CHAPTER FOUR

MEASUREMENT

OF

MECHANICAL QUANTITIES

BY: KASSAW ALEMU

4.1. Measurement of Mechanical Quantities
4.1.1. Temperature Measurement
4.1.2. Pressure AND Force Measurement
4.1.3. Displacement AND Speed Measurement
4.1.4. Flow Measurement
4.1.5. Measurement of Level
 4.1.1. Temperature Measurement

It can be broadly classified in the following groups:

1. Liquid and gas thermometer

2. Bimetallic strip
3. Resistance thermometers (RTD and Thermistors)
4. Thermocouple
5. Junction semiconductor sensor
6. Radiation pyrometer
3. Resistance Thermometers
 It is well known that resistance of metallic conductors increases
with temperature, while that of semiconductors generally
decreases with temperature.
 Resistance thermometers employing metallic conductors for
temperature measurement are called Resistance Temperature
Detector (RTD),
 RTDs are more rugged and have more or less linear chxs over a
wide temperature range.
 Thermistors have high temperature sensitivity, but nonlinear
characteristics
Resistance Temperature Detector
The variation of resistance of metals with temperature is normally
modeled in the form

Rt and R0 are the resistance values at t C and t0 C respectively;

α, β, etc. are constants that depends on the metal.

For a small range of temperature, the expression can be approximated

as:

Copper, Nickel and Platinum are mostly used as RTD materials.

Platinum has a linear range of operation up to 650C, while the useful

range for Copper and Nickel are 120 C and 300C resp.
Construction of an industrial RTD are as follows (Assignment)
The resistance wire is often put in a stainless steel well for
protection against mechanical hazards.
Heat conducting but electrical insulating materials like mica is
placed in between the well and the resistance material.

The resistance wire should be

carefully wound over mica sheet so
that no strain is developed due to
length expansion of the wire.
Thermistor
 Thermistors can be of two types: (a) Negative temperature co-
efficient (NTC) thermistors and (b) Positive temperature co-
efficient (PTC) thermistors.
 Their resistance-temperature characteristics are shown in fig.

NTC PTC
CONT…
The NTC thermistors, are made from oxides of iron, manganese,
magnesium etc. Their characteristics can be expressed as:

β is a constant, its value is decided by the characteristics of

the material, the nominal value is taken as 4000.
[Link]
 When two conductors made from dissimilar metals are
connected forming two common junctions and the two junctions
are exposed to two different temperatures, a net thermal emf is
produced
 The thermoelectric emf generated, in fact is due to the combination
of two effects: Peltier effect and Thomson effect
 The emf generated can be approximately expressed by the
relationship

where T1 and T2 are hot and cold junction temperatures in K. C1 and C2 are
constants depending upon the materials. For Copper/ Constantan thermocouple,
C1=62.1 and C2=0.045.
[Link]

The e.m.f. Em measured by the voltage-measuring instrument

The e.m.f. generated at the hot junction temperature Eh and
The e.m.f. generated at the reference junction temperature Eref
The e.m.f. generated at the hot junction temperature Eh
Eh = Em + Eref
Example
1. Suppose that the reference junction of a chromel–constantan (type
E) thermocouple is maintained at a temperature of 80°C and the
output e.m.f. measured is 40.102 mV when the hot junction is
immersed in a fluid. Ans : 6000C
2. PT-100 is a Platinum RTD whose resistance at 00C is 100Ω. If the
resistance temperature co-efficient of Platinum is 3.91X 10-3/0C,
then find its resistance at 1000C. Ans : 139.1 Ω
 4.2.2. Pressure and Force Measurement
A . Measurement of Pressure
 Elastic elements, namely diaphragms ,bellows and Bourdon tubes
are mainly used for pressure measurement.
 On the other hand, strain gages are commonly used for
measurement of force.

