Eec 235 Bridges-1
Eec 235 Bridges-1
Eec 235 Bridges-1
Bridges are commonly used in the measurement of components such as resistors, capacitors
and inductors, as well as in the measurement of frequencies. They are design to have four arms
with a very sensitive galvanometer connected between two points and the supply at the other
two ends. The source of power could be either d.c or a.c. In the case of a d.c. bridges are used
in the measurement of resistance only, while a.c bridges are used in the measurement of both
resistance and reactance due to capacitors or inductors connected in any of the arms. Hence
with this, values of resistors, capacitors and inductors could be obtained. Typical example of d.c
bridge is the wheatstore bridge, while examples of a.c bridges are the Maxwell, Owen, De
Santy, Wien and Sehering bridges.
2.1 BASIC D.C WHEATSTONE BRIDGE
At Balance,
R1
( Rx jwLx ) R2 R3
1 jwR1C1
Expanding and seperating the real parts from the imaginary parts gives;
R1 Rx R2 R3 .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ........ Re al part
Thus,
R2 R3
Rx
R1
While,
R1 Lx R1 R2 R3C1 ,......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ... Im aginary part
Thus,
Lx C1 R2 R3
Thus it is possible to determine the value of the unknown resistance of a coil as well as its
inductance.
Example6
The arms of an a.c Maxwell bridge are arranged as follows: arm AB is a non inductive resistance
of 1000, in parallel with a capacitor of capacitance 0.5µF, BC is a non inductive resistance of
600, CD is an inductive impedance and DA is a non-inductive resistance of 400. If balance is
obtained under these conditions, find the value of the resistance and the inductance of the branch
CD.
Solution:
R1 R3 = R2 R4
R3 = R2 R4/ R1
Also,
L3 = CR2 R4
=12 x 10-2
= 0.12H
Example 7
Fig. 7.8 Maxwell’s LC bridge
HAY’S BRIDGE
Hay’s bridge is more of a modification of the Maxwell’s bridge and lowers the limitation of the
Maxwell’s bridge; this can be use in measurement of inductors of several henrys. A typical
arrangement is as shown fig 2.5.
OWEN BRIDGE
The Owen Bridge is one of the most suitable means of measuring inductors. As this is useful for
over a wide range of inductance and is less or unaffected by frequency variation. The figure 2.6
shows a typical arrangement of this type of bridge.
Fig 2.6 Owen bridge
Obtaining balance and collecting the real part and the imaginary parts produces the
expressions;
Lx C1 R2 R4
AND
C1 R2
Rx
C4
CAPACITANCE BRIDGES
De Sauty Bridge
The De Sauty bridge is commonly seen as a means of comparing two capacitance, due to the
fact that the bridge has maximum sensitivity when the two capacitors in the adjacent arms are
equal, though this method is quite simple but it is limited by the impossibility of obtaining a
preface balance if the capacitors use are not air capacitors, thus the need to avoid dielectric
loss is very important. The figure 2.7 shows a De Sauty bridge.
Fig 2.7 De Sauty Bridge
Obtaining balance and collecting the real part and the imaginary parts produces the
expressions;
RC
Cx 2 1
R1
SCHERING BRIDGE
This method is most useful and provides a better result as it not only measures the capacitance
but the dielectric loss of a capacitor. The figure 2.8 is an example.
Fig 2.8 Schering Bridge
Obtaining balance and collecting the real part and the imaginary parts produces the
expressions;
C R
Cx 3 1
R2
AND
C1 R2
Rx
C3
FREQUENCY MEASUREMENT
WIEN BRIDGE
In the measurement of frequency, the frequency meter has prove to be good though more
expansion the Wien bridge method of frequency measurement can be use in the measurement
of wide range of frequencies although its shortcoming is the fact that its accuracy is nothing
compare to that of the modern frequency meter but give a ready quite acceptable.
Obtaining balance and collecting the real part and the imaginary parts produces the
expressions;
C 2 R3 R1
C1 R 4 R 2
AND
1
f
2 R1 R2 C1C 2
ERRORS IN BRIDGES
Bridges are convenient and accurate means of measurement of resistance, inductance and
capacitance if and only if its limitations and sources of errors are adequately taken care of,
some of these sources of errors are:
(i) Discrepancies between the true and mark values of components of the three arms.
(ii) Personal errors in finding the balance point or null position as well as computation of
value.
(iii) Change in values as a result of self heating.
(iv) Inaccuracy of null point due to insufficient sensitivity of balance detector.
(v) Errors due to connecting leads and joints.
NULL INDICATOR
The term null indicator refers to a measuring instrument particularly the galvanometer used in
indicating a “no current flow” (Ig = 0) when balance is obtained or the potential between the two
points to which it is connected are all equal, as in the case of a balanced Wheatstone bridge.
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
Instrumentation is the back bone of modern sciences, it can be seen that without a standard
means of measurement, it will be very difficult to really find out what value a particular quantity
takes at a particular time and to achieve accuracies in design and construction of various
devices and equipment. Thus we could define instrumentation as the means by which a quantity
is measured. This goes to say that quantities like length, pressure, voltage, time and frequency
could be measured by means of instrumentation. As we should have known, measuring
instrument is a device used for quantifying quantities.
The importance of instrumentation can be enumerated as:
i. It provides a means of measurement
ii. It is standard and more accurate
iii. Its time saving
iv. It often provides reliability
v. It provides accessibility to non-accessible areas e.g. (furnace, well and ice room).
vi. It helps in regulating and controlling measured quantities.
vii. Instrumentation has of recent aids in keeping records
viii. It saves cost and human life.
Instrumentation has come a long way through history and are used in measuring many
quantities but basically all these quantities are measured through one of the following means or
effects.
i. Magnetic effect
ii. Electrodynamic effect
iii. Electromagnetic effect
iv. Thermal effect
v. Electrostatic effect
vi. Chemical effect
Though these principles are used in measurement of quantities their measured values are
always displayed based on their units or equivalent.
The electrical instruments used in measurements are many but are generally classified into two
categories namely (i) Absolute and (ii) the secondary instrument
Absolute instruments are those that give values of quantity been measured based on their
constants and deflection only. These types of instruments do not require previous calibration or
comparison. Example is galvanometers.
Secondary instruments are those that the values of quantities being measured are obtained
from their deflection, so long as they have been calibrated by comparison with an absolute
instrument. Examples are water level indicators etc.
These secondary instruments can be divided into three basic groups based on their functions.
Thus they can be considered as either;
i. An indicating instrument
ii. Recording instrument or
iii. A controlling instrument
4.1 Indicating Instrument
The simplest of all measuring instruments is the indicating instrument, just as the name implies
it indicates the value of the quantity being measured. This type of instrument is the cheapest of
the three but the most commonly used.
Indicating instruments can be best explained based on the diagram below;
DIGITAL VOLTMETERS
The digital voltmeter commonly refer to as DVM is an instrument used in the measurement of
both AC and DC voltages and displayed in a simple discrete numeral, instead of the pointer
deflection on a continuous scale as in analog devices. This has provided numerous advantages
to users as it;
i. Reduces human error due to reading, interpolation and parallax error
ii. It provides a faster readout result and is more comparable to other devices than its
analog counterparts.
iii. With the present existence of integrated circuits, its cost is greatly reduced as well as
its power consumption. Though they are more expensive than their analog
counterparts.
iv. Input impedance of DVM is usually high in order of 10M with typically an input
capacitance of 40PF.
v. They are also capable of measuring voltages from 1V to 1000V and have
internally built automatic over range selection.
vi. Its accuracy level in quite high about 0.005% of reading.
vii. The stability of DVM is high since its power consumption is low.
Digital voltmeters are quite versatile and can also be used in the measurement of resistance
and current by using suitable means of conversation.
The basic stages in producing a digital display in DVM are:
i. Sampling
ii. Encoding
iii. Display
And the general principles of operations include
i. Successive approximation method
ii. Ramp or voltage to time conversion
iii. Voltage to frequency techniques
iv. Dual slop techniques
Successive Approximation
Digital voltmeters capable of giving 1000 readings per second or more are now available. These
instruments generally use the successive approximation conversion to perform the digitization. A
simplified block diagram of such DVM is as shown in fig.5.1.
Fig 5.2
Note: converter reference voltages are switched to the comparator in an 8–4–2–1 sequence
and are rejected if the accumulated converted output exceeds the input voltage. The accuracy
of this method is dependent on the resolution, thus the reference voltage and the number of bits
of the control register, as well as the digital to analog converter.
VOLTAGE TO TIME CONVERSION