ME 306 Chapter 2.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTRUMENTS

Accuracy

■ Accuracy of an instrument is defined as the degree of correctness of the output

reading or the degree of closeness of the measured value Vm to the true value Vt.

Figure: instrument accuracy is the degree of closeness of the measured value Vm to the true value Vt.

Figure: The gun with black shots is more accurate than the gun with red and blue shots.

■ Inaccuracy, the reverse of accuracy, is the extent to which a reading might be wrong.

■ Accuracy of a measurement system is measured in terms of its static errors Es.

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 ME 306 Chapter 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTRUMENTS

■ Accuracy may be expressed by one of the following forms:

(i) Point accuracy

(ii) Percent of the full-scale deflection, f.s.d.

(iii) Percent of the true value, Vt.

(i) Point accuracy:

□ In this case the accuracy of an instrument is expressed by the static error Es for

one or more points in a range.

□ For instance, a voltmeter reads 112.8 V. If the true value of the voltage is 112.2 V,

then the point accuracy is given by the static error 112.8 V – 112.2 V = +0.6 V.

□ The static error Es does not precisely indicate the accuracy of measurements;

o For example, if a pressure gauge reads 5 MPa and the true value of the

pressure is 4.995 MPa, then the +500 Pa absolute error is not high, and the

gage reading may be considered accurate.

o Therefore, it is better to express the accuracy and the absolute error in terms

of a percentage.

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 ME 306 Chapter 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTRUMENTS

(ii) Percent of the full-scale deflection, f.s.d.:

□ In this case the accuracy is expressed as the percentage of the absolute error out

of the full-scale deflection, f.s.d.

𝑬𝒔
% 𝑬𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 = ( ) × 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝒇. 𝒔. 𝒅.

□ For example, an instrument which has an absolute error of - 0.14 units, and its full-

scale deflection is 10 units, has an accuracy of - 1.4% of f.s.d.

(iii) Percent of true value:

□ In this case the accuracy is expressed as the percentage of the absolute error out

of the true or actual value Vt.

𝑬𝒔
% 𝑬𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 = ( ) × 𝟏𝟎𝟎 = 𝑬𝒓 × 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝑽𝒕

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 ME 306 Chapter 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTRUMENTS

Example (1)

A pressure gauge has a calibrated range of 5 bar to 60 bar. The accuracy is specified within
± 0.20 percent of instrument span. What is the maximum static error?

Solution

𝐸𝑠
% 𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = ( ) × 100
𝑓. 𝑠. 𝑑.

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 ME 306 Chapter 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTRUMENTS

Example (2)

A pressure gauge of range 5 to 50 bar is stated to have a range of error of ±0.15 bar (i.e.,
measurement uncertainty of ±0.15 bar) when calibrated by the manufacturer. Determine:

(i) The percentage error based on maximum scale value.

(ii) The possible error as a percentage of the indicated value when a reading of 10 bar is
obtained in a test.

Solution

Given : Pressure range = 5 to 50 bar ; static error Es = ± 0.15 bar

(i) Percentage error based on maximum scale value, (50 bar):

(ii) Percentage error based on indicated value of 10 bar pressure:

The above results indicate that the pressure gauge is more unreliable at the lower end of its

gauge.

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 ME 306 Chapter 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTRUMENTS

Accuracy for a sample of output data

■ Accuracy is due to the static error and is determined for a sample of output from the

average measured value, 𝑉𝑚,𝑎𝑣 .

■ The average measured value is calculated as;

𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠
𝑉𝑚,𝑎𝑣 =
𝑛𝑢𝑏𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠

■ Example: if you take the measurement of the mass of a body of 20 kg and you get

17.4,17.0,17.3 and 17.1, then the average measured value is (17.4+17.0+17.3 + 17.1)/4 = 17.2

kg.

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 ME 306 Chapter 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTRUMENTS

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 ME 306 Chapter 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTRUMENTS

Example (3)

In measurement of a product temperature, the following data is obtained:

No. 1 2 3 4
T (℃) 59 63 64 61

If the true value of the temperature is known to be 60 ℃ and the temperature scale has a
range between 20℃ to 90 ℃, determine:

(a) The average measured value of the temperature.

(b) The static error.
(c) The percentage error based on maximum scale value.
(d) The percentage error based on the true value.
(e) The percentage error based on f.s.d.

Solution

(a) The average measured value of the temperature

𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 59 + 63 + 64 + 61
𝑉𝑚,𝑎𝑣 = = = 61.75 ℃
𝑛𝑢𝑏𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 4

(b) The static error

𝐸𝑠 = 𝑉𝑚,𝑎𝑣 − 𝑉𝑇 = 61.75 − 60 = +1.75 ℃

(c) The percentage error based on maximum scale value

𝐸𝑠 + 1.75
% 𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = × 100 = × 100 = +1.94 % 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒
𝑆𝑚𝑎𝑥 90

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 ME 306 Chapter 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTRUMENTS

(d) The percentage error based on the true value

𝐸𝑠 + 1.75
% 𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = × 100 = × 100 = +2.92 % 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒
𝑉𝑇 60

(e) The percentage error based on f.s.d.

𝐸𝑠 + 1.75
% 𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = × 100 = × 100 = +2.5 % 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓. 𝑠. 𝑑.
𝑓. 𝑠. 𝑑. (90 − 20)

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 ME 306 Chapter 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTRUMENTS

Accuracy for a system comprising multiple elements.

±Es1 ±Es2 ±Es3 ±EsN

• For a system comprising multiple number of elements, let the specified

accuracy limits for each element to be ±Es1, ±Es2, ±Es3, ±Es4, …… ±EsN. N is the

number of elements of the system. Then the maximum possible error of the

combined system will be:

𝒊=𝑵

𝑬𝒔 )𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎 = ± ∑ 𝑬𝒔𝒊 = ±[𝑬𝒔𝟏 + 𝑬𝒔𝟐 + 𝑬𝒔𝟑 + ⋯ + 𝑬𝒔𝑵 ]

𝒊=𝟏

• In an instrument system, however, it is not probable that all the elements of the

system will have the greatest static error at the same point and at the same

time.

• The root-square accuracy (or root-sum square error) is more justifiable

measure for the total system accuracy and it is given by,

𝒊=𝑵

𝑬𝒔 )𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒕−𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒆 = ± √∑(𝑬𝒔𝒊 )𝟐
𝒊=𝟏

= ± √(𝑬𝒔𝟏 )𝟐 + (𝑬𝒔𝟐 )𝟐 + (𝑬𝒔𝟑 )𝟐 + ⋯ + (𝑬𝒔𝑵 )𝟐

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 ME 306 Chapter 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTRUMENTS

Example (3)

A system comprising a transmitter, a relay, and a receiver. The system has been used to
measure the pressure at a remote point. If the specified accuracy limits for transmitter, relay
and receiver are within ± 0.3%, ± 1.4%, and ± 0.9%, estimate the maximum possible error
and root-square accuracy of the measurement system.

Solution

Maximum possible error (least accuracy) = ± (0.3 + 1.4 + 0.9) = ± 2.6% (Ans.)

Least root-square accuracy or root-sum square error:

The above results indicate that the error is possibly as large as ± 2.6% but probably not

larger than ± 1.69%.

In an instrument system, root-square accuracy is more justifiable because it is not probable

that all the elements of the system will have the greatest static error at the same point and at

the same time.

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