 These elastic elements change their shape with applied pressure

and the change of shape can be measured using suitable deflection
transducers.
Diaphragms
 Diaphragms are three types: Thin plate, Membrane and Corrugated
diaphragm. The classification is based on the applied pressure and the
corresponding displacements.
 Thin plate (a) is made by machining a solid block and making a circular cross
sectional area with smaller thickness in the middle. It is used for measurement
of relatively higher pressure.
 In a membrane (b) the sensing section is glued in between two solid blocks .
The thickness is smaller; as a result, when pressure is applied on one side, the
displacement is larger.
 The sensitivity can be further enhanced in a corrugated diaphragm (c) and a
large deflection can be obtained for a small change in pressure
 The materials used are Bronze, Brass, and Stainless steel.
 When pressure is applied to a diaphragm, it deflates and the
maximum deflection at the center (yo ) can measured using a
displacement transducer.
For a Thin plate, the maximum deflection yo is small ( yo<0.3t )
and referring ,a linear relationship between p and yo exists as

E= Modulus of elasticity of the diaphragm

material, and
ν = Poisson’s ratio
For a membrane, the deflection is larger, and the relationship between
p and Yo is nonlinear and can be expressed as (for ν = 0.3):
For a corrugated diaphragm, it is difficult to give any definite
mathematical relationship between p and yo; but the relationship is
also highly nonlinear
Bellows
 Bellows are made with a number of convolutions from a soft
material and one end of it is fixed, the other end of the bellows is
free to move.
 The displacement of the free end increases with the number of
convolutions used.
 Number of convolutions varies between 5 to 20.
 Often an external spring is used opposing the movement of the
bellows; as a result a linear relationship can be obtained from the
equation:
A is the area of the bellows,
k is the spring constant and
x is the displacement of the bellows.
Phosphor Bronze, Brass, Beryllium Copper, Stainless Steel
are normally used as the materials for bellows.
Bourdon Tube
 First developed by E. Bourdon in 1849.
 Bourdon tube pressure gages can be used to measure over a wide range of
pressure: form vacuum to pressure as high as few thousand psi.
 It is basically consisted of a C-shaped hollow tube, whose one end is fixed
and connected to the pressure tapping, the other end free
 As pressure is applied internally, the tube straightens and returns to its original
form when the pressure is released
 A deflecting and indicating mechanism is attached to the free end that rotates
the pointer.
 The materials used are commonly Phosphor Bronze, Brass and Beryllium
Copper.
 B. Measurement of Force
 The most popular method for measuring force is using strain gage.
 We measure the strain developed due to force using strain gages; and by multiplying the
strain with the effective cross sectional area and Young’s modulus of the material, we
can obtain force.
 Load cells and Proving rings are two common methods for force measurement using
strain gages.

Strain Gage
 Strain gage is one of the most popular types of
transducer
 It can be used for measurement of force, torque,
pressure, acceleration
 The basic principle of operation of a strain gage is
simple: when strain is applied to a thin metallic wire, its
dimension changes, thus changing the resistance of the
wire.
Load Cell
 Load cell is a transducer which converts mechanical energy (tensile and
compressive forces) into electrical signals.
 Load cells are extensively used for measurement of force; weigh bridge is one of
the most common applications of load cell.
 Here two strain gages are fixed so as to measure the longitudinal strain, while
two other measuring the transverse strain
 The strain gages, measuring the similar strain (say, tensile) are placed in the
opposite arms, while the adjacent arms in the bridge should measure opposite
strains (one tensile, the other compressional).
 The longitudinal strain developed in the load cell would be compressional in
nature, and is given
strain gages 1 and 3

for 2 and 4 the strain

Load Cell
Proving Ring
 Proving Rings can be used for measurement of both compressional
and tensile forces.
 The advantage of a Proving Ring is that, because of its construction
more strain can be developed compared to a load cell.
 It consists of a hollow cylindrical beam of radius R, thickness t and
axial width b.
 The two ends of the ring are fixed with the structures between which
force is measured.
 Four strain gages are mounted on the walls of the proving ring, two
on the inner wall, and two on the outer wall.
 When force is applied as shown, gages 2 and 4 will experience strain
–ε (compression), while gages 1 and 3 will experience strain + ε
(tension).
 The magnitude of the strain is given by the expression:
The four strain gages are connected in a bridge and the unbalanced
voltage can easily be calibrated in terms of force to be measured.
 4.2.4. Displacement and Speed Measurement

A. Displacement Measurement
 It can be of two types: contact and noncontact types.
 Beside measurement principle : electrical sensing and optical sensing.
 In electrical sensing, passive electrical sensors are used variation of either
inductance or capacitance with displacement is measured.
 The optical method mainly works on the principle of intensity variation of
light with distance
 A. Displacement Measurement

Potentiometer
Potentiometers are simplest type of displacement sensors.
They can be used for linear as well as angular displacement
measurement
They are the resistive type of transducers and the output voltage is
proportional to the displacement and is given by:

where xi is the input displacement, xt is the total displacement

and E is the supply voltage
Potentiometer a) Linear b) Rotary
Inductive type Sensors

The inductance of a coil changes as a ferromagnetic object moves

close to the magnetic former, thus change the reluctance of the
magnetic path. The measuring circuit is usually an a.c. bridge.
Optical Sensors
 Optical displacement sensors work on the basic principle that the
intensity of light decreases with distance.
 So if the source and detector are fixed, the amount of light
reflected from a moving surface will depend on the distance of
the moving surface from the fixed ones.

 Optical fibers are often used to transmit light to and from the
measuring zone

 It uses two bundle fibers, one for transmitting light from the
source and the other to the detector.
 Light reflected on the receiving fiber bundle by the surface of the
target object is carried to a photo detector.
 The light source could be Laser or LED; photodiodes or
phototransistors are used for detection
Capacitance Sensors
 The capacitance type sensor is a versatile one; It is available in
different size and shape.
 It can also measure very small displacement in micrometer range.
 Often the whole sensor is fabricated in a silicon base and is
integrated with the processing circuit to form a small chip.
 consider the capacitance formed by two parallel plates separated
by a dielectric. The capacitance between the plates is given by:
 A capacitance sensor can be formed by either varying the separation (d),
or the area (A), or the permittivity (ε ).
 A displacement type sensor is normally based on variable distance and
variable area principles, while the variable permittivity principle is used
for measurement of humidity, level, etc.
 A variable distance type sensor, where the gap between the fixed and
moving plates changes, Fig. (a),
 The area of overlap between the fixed plate and moving plate changes
in, maintaining the gap constant Fig. (b)
 The variable area type sensor gives rise to linear variations of capacitance
with the input variable, while a variable separation type sensor follows
inverse relationship.
 B. Speed Measurement
 The speed measurement of a rotating body is to mount a tachogenerator
on the shaft and measure the voltage generated by it that is proportional
to the speed.
 However this is a contact type measurement. There are other methods
also for noncontact type measurements.

Optical Method
 An opaque disc with perforations or transparent windows at regular
interval is mounted on the shaft whose speed is to be measured.
 A LED source is aligned on one side of the disc in such a way that its light
can pass through the transparent windows of the disc. As the disc rotates
the light will alternately passed through the transparent windows and
blocked by the opaque sections
 B. Speed Measurement
 A photodetector fixed on the other side of the disc detects the variation of light and
the output of the detector after signal conditioning would be a square wave (as
shown) whose frequency is decided by the speed and the number of holes
(transparent windows) on the disc.
Variable Reluctance Type
 A wheel with projected teethes made of a ferromagnetic material
is mounted on the shaft whose speed is to be measured.
 The static sensor consists of a permanent magnet and a search
coil mounted on the same assembly and fixed at a closed distance
from the wheel.
 The flux through the permanent magnet completes the path
through the teeth of the wheel and cut the search coil. As the
wheel rotates there would be change in flux cut and a voltage
will be induced in the search coil.
 where N is the number of turns in the search coil.
 So both the amplitude and frequency of the induced voltage is
dependent on the speed of rotation. This voltage is fed to a
comparator circuit that gives a square wave type voltage whose
amplitude is constant, but frequency is proportional to the speed.
 A frequency counter is used to count the number of square
pulses during a fixed interval and displays the speed.
 4.2.6. Flow Measurement
The common types of flowmeters that find industrial applications
can be listed as below:
a. Obstruction type (differential pressure or variable area)
b. Electromagnetic
A. Obstruction type flowmeter
 Obstruction or head type
flowmeters are of two types:
differential pressure type and
variable area type.
 Orifice meter, & Pitot tube fall
under the first category, while
rotameter is of the second
category.
 In all the cases, an obstruction
is created in the flow passage
and the pressure drop across
the obstruction is related with
the flow rate.
the volumetric flow rate through the channel can be expressed as
Orifice meter
If d1 and d2 are the diameters of the pipe line and the orifice
opening, then the flow rate can be obtained the following eqn. by
measuring the pressure difference (p1-p2)
Pitot Tube
 Pitot tube is widely used for velocity measurement in aircraft.
 Its basic principle ,if a blunt object is placed in the flow channel,
the velocity of fluid at the point just before it, will be zero.
 Then considering the fluid to be incompressible
Rotameter
the area of obstruction is constant, and the pressure drop changes
with flow rate.

Unlike orifice or venture meters:

Area of flow changes Pressure
drop remains almost constant
 As flow rate increases → the
float rises → flow area increases.
The term within the third bracket in the above expression is constant.

If the tube is made in such a way that At varies linearly with the
displacement, one have a linear relationship in the form

K = constant (includes Cd ​, gravity, float and fluid properties)

At−Af = effective flow area around the float
At = tube area
B. Electromagnetic Flowmeter

 Electromagnetic flowmeter is different from all other flowmeters

due to its uniqueness on several accounts.
 The advantages of this type of flowmeter can be summarized as:
1. It causes no obstruction to flow path.
2. It gives complete linear output in form of voltage.
3. The output is unaffected by changes in pressure, temperature
and viscosity of the fluid.
4. Reverse flow can also be measured.
5. Flow velocity as low as 6µm/sec can be measured
 It works on the principle of basic electromagnetic induction; i.e.
when a conductor moves along a magnetic field perpendicular to
the direction of flow, a voltage would be induced perpendicular to
the direction of movement as also to the magnetic filed.

 The flowing liquid acts like a conductor. External magnetic field is

applied perpendicular to the direction of the flow and two
electrodes are flushed on the wall of the pipeline as shown.
 The expression for the voltage induced is given by:

where l is the length of the conductor (diameter d in this case)

and v is the velocity of the liquid.
The above expression shows the complete relationship between
the voltage induced and the velocity
4.2.7. Level Measurement Reading Ass.
 Depending upon the complexity of the situation, there are
different methods for measuring the liquid level, as can be
summarized as follows:
a. Float type
b. Hydrostatic differential pressure gage type
c. Capacitance type
d. Ultrasonic type
e. Radiation technique.
 Hydrostatic Differential Pressure type
The hydrostatic pressure developed at the bottom of a tank is given
by:
h is the height of the liquid level

So by putting two pressure tapings, one at the bottom and the

other at the top of the tank, we can measure the differential
pressure, which can be calibrated in terms of the liquid level.

The drum level of a

boiler is normally
measured using this
basic principle
Capacitance type
This type of sensors are widely used for chemical and petrochemical
industries; and can be used for a wide range of temperature (-40 to
200C) and pressure variation (25 to 60 kg/cm2).

 The capacitance is measured between the inner rod and the outer
cylinder.
 The total capacitance between the two terminals is the sum of (i)
capacitance of the insulating bushing, (ii) capacitance due to air
and liquid Vapour and (iii) capacitance due to the liquid.
 If the total capacitance measured when the tank is empty is
expressed as C , then the capacitance or the liquid level of h can be
expressed as:
where, ε1 is the relative permittivity of the liquid and ε2 is the
relative permittivity of the air and liquid Vapour . Hence a linear
relationship can be obtained with the liquid level (≈1)
Ultrasonic type
Ultrasonic method can be effectively used for measurement of
liquid level in a sealed tank. An ultrasonic transmitter/receiver pair
is mounted at the bottom of the tank. Ultrasonic wave can pass
through the liquid, but gets reflected at the liquid-air interface

The time taken to receive the pulse is measured, that can be related
with the liquid level. For accurate measurement, variation of speed
of sound with the liquid density (and temperature) should be
properly compensated.
Ultrasound is sound waves
with frequencies higher than
the upper audible limit of
human hearing.
Radiation technique
 Radioactive technique also finds applications in measurement of
level in sealed containers.
 Radioactive ray gets attenuated as it passes through a medium.
The intensity of the radiation as it passes a distance x through a
medium is given by:

where Io is the incidental intensity and a is the absorption co-

efficient of the medium

Afloat with a radioactive source inside is allowed to move along a

vertical path with the liquid level. A Geiger Muller Counter is
placed at the bottom of the tank along the vertical path and the
intensity is measured fig a.
A batch filling process of bottles, uses a source-detector assembly
that can slide along the two sides of the bottle, as shown in Fig. b.
As soon as the source-detector assembly passes through the liquid-
air interface, there would be a large change in the signal received
by the detector.

Fig. a. Fig. b.
 Radioactive methods, though simple in principle, find limited
applications, because of possible radiation hazards.
 However radioactive methods are routinely used for level
measurement of grains and granular solids.