Development of a Primary Dynamic Calibration Method for Pressure Sensors

Spektra GmbH, Development Engineer, 01309 Dresden, Germany

Abstract

An increasing research activity in the field of dynamic calibration of pressure transducers can be recognized at some national metrology institutes. As an example the EMPIR project “development of measurement and calibration techniques for dynamic pressures and temperatures” can be named. Despite that efforts, no national reference standard for dynamic pressure calibration is available up to now. This makes the measurement of high fluctuating pressure signals difficult and unprecise. These dynamic pressure signals appears in aerospace applications, blast test and almost every fluidic circuit which employs discontinuous discharge elements. To address that topic the authors developed a sine calibration apparatus to measure the frequency response of pressure transducers with sufficient amplitudes up to 1.2 MPa. Due to the construction of the pressure generator frequencies up to 10 kHz can be reached. Furthermore a calibration technique was developed to calculate the pressure inside a chamber primarily. The fundamental idea is to calculate the pressure based on the displacement of a piston in a pistonphone device. To do so the author had to analyses the thermodynamic conditions inside the fluid filled chamber. The paper shows that the fundamental approach was confirmed by measurements.