Measurement System Behavior

Figure 3.2 Measurement system operation on an input signal, F(t), provides the output signal, y(t).

Most measurement system dynamic behavior can be characterized by a linear ordinary differential equation of order n:
n-1 y dy d d y a n n + ( a n-1 ) n-1 + + a 1 + a o y = F(t ) dt dt dt n

where :

(3.1)

m m-1 d x d x F(t) = b m + b m-1 m-1 + + b ox m n dt dt

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Zero-Order System The simplest model of a system is the zero-order system, for which all the derivatives drop out: y = K F(t) (3.2)

K is measured by static calibration. Most instruments do not exactly "follow" dynamic changes and hence do not behave as zero-order systems. We will use one instrument in the lab that is very close to a zero-order instrument - the linear position transducer. In our experiment, its behavior is very close to that predicted by Equation 3.2.

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First-Order Systems
Consider the thermocouple we will use in Experiment 2.

Following example 3.3, we calculate the rate of temperature change:

Q = dE/dt = m C v dT(t )/dt = h As [ T (t ) - T(t )] where h = convective heat transfer coefficient, As = surface area

This can be rearranged:

mcv dT(t)/dt + hAs [T(t)-T(O)] = hAs [ T (t)-T(O)] = hAs F(t)

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This is a first order linear differential equation. Suppose now F(t) is a step function, U(t): F(t) = O for t < O F(t) = A for t > O

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This equation can be written in the form:

dT(t) +T(t) = T dt

which has the solution:

T(t)= T +[T0 T ]e-t/

where
= m c v / h As

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We can rewrite this equation in the form:

-t/

T(t) - T = T0 - T

Taking the natural log of both sides gives

T(t) - T -t/ = ln T0 - T
so a plot of the right side of the equation vs t will have a slope of -1/.

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First Order Systems Step Response

For the general first order equation

dy + y = KA U(t) dt
the solution is:
y (t ) = K A + ( y o - K A) e-t /

Figure 3.6 in 2nd and 3rd Edition

where A is the height of the step and U(t) is a unit step.

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First Order System Frequency Response We will now look at the response to a sinusoidal signal

dy + y = KA sin(t ) dt
First look at the complementary equation

dy +y=0 dt
This has the solution:

Y(t)= Ce

t/

A particular solution can be found in the form

y(t)= B sin[ t + ( )]
The complete solution is
t/

y (t ) = B ( ) sin[ t + ( )] +Ce where B ( ) KA /[1+ ( ) ( ) = tan -1(

) 2 ]1/ 2

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We can therefore describe the entire frequency response characteristics in terms of a magnitude ratio and a phase shift Note: is the only system characteristic which affects the frequency response

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The amplitude is usually expressed in terms of the decibel dB = 20 log10 M(). The frequency bandwidth of an instrument is defined as the frequency below which M()=0.707, or dB = -3 ("3 dB down"). First order systems act as low pass filters, in other words they attenuate high frequencies.

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A useful measure of the phase shift is the time delay of the signal:
1

-1 tan (

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Example Suppose I want to measure a temperature which fluctuates with a frequency of 0.1 Hz with a minimum of 98% amplitude reduction. I require
M( ) 0.98, or db = 20 log 0.98 = 0.175 M( )= B/(KA)= 1/[ 1+( ) ]
2 1/ 2

rearranging
= 1/ M ( ) so for M ( or,
2

1/ 2

) 98%, 0.31sec

0.2

0.2 / = 0.2 / 2 f = 0.2 /( 2 3.142 0.1 )

Example 3.3

Suppose a bulb thermometer originally indicating 20C is suddenly exposed to a fluid temperature of 37 C. Develop a simple model to simulate the thermometer output response.

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KNOWN: T(0) = 20C T = 37C F(t) = [T - T(0)]U(t) ASSUMPTIONS... FIND: T(t) SOLUTION: The rate at which energy is exchanged between the sensor and the environment through convection, , must be balanced by the storage of energy within the thermometer, dE/dt. For a constant mass temperature sensor,

This can be written in the form

dividing by hAs

Therefore: , The thermometer response is therefore: [C]

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