FACULTY OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

FLUID MECHANICS LABORATORY

TITLE OF EXPERIMENT
CALIBRATION OF BOURDON TUBE PRESSURE
GAUGE
(EXPERIMENT 5)
Bong Woei Shen (A13KP0021)

Name

Kumaresan a/l Sinathurai (A13KP0038)

Ahmed Gamal Mahmoud Moteir (A12KE4016)
Motasim Omer Mahmoud Ahmed (A13KP0136)
Group / Section

2/Section 11

Supervisor

Associate Professor Issham bin Ismail

Date of
Experiment

17 March 2014

Date of
Submission

23 March 2014

Marks obtained
(%)

TECHNICIANS:
1 EN. MAHMOOD RASIDON

PN. ZAIMARHAMAH ZAINUDDIN

REPORT SUMMARY
In this experiment, the objective significant is to perform pressure calibration on a Bourdon tube
pressure gage. The experiment performed to achieve this objective is called dead weigh tester.
The dead weight tester which is a device that supply high accurate pressure for calibration
compare to other calibration devices. Weights are loaded on the piston and the indicated Bourdon
tube pressure was read and recorded for further process. The major result for this experiment is
during calculating the percentage of error. Errors that occur in the Bourdon tube will be
calculated and compared to true pressure exerted by the total mass. According to the result the
errors that occur in the Bourdon tube is inconsistent.

THEORY

The changes in pressure reading will be calibrate to give a gauge reading in engineering unit .As
the mass is added at the top of the piston ,the pressure produced is measured by:
P=
Where A=

and

F=gM

P=Pressure at the piston

F=Force applied on liquid at piston
M=Total mass including piston
g=Gravitational acceleration
A=Area of piston
The unit of pressure is Newton per square meter (N/m) or known as Pascal. To get the pressure
in N/m, the M must be in kg, while g in m / s and d in m.
As for the liquid used, it must be incompressible fluid such as oil to get a more accurate reading
on the gauge reading.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
1. Firstly, measure piston cross-sectional area.
2. While measuring the cross-section area oil is poured into the cylinder until is full to the
overflow level.
3. Meanwhile, make sure that there is no air bubble by pressing the piston inside the
cylinder.
4. Next, the piston is then replaced in the cylinder and allowed to settle.
5. After all the instrument had settled, weights are now added in an increment of 0.5kg, and
at each increment the pressure gauge reading is observed.
6. As a precaution to minimize friction effect, rotate the piston prior from taking the
reading.
7. This procedure is repeated by increasing the weights.
8. After that, this procedure is repeated again by decreasing the weights.

Method of calculation :
Mass of piston: 1kg
Cross sectional area of the piston: 3.173x10 m
True pressure exerted by piston:
=(mass of the piston x 9.81x10) /(Cross sectional area of
piston)-- kN/m
= (19.81 x10)/(3.17310-4 )
= 30.91 kN/m
True pressure exerted by total mass:
=[total mass(weight+piston)x 9.81x10]/ (Cross sectional area
of piston) -kN/m
= (1+0.59.81 x10)/(3.17310-4 )
= 46.37 kN/m
Reading of calibrated pressure:
=35 kN/m
Percentage of error: Increasing order of weight
= (%=|[(4) or (5) (3)/(3)] x 100|
= ((35-30.914)/30.914) 100
=13.532
Percentage of error: Decreasing order of weight
= (%=|[(4) or (5) (3)/(3)] x 100|
= ((34-30.914)/30.914) 100
=9.983

RAW DATA AND ANALYSIS

EXPERIMENTAL DATA
Mass
(kg)

True pressure
(kN/m2)

Calibrated pressure
(Bourdon gauge) (kN/m2)

Percentage of error

(4) or (5) (3)

x100
(3)

(1)
Mass
Added
(kg)

(2)
Total
mass
(kg)

(3)
Pressure
exerted by
total mass

(4)
Increasing
order of
weight

(5)
Decreasing
order of
weight

(6)
Increasing
order of
weight

(7)
Decreasing
order of
weight

30.914

35

34

13.532

9.983

(piston)
0.5

1.5

46.371

50

50

7.826

7.826

1.0

2.0

61.828

67

65

8.365

5.130

1.5

2.5

77.285

81

81

4.807

4.807

2.0

3.0

92.743

98

98

5.668

5.668

2.5

3.5

108.200

112

116

3.512

7.209

3.0

4.0

123.657

131

131

5.938

5.938

3.5

4.5

154.589

142

143

8.144

7.497

4.0

5.0

170.044

162

170

4.731

0.026

4.5

5.5

185.503

179

179

3.506

3.506

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 2 shows a graph that represents the data that we obtained from the experiment we
conducted. It shows the bourdon gauge pressure versus the calibrated pressure. The intersection
point of the two lines are not at the origin. This is due to parallax error.

When a pressure acts on an elastic structure, it will cause deformation depends on the pressure
applied. There is an elastic curved tube in the Bourdon pressure gauge where when pressure is
applied, it will cause deformation. According to Hookes Law, the pressure imposed is directly
proportional to the strain produced but it must be within the elastic limit as all objects have their
own elastic limit. The inconsistent of the graph where the line goes upward and downward may
be cause by error. This may be due to the tube recovery to its original state varies.

There are several factors may influence the result of this experiment. Pressure is exerted on the
piston during it is press into the cylinder where it can affect the reading of gauge pressure taken
for entire experiment.Next,there is air bubbles trapped inside the pipe when the experiment is
carried out. Parallax error is occurring when the observer eyes are not perpendicular to the scale
of the bourdon gauge during the value of the gauge pressure is observed. Although we took the
readings twice, parallax error still occurs. There is minor losses occur inside the pipe that
connecting the bourdon tube and cylinder, such as friction force and sudden contraction. To
reduce the error and inaccuracy in the experiment, the following solutions can be considered.
When taking reading from the Bourdon tube, the eyes level must be perpendicular to the device

until no shadow of pointer is seen. The scale of reading should be improved by dividing the
measure device into smaller scale.The reading on the gauge was not that accurate.

CONCLUSION

The hysteresis can be put to good use is the case of the aneroid barometer, which is an
atmospheric pressure gauge that uses a mechanical linkage. The hysteresis in the mechanism
cause the barometer to read low on a rising atmospheric pressure. So, if the barometer is tapped
gently with a finger or perhaps better still by using umbrella handle, the reading will be seen to
be increased slightly by the vibration. Conversely, if the reading is seen to fall, the barometric
pressure will be declining. The tapping therefore gives not only a better indication of
atmospheric pressure but also an indication of whether it is rising or falling.

REFERENCES

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Hooke's+law

APPENDICES