Moving Coil Galvanometer
The moving-coil galvanometer
consists of:
•A coil of fine insulated copper wire
pivoted on jewel bearings such that
it is free to rotate
•A radial magnetic field (radial due
to pole face shaping) in the airgap
between a permanent magnet and a
fixed soft iron cylinder.
•Spiral hairsprings lead current into
the coil and counter-balance the
N S
deflecting torque produced by the
coil current
•A pointer attached to the coil which
marks the deflection of the coil on a Tdef α I and Tspringα θ ⇒ θ α I
graduated scale
•Damping by eddy current
Multi-Range Moving-Coil Ammeter
fsd at 5mA
fsd voltage of 25mV
• The moving-coil galvanometer is mA
by itself an ammeter
• Introducing a range of shunt R1
resistors leads to a multi-range
ammeter R2
• For current ranges of 50mA,
R3
500mA and 5A resistors should
have values of 0.555 ohms,
0.0505 ohms and 0.005005 ohms
Test leads
Multi-Range Moving-Coil Voltmeter
• Introducing a series multiplier resistance with the moving-coil
galvanometer allows use as a voltmeter
• A multi-range voltmeter requires a switchable range of multiplier
resistors
fsd at 5mA
fsd voltage of 25mV
mA
•For voltages ranges of
250mV, 2.5V, 25V,
R1 100V and 250V resistor
values needed are:
R2 • 45 ohms
• 495 ohms
R3
• 4.995 kohms
R4 •19.995 kohms
• 49.995 kohms
R5
AC Electrical Instruments
• Rectifier Instruments – these are based on
the moving coil meter with torque related
to average current. AC rectified to DC to
produce non-zero average current
• Instruments where torque is related to
average current squared: Moving Iron,
Electrodynamic Instruments
• Induction type (ac only): power/energy
meters
Rectified Moving Coil Meters
• Torque depends on mean coil current which is
proportional to rectified ac current/voltage
• Since ac current and voltage are measured in rms,
mean reading is multiplied by form-factor of 1.11 by
meter
• Form-factor is waveform dependent – meter will only
read correct rms for pure sinusoidal waveforms
rms of ac half - wave
Form factor, k f =
mean of ac half - wave
Vp 2 π
For a full - wave rectified sinusoid, k f = = = 1.11
2V p π 2 2
Moving Iron Meters
• Can be of two types: attraction type or repulsion type
• An iron armature attached to spindle moves relative to
a fixed coil carrying the operating current.
• Movement of iron leads to a change in the inductance
of coil and alters the energy stored in the system.
• Spindle is attached to a vane which moves through an
air chamber. This provides damping by air.
1 2 dL
It can be shown that Tdef = I
2 dθ
Repulsion Type Moving Iron Meter
• Current flowing through coil
C creates a magnetic field
• This field magnetises iron
rods A & B in the same
direction => they repel
• A is fixed while B can
move, hence B rotates
clockwise around S
• Measures both dc and ac
Electrodynamic Instruments
• Fixed coil is arranged in two parts in
Helmholtz arrangement. Moving coil
pivoted to rotate between fixed coils
• As M rotates, mutual inductance
between coils changes
1 dM
It can be shown that Tdef = I1 I 2
2 dθ
• Due to higher cost and lower sensitivity
compared to moving iron, these instruments
are mainly used to measure power
• In wattmeter, fixed coils carry load current
while moving coil in series with multiplier
resistance carries a current proportional to
load voltage
Electrodynamic Instruments - AC
• The mean torque over one period of the ac waveforms is given by
the mean of the product of current and voltage
• The mean torque is therefore proportional to the real a.c. power:
vi =
1 2π
∫ (V p sin ωt )(I p sin(ωt − φ ))dωt
2π 0
V p I P 2π 1
= ∫ (cos φ − cos(2ωt − φ )dωt
2π 0 2
2π
V p I P ⎡ ωt 1 ⎤
= cos φ − sin( 2ω t − φ )
2π ⎢⎣ 2 4 ⎥⎦
0
V p I P ⎛ 2π ⎞
= ⎜ cos φ ⎟
2π ⎝ 2 ⎠
= Vrms I rms cos φ
Induction-type Instruments – Principle of operation
• Has a conducting disc, pivoted and free to rotate
• Two coils carrying I1 and I2 produce fluxes Φ1 and Φ2
• With ac currents, we have induced emfs in disc proportional to
dΦ/dt for each coil and induced currents i1 and i2 result
• Interaction of Φ1 and i2 produces torque T1. Similarly we have T2.
It can be shown that resultant torque T ∝ ωI1 I 2 sin ϕ
Induction Wattmeter / Energy Meter
• One coil designed for low resistance and low inductance to carry
line current
• Second coil is designed to be highly reactive as the flux needs to lag
supply voltage by 90° for correct operation. (In practice, this is
achieved by introducing a secondary closed winding)
• Deflecting torque is proportional to IVsin(90-φ), i.e. IVcos φ
• In the induction wattmeter, disc rotation is limited by linear control
spring gives deflection proportional to real power
• In the energy meter, the disc is allowed to rotate continuously. In this
case, the control torque is provided by eddy currents due to a
braking magnet acting on the rotating conducting disc. The disc
drives a gear train which controls a set of indicating dials. Disc
speed is proportional to power, therefore number of rotations
represents energy consumed.
Digital Electrical Instruments
Digital
Test Leads Attenuator ADC
Readout
Pre-Amplifier
Basic principle of digital voltmeter
Digital
Test Leads ADC
Readout
Shunt Resistor Pre-Amplifier
Basic principle of digital ammeter
Digital Electrical Instruments - 2
At the basis of the digital instrument we have the Analogue-
to-Digital Converter (ADC) that converts dc to digital output:
• Analogue processing instruments perform all necessary functions
using analogue circuits: averaging, rms-to-dc, analogue
multiplication for a wattmeter, etc. The dc output from such circuits
is input to the ADC which then provides the digital reading for the
display.
• Digital Signal Processing instruments sample the input quantities
(ac inputs are level-shifted to obtain dc inputs). The dc
representation of instantaneous input quantities are sampled by the
ADC at a high sampling frequency and the digital representation of
the samples are then processed digitally according to the required
function: averaging, true-rms, multiplication and averaging for
power, etc.