimentation

• In the research phase, methods were suggested

and evaluated to produce carbon fibers in small
quantities and tests were performed to
determine the physical properties of samples.
• The results of the research activities were so
promising that many development activities
were initiated.
• These activities included development of
large-scale fiber manufacturing processes and
development of methods to fabricate fiber
composite parts.

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 1.1.1. Measurement in Engineering Experimentation
• Although there are now many products using
carbon fibers, developmental activities in this
area continue.
• The fuselage of the commercial airliner, Boeing
787, is constructed entirely from carbon fiber
material and this advance saved considerable
weight, resulting in improved efficiency, and is
considered a major advance in aircraft
technology.
• Note : Carbon fibre is also being used in equipment such as
bicycles, where it is used as a lightweight alternative to
materials such as aluminium (twice as heavy). Carbon fibres
is rigidity, strength and its resistance to stretching.

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 1.1.1. Measurement in Engineering Experimentation
• Research experiments are frequently highly
uncertain and often lead to dead ends.
• The risk is high, either because the experiment
itself may be unsuccessful or because the
experimental result may not be as wanted.
• Research experimentation is usually performed
in universities or special research organizations.
• On the other hand, development programs
usually have better defined goals than research
programs and frequently result in an operational
product.

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 1.1.1. Measurement in Engineering Experimentation
• Performance testing is somewhat different from
research and development experimental
activities.
• Performance testing is done on products that
have been developed and in many cases are
already on the market.
• Performance testing may be carried out to
demonstrate applicability for a particular
application, to assess reliability, or to determine
product lifetime.
• This testing may be done either by the
manufacturer, the supplier, the customer, or an
independent laboratory.
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 1.1.1. Measurement in Engineering Experimentation

• As an example, a performance test might be

used to demonstrate that an electronic device
which functions satisfactorily in a stationary
environment will also function in an aircraft
application with high levels of vibration.
• Often, professional engineering organizations
such as the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers (ASME), the Institute of Electrical
and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) , and the
International Society of Automation (ISA) have
established detailed procedures for
performance testing.
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 1.1.2. Measurement in Operational Systems
• Many dynamic systems are instrumented for monitoring
or control purposes.
• Such systems range from simple furnaces for home
heating to extremely complex jet aircraft.
• One very sophisticated but everyday measurement and
control system is the engine control system of modem
automobiles.
• These systems have sensors to measure variables like
airflow, engine speed, water temperature, and exhaust
gas composition and use a computer to determine the
correct fuel flow rate.
• These engine control systems are very compact and are
specially engineered for the particular application.

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 1.1.2. Measurement in Operational Systems
• Elaborate measurement and control systems are
needed in complex process plants such as oil
refineries, steam power plants, and sewage
treatment facilities.
• Such systems may have hundreds of sensors and
use computers to collect and interpret the data
and control the process.
• This particular class of applications is so large that
it is a specialized field in its own right, called
process control. While the complete measuring
systems for such applications are specifically
engineered, the components are generally modular
and standardized.
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 1.1.2. Measurement in Operational Systems
• Instrumentation for operating systems must be
very durable and reliable.
• Sensors that need to be calibrated very
frequently would present major problems in
these applications.
• In many cases, the measuring systems have to be
designed such that by redundancy or other
techniques, a failed component can be readily
identified so that the operating system can
continue to operate correctly or at least be
safely shut down.

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 General measurement scheme

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 General measurement scheme

Most measuring systems consist of three stages:

1. Detection-transduction stage (sensor-transducer) :
Function: to detect or sense the measurand without affecting it. Ideally,
must also be insensitive to other variables. Eg: Pressure sensor must be
insensitive to acceleration, strain gauge must be insensitive to
temperature.
2. Intermediate stage (signal conditioning) : Function: to
modify (improve) the transduced information for compatibility with the
terminating (readout / recording/ processing) stage . These include
amplification (most common) , filtering (noise removal)…
3. Terminating stage (readout, display, recorder): Function:
to provide information on measurand in a format suitable for the
application.

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 General measurement scheme

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 General measurement scheme

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 General measurement scheme

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 1.2. Objective and Overview
• The objective of this course is to provide
students with the skills necessary to perform
an engineering experiment systematically-
from the definition of the experimental need
to the completion of the final report.
• A systematic approach includes careful
planning and analytical design of the
experiment before it is constructed,
demonstration of the validity of the test
apparatus, analysis of the test results, and
reporting of the final results.

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 Types of Applications of Measurement Instrumentation
• Every application of measurement, including
those not yet invented, can be put into one of
these three categories or some combination of
them:
– Monitoring of processes and operations
– Control of processes and operations
– Experimental engineering analysis
Monitoring of Processes and Operations
• Here the measuring device is being used to
keep track of some quantity.
– Certain applications of measuring instruments may be
characterized as having essentially a monitoring function, e.g.,
thermometers, barometers, and water, gas, and electric meters,
automotive speedometer and fuel gage, and compass

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 Types of Applications of Measurement Instrumentation

• Control of Processes and Operations

– One of the most important classes of
measurement application.
– Sensors are used in feedback-control systems and
many measurement systems themselves use
feedback principles in their operation.
– Sensors are used in feedback systems and
feedback systems are used in sensors.

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 • Experimental Engineering Analysis
– In solving engineering problems, two general
methods are available: theoretical and
experimental.
– Many problems require the application of both
methods and theory and experiment should be
thought of as complimenting each other.

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 End of Chapter 1

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