Construction Monitoring and Observation

General characteristics of measurement instruments

Calibration and traceability chain

Carlos Sousa
September 2017

Summary

• Measurement chain

• Characteristics of measurement instruments

• Specific characteristics of electric transducers

• Calibration of measurement instruments and traceability chain

1
 Measurement chain
• Measurement chain
– Series of elements of a measuring system constituting a single path of the
signal from a sensor to an output element

Example:
Pressure
transducer

1 2 3 4

Physical quantity Transmission and manipulation Output element – Devices

Input
or property to be element (AD converters, for visual reading or data
element
measured amplifiers, filters, …) recording
Shaft
Pressure Piston Spring Graduated scale
Pointer

Characteristics of
measurement instruments
• Sensitivity of a measuring system
– Quotient of the change in an indication of a measuring system and
the corresponding change in a value of a quantity being measured.
Example: V/mm
= slope of the calibration curve

V
Linear Nonlinear
instrument instrument
Output signal

Sensitivity

Input signal mm

If it is kept constant along the measuring range: sensitivity = linearity

2
 Characteristics of
measurement instruments
• Linearity error
– Maximum deviation between the output signal (provided by the
transducer) and the calibration curve,
expressed in percentage of the value corresponding to the full scale

Maximum
deviation
Output signal

Input signal

Characteristics of
measurement instruments
• Resolution
– Smallest change in a quantity being measured that causes a
perceptible change in the corresponding indication

– In the case of mechanical transducers:

• quantity corresponding to the smallest division in the tranducer

– In the case of electric transducers:

• Smallest variation of the quantity to be measured causing a
perceptible variation of the output signal

Definition of NP EN ISO 7500-1, for force actuators:

Resolution is the increment of the last digit which can be read in the force
dial, if the output oscillation does not exceed 1 increment while the machine
is at rest (i.e. not applying force to any specimen)

3
 Characteristics of
measurement instruments
• Measurement range
– Interval which comprehends the magnitudes which can be evaluated with
the transducer (values associated to acceptable measurement errors)

• Dead band
– Maximum interval through which a
value of a quantity being measured
can be changed without producing
a detectable change in the
corresponding indication.

• Discrimination threshold
– It is reached when the variation of
the quantity being measured no
longer produces a sensitive variation
of the indication

Characteristics of
measurement instruments
• Hysteresis
– Different ascending and descending response of the transducer
(the energy accumulated during the ascending branch is not totally
devolved during the descending branch)
– It is motivated by friction effects, thermal effects, slack effects, etc.,)

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 Characteristics of
measurement instruments
• Response time
– Duration between the instant when an input
quantity value of a measuring instrument or
measuring system is subjected to an abrupt
change between two specified constant
quantity values and the instant when a
corresponding indication settles within
specified limits around its final steady value

Specific characteristics
of electric transducers
In terms of OPERATION MODE (for electric transducers)

• Active transducers
– Exterior power supply is not required
(even though they provide an electric output).
– Examples:
• Thermocouples, piezoelectric sensors

• Passive transducers
– Exterior power supply is needed.
– Examples:
• Electrical resistance strain gauges, LVDTs,
potentiometric transducers

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 Specific characteristics
of electric transducers
In terms of INDICATION (Output Signal)

• Analogical transducers
– The output signal is a continuous function of the input quantity being
measured

• Digital transducers
– They provide a digital output signal (binary nature)

Calibration of measurement instruments

and traceability chain

Traceability chain is the sequence

of calibrations, which ensures that a
certain measurement result can be
related to the definition of the
measurement unit

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 Calibration of measurement instruments
and traceability chain

Calibration is the operation to establish

the relation between quantity values
provided by measurement standards
and the indication provided a
measurement instrument

Calibration curve
Measurement uncertainty

Calibration of measurement instruments

and traceability chain

Measurement standard is the realization of

the definition of a given quantity, with stated
quantity value and associated measurement
uncertainty, used as a reference.

Example: 1kg mass measurement standard

with an associated standard measurement
uncertainty of 3g

Measurement standards are used for

calibration of measurement instruments or
other measurement standards

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 Calibration of measurement instruments
and traceability chain
Example: measurement unit metre

Length of the path travelled by light in

vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second
Bureau International des Poids et Mesures)

In practice, it is not viable to use the speed of

light in vacuum as a way to achieve precise
length measurements.

Instead, at the primary level:

The optical interferometer is used for very

precise length measurements
National Metrology Laboratory

Calibration of measurement instruments

and traceability chain
Example: measurement unit metre
Gage blocks (of high accuracy)
Measurement uncertainty of 50nm

Gage blocks
(eventually of lower accuracy)
or other type of transducer

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 Calibration of measurement instruments

Calibration is the operation to establish the relation between

quantity values provided by measurement standards
and the indication provided a measurement instrument

Calibration curve
Measurement uncertainty

mm

Measured quantity value

Calibration curve:
Expression of the relation between
indication and corresponding
measured quantity value

(usually, it is determined through the

least-squared-error method)

Indication V

Calibration of measurement instruments

• Calibration procedure
– Analysis of the transducer being calibrated and identification of all the
possible input signals

– Election of the most representative input signal (for the envisaged

application) for which the calibration is to be carried out

– Preparation of all the necessary devices to apply the representative input

signals, within the required ranges of variation

– Variation of one input signal, according to the established sequence,

keeping all the remaining influencing quantities unchanged,
And recording of the corresponding output signal,
so that the input-output relationship can be established.
Repetition of the operation for the remaining representative input signals.

The accuracy of the reference transducer must be significantly

higher than the accuracy of the transducer being calibrated