Department of Mechanical Engineering

Course Number MEng 3172

Course Title Instrumentation and Measurement

Degree Program BSc in Mechanical Engineering

Module 17 - Instrumentation and Control

Module Coordinator

Lecturer

ECTS Credits 4

Contact Hours Lecturer Tutorial Practice or Home study

Laboratory

2 0 3 3

Course Objectives This course has the objective of acquainting the student with operating
principles and function of measuring instruments used
in Mechanical Engineering education. At the end of the
course, the student will be able:

 To understand electrical transducers for measuring force, displacement,

velocity, temperature, etc.
 To use temperature, velocity, flow, force, acceleration, current, voltage
measuring instruments
 To calibrate instruments
 To conduct simple experiments
Course Description / Measurement error analysis; Transducers and their response, active and passive
Course Contents transducers; Signal conditioning. Transducers and measurement systems for:
Displacement, velocity, acceleration, torque, pressure, fluid velocity, flow rate,
temperature, flue-gas composition, and radiation; Data transmission, processing,
display and recording;

1. Measurement Error Analysis

2. Transducers and their response, active and passive transducers;

3. Signal conditioning;

4. Transducers and measurement systems: Current and voltage

measurement; Displacement; Stain measurement; Pressure measurement;

 Temperature measurement; Flow measurement; Rotational speed
measurement; Velocity and acceleration measurement

5. Data transmission and processing: Introduction to display and recording

Laboratory Exercises 1. Displacement measurements with inductive and capacitive sensors

2. Fluid velocity measurement

3. Flow rate measurement

4. Viscosity measurement

5. Thermocouple

6. Heating value measurement

7. Stress and stain measurement with strain gauges

8. Torque measurement

Pre-requisites MEng 3131 Thermodynamics II, MEng 3133 Fluid Mechanics II, MEng 2071 Strength
of Materials II

th
Semester 6

Status of Course Compulsory

Teaching & Learning  Lectures,

Methods  Demonstrations, and

 Laboratory exercises.

Assessment/ Evaluation  Laboratory Exercises 50%,

& Grading
 Final Examination 50%.
System

Attendance  Minimum of 80% attendance during lecture hours; and

Requirements  100% attendance during practical laboratory sessions, except for some
unprecedented mishaps.

Literature: Textbook:

Gosh, A.K., Introduction to Measurement and Control, 2000.

References:
th
1. Golding and Widdis, Electrical Measurement and Measuring Instruments 5
Ed., 1999
2. Nakra, B.C. and Chaudhry,K.K.: Instrumentation Measurement and Analysis,
1985
Ambo University, Institute of Technology,

School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Course Course Title Cr.Hr. Lab./Field

MEng 6035 Process control & Experiment 4 3 3 0

design for Engineers

Class year/semester I/I

Degree Program Msc in Mechanical Engineering(Thermal Engineering)

Lecturer TBA

Mode of delivery Semester based

Teaching and Learning methods  Lectures supported by tutorials

 Discussions
Status of Course Compulsory

Course rationale Summery on basic paramedical measurements in Thermal systems modeling

will be revised for few weeks before the main contents are introduced to the
students. PLC basics will be addressed with emphasis on industry based
applications on Thermal Engineering Processes such as sugar industries, Food
industries, Cement industries, Ethanol plants etc. Then students will be
introduced on fundamentals of experimental design methods. Once the
experimental set up is built collecting data with several techniques one of
the most commonly used is DAQ will be introduced with the help of Lab View
program.
Course objectives and competences Course Objectives & Student learning outcome

to be acquired Upon completion of this module, the student will be able:

 To understand electrical
transducers for measuring force,
displacement, velocity,
temperature, flow rate etc.

 To use temperature, velocity, flow,

force, acceleration

 current, voltage measuring

instruments

 To calibrate instruments

 To understand the basics of PLC on

industrial processes application

 To know how to design

experimental design techniques

 To learn how to collect

experimental data after conducting
experiments

 To know how to convert analogue

data to digital data using DAQ and
Lab view

 To conduct simple experiments

Course description/content Part I

Review on general instrumentation and measurements

1. Measurement Error Analysis

2. Transducers and their response

3. Signal conditioning: amplification; bridge circuits; Modulation and

demodulation; filtering

4. Pressure measurement: Burdon gauge; Diaphragm gauge; Piezo-

electric transducer;
Course description/content 5. Flow measurement; Obstruction type meters; Rotameter; Hot wire
anemometer; Turbine meter; Ultrasonic meters;

6. Temperature measurement: Resistance thermometers;

Thermocouple; Thermistors; Pyrometer

7. Thermal and Transport-Property Measurement: Thermal conductivity;

Viscosity; Calorimetry; Convection heat transfer coefficient

Project on part I

Part II Programmable logic control and Experimental design

1. Introduction to PLC

PLC Bascics, PLC Addressing and Basic Instructions, Basic ladder Logic
programming, PLC timer Functions, PLC Counter functions, Comparison with
Math operations, Data handling and program control flow Instructions, Shift
and sequencer instructions, File Instructions, PLC I/O Module Types and PLC
Trainer Configurations.

Project II on part II

2. Experimental Design for Engineers

3. Introduction to conversion of analogue to digital data: (Aids L: DAQ, lab

view)

Assessment/Evaluation modalities  Assignments 10%

 Mini Project / Seminar / Case study

20%
Attendance requirements’ Minimum 80% during lecture and 100% during practical work sessions
except for some unprecedented mishaps.

Text books and references Textbook:

Holman : Experimental Methods for Engineers

REFERENCES

1. Terry L.M. Bartelt , Instrumentation and Process Control, CENGAGE

Delmar Learning; 1 edition, Nov 28, 2006

2. Douglas O de Sa , Instrumentation Fundamentals for Process Control,

CRC; 1 edition, Jul 9, 2001

3. Douglas O.J.deSa , Applied Technology and Instrumentation for

Process Control, Taylor & Francis; 1 edition, April 16, 2007

4. William Dunn, Fundamentals of Industrial Instrumentation and

Process Control Mar 31, 2005

5. Nicholas P. Chopey , Instrumentation and Process Control, McGraw-

Hill Companies, Mar 1997