Course Details/Schedule

Day 1

• Introduction to the measurement
• Definition of the basic concepts used in the measurement technique
• Calibration
• Standards
• Dimensions and units
• The generalized measurement system
• Introduction to the error concept, statistical analysis, and curve fitting
• Causes and types of experimental errors
• Error analysis on a commonsense basis
• Uncertainty analysis and propagation of uncertainty
• Evaluation of uncertainties for complicated data reduction
• Probability distributions
• Statistical analysis of experimental data

Day 2

• The Gaussian or normal error distribution
• Chauvenet’s criterion
• Comparison of data with normal distribution
• Curve fitting
• The chi-square test of goodness of fit
• Method of the least squares
• The correlation coefficient
• Multivariable regression
• Standard deviation of the mean
• Student’s t-distribution
• Graphical analysis and curve fitting
• Choice of graph formats
• Causation, correlations, and curve-fits
• General considerations in data analysis

Day 3

• Introduction to dimension, displacement, angle, and area measurements
• Dimensional measurements
• Gage blocks
• Optical methods
• Pneumatic displacement gage
• Area measurements
• The planimeter, a device of historical interest
• Graphical and numerical methods for area measurement
• Three-dimensional surface areas
• Introduction to pressure measurement
• Pressure measurement
• Dynamic response considerations
• Mechanical pressure-measurement devices
• Dead-weight tester
• Bourdon-tube pressure gage
• Diaphragm and bellows gages
• The Bridgman gage
• Low-pressure measurement
• The McLeod gage
• Pirani thermal-conductivity gage
• The Knudsen gage
• The ionization gage
• The alphatron

Day 4

• Introduction to flow (velocity and mass/volumetric flow rate) measurement
• Positive-displacement methods
• Flow-obstruction methods
• Practical considerations for obstruction meters
• The sonic nozzle
• Flow measurement by drag effects
• Hot-wire and hot-film anemometers
• Magnetic flowmeters
• Flow-visualization methods
• The shadowgraph
• The schlieren
• The interferometer
• The laser doppler anemometer (LDA)
• Smoke methods

Day 5

• Introduction to temperature measurement
• Temperature scales
• The ideal-gas thermometer
• Temperature measurement by mechanical effects
• Temperature measurement by electrical effects
• Temperature measurement by radiation
• Effect of heat transfer on the temperature measurement
• Transient response of thermal systems
• Thermocouple compensation
• Temperature measurements in high-speed flow
• Introduction to experimental studies
• Design of experimental setups
• Data acquisition and data processing