Investigations on Measurement Uncertainty and Stability of Pressure Dial Gauges and Transducers

Several commercial instruments are available for pressure measurements. As per ISO stipulations, whenever such instruments are used for precise and accurate pressure measurements, it is obligatory on the part of measurement authority to indicate the quality of results. Stability of the pressure measuring instruments over the years is one of the important parameters in defining the quality of results quantitatively. Also, it helps the users to decide the optimum calibration interval of the particular instrument. In the present investigation, we have studied a number of analogue / digital pressure transducers / transmitters / calibrators and pressure dial gauges. The present paper describes the results of the studies carried out on several pressure dial gauges and transducers in the pressure range up to 500 MPa, calibrated several times over the years, as examples. A new approach is proposed for the establishment of measurement uncertainty for such instruments by characterizing the data obtained during calibration over the years using curve fitting