Pavements and Foundations

Experiment # 01

Calibration of Pressure Transducer & Displacement Transducer

Purpose
To calibrate pressure transducer
To calibrate displacement transducer

Transducer
It is a device which converts energy from one form to another. For
examples motors, turbines, pumps etc.

Pressure Transducer
A pressure transducer is a device used for the measurement of
pressure. It is known as pressure transducer because it converts pressure into an
analog electrical signal.

Working Principle of Pressure Transducer

The diaphragm in the stainless steel pressure gate bends under the
applied pressure of the fluid.
The metal strain is measured by a strain gauge bridge (strain rosette) that
gives an electrical signal proportional to the pressure.

Working of Pressure Transducer

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Pavements and Foundations

The conversion of pressure into

an electrical signal is achieved by the
physical deformation of strain gages which
are bonded into the diaphragm of the
pressure transducer and wired into a
Wheatstone bridge configuration. Pressure
applied to the pressure transducer produces
a deflection of the diaphragm which
introduces strain to the gages. The strain
will produce an electrical resistance change
proportional to the pressure.

Calibration Factor of Pressure Transducer

The slope of the line gives the calibration factor of pressure
transducer.

Calibration procedure
1. Two devices are required for the calibration of Pressure Transducer
A device which generates a known amount of pressure (Dead
Weight tester, Budenberg, UK)
Voltmeter.
2. A known amount of pressure is applied and then the reading of the transducer
is recorded against pressure
3. Then a graph is plotted between Change in reading of PT and Actual Pressure
4. The slope of this graph is measured which is the calibration factor
5. Now the transducer is ready to be used for practical measurement of pressure
Just get the PT reading from voltmeter and multiply it with calibration factor

Installation
The structural installation of the transducer can be accomplished
with a variety of standard and specially designed attachments connecting the
Outer Structural Shell to the flow line. Bolted flanges, threaded fittings, frangible
fittings can be used as attachments.

Observations & Calculations

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Pavements and Foundations

Maximum Capacity = 20 bars

Sr. #
1
2
3
4
5

Actual Pressure
bar
0
1
2
4
6

kPa
0
101.325
202.65
405.3
607.95

Change in
Voltmeter
Reading

Voltmeter
Reading
V
0.762
0.822
1.002
1.397
1.744

mV
762
822
1002
1397
1744

0
60
240
635
982

Calibration of Pressure Transducer

700
600

f(x) = 0.64x

500
400

Change in Pressure (kPa)

300
200
100
0
0

200

400

600

800

1000

Change in Voltmeter Reading (mV)

Result

Calibration Factor for Pressure Transducer= m = 0.636

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1200

Pavements and Foundations

Displacement Transducer
A displacement transducer is a device used for the measurement of
displacement. It is known as displacement transducer because it converts
displacement into an electrical signal.

Working Principle
When piston moves, resistance of the
rosette changes.
Due to change in the resistance of
rosette, deflections/deformations are
measured.

Gain of a Transducer

It is the relation between quality and quantity.

Length of measurement and accuracy.
It ranges from 0-10.
Gain 1 indicates large measurement with less accuracy.
Gain 10 indicates small measurement with more accuracy.

Calibration Factor of Displacement Transducer

The slope of the line gives the calibration factor of displacement
transducer.

This is also known as LVDT

An
LVDT
(Linear
Variable
Differential Transformer) is a reliable and
accurate sensing device that converts linear
position or motion to a proportional electrical
output. The basic LVDT design, as shown in the
accompanying drawing, consists of three
elements;

1. One primary winding

2. Two identical secondary windings
3. A movable magnetic armature or "core"
The primary winding is excited with an AC supply generating a
magnetic field which, when the core is placed in the central or "null" position,
induces equal voltages in both of the secondaries. The secondaries are wired
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Pavements and Foundations

series opposed so that their combined output represents the difference in the
voltage induced in them, which in this case is zero.

As the core is moved left or right, the difference in induced voltages

produces an output that is linearly proportional in magnitude to the displacement
of the core. Its phase changes 180 from one side of the null position to the
other.

Calibration
Calibration is the act of checking or adjusting (by comparison with a
standard) the accuracy of a measuring instrument, Displacement transducers
also requires calibration so that a standard linear relationship between
displacement and electrical/Computer signals can be developed and later on
measurements are made with the help of calibration factor

Calibration procedure
1. Three devices are required for the calibration of Displacement Transducer
1.1 A device which creates a known value of displacement
1.2 ADU (Automatic Data Acquisition Unit) it converts signals from LVDT
into a computer readable form
1.3 Computer to display the signals from ADU
2. A known value of displacement is applied by micrometer assembly and then
the reading of the transducer is recorded against applied displacement
3. Then a graph is plotted between Change in reading of DT and actual
displacement
4. The slope of this graph is measured which is the calibration factor
5. Now the Displacement Transducer/LVDT is ready to be used for practical
measurement of Deflection, Displacements etc, Just get the DT reading from
computer or ADU and multiply it with calibration factor

Observations & Calculations

Gain = 1
Sr. #
1
2
3
4
5
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Actual
Displacement
(mm)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2

Output
Signals
(bits)
0.3
44.3
82.8
144.5
148.8

Change in Output
Signals (bits)
0
44
82.5
144.2
148.5

Pavements and Foundations

Calibration of Displacement Transducer

2.5

f(x) = 0.01x
1.5

Change in Displecement (mm)

1

0.5

0
0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Change in Output Signals (bits)

Result
Calibration Factor for Displacement Transducer = 0.01356

Comments
Machines need to be calibrated regularly so these will be able
function properly. Anything that uses machines will also have to be calibrated at
one point or another to ensure these are performing well as though these were
good as new.
Further these instruments should be calibrated according to the
conditions of their use in the actual practice. The field conditions may not match
to the calibration conditions so sometime the instrument again have some errors,
while measuring a quantity.

2006-civil-108
Date: 27-01-2010