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Raising a new Generation of Leaders

EIE 416
Measurements and
Instrumentation (3 Units)
LECTURER: Prof. Ademola Abdulkareem

MODULE TWO (2)

 DC BRIDGES
• Wheatstone Bridge
Bridge-circuits rely on sensitive null-voltage meters to
compare two voltages for equality. The circuit arrangement
commonly known as the Wheatstone bridge is the best
method for precision measurement of medium resistance.
• A Wheatstone bridge can be used to measure medium
resistance by comparing the unknown resistor against
precision resistors of known value, much like a laboratory
scale measures an unknown weight by comparing it against a
standard weight. Each of the arm of the DC bridges has a
resistance.
• The Wheatstone bridge network is as shown below:
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Simplified Bridge Circuit

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M and Q are 2 known fixed resistances, S is a variable
resistance and R, is unknown resistance. G is a sensitive
detector. S is adjusted until a balance is obtained, this
occurs when no current flows through G.
At balance, voltage at B equals voltage D (i.e
M .V=R .V
M+Q R+S
M(R+S) = M (P+Q)
R = Q .S
M
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Thus, R can be obtained in terms of M, Q
and S. M and Q are called the ratio arms.
Wheatstone bridge are normally
constructed with about 4 or 5 coils of ratio
arms which range in tens hundreds and
ten thousands
(x1, x 10, x 100, x 1000, x 10,000)
The variable arm are then consists of 4 or 5
decades of resistance coils.
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 Application of Wheatstone
Bridge
• Unbalanced Bridges
• Bridge circuit may be used in a balance or
unbalanced conditions. If unbalanced a small
change in one of the bridge arms produces a
large change in the detector signal, in this
way the signal at the galvanometer or the
detector may be used to indicate the
deviation of an arm from a specified settings.
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• This is useful in the measurement of
dynamic signal in which insufficient time is
available to achieve balance conditions.
• Also in many strain gauge and transducer
applications.

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Unbalance bridge circuit
• Application in Measuring Strain

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• When the resistance varies in proportion
to the strain present in the device, strain
gauges are usually used. In practice, the
resistance range is from 30 ohms to 300
ohms. Since the change in the value of
resistance may be a fraction of the full-
scale value thus the Wheatstone bridge
is the best suitable for higher precision

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• For this application, the strain gauge replaces
the unknown resistor. Here R2 and R4 would
have the same value and R3 is adjustable.
Therefore, without disturbing anything else, a
rheostat is varied until the galvanometer
shows a null deflection. This null deflection
implies that the bridge is in a balanced
condition and no strain is there on the gauge.
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 Unbalance bridge
• Consider a bridge circuit which have
identical resistors, R in three arms, and the
last arm has the resistance of R+∆R, if
∆R/R ‹‹1
• Thevenin voltage (VTH) is given as
• VTH =

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12
Figure 1: Thevenin Equivalent Bridge Circuit (to be
redrawn in class)
The voltage across the detector is
VAC = E R1 - R2
R1 + R2 R2+R3

The thevenin equivalent of fig. 1 is obtained

from figure 2.
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R1 R2

R3 R4

VTH

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 Ig

The current through the detector is

ig = VAC
RTH +Rg
where Rg is the detector resistance.
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Tutorial 1

The four arms of wheatstone bridge have

the following resistances AB, 100, BC
10, CD 4, DA = 50 . A Galvano at 20
is connected across BD. Calculate the
current through the galvanometer when a
p.d of 10V is measured across AC

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 Tutorial 2

(a) Mention one area of application for:

• (i) four-variable arms unbalanced bridge circuit
• (ii) one-variable arm unbalanced bridge circuit
(b) The circuit in figure Q1(a) is found in sensor
applications where the resistance Rv is sensitive to a
physical quantity such as temperature. Figure Q1(b) is the
plot of Rv versus temperature. Find the:
• (i) temperature at which the bridge is balance
• (ii) voltage output signal at temperature of 60oC
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Sensor Application Problem

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Tutorial 3
Four strain gauges each having a resistance of 125 Ω are connected to form a Wheatstone bridge, so that
adjacent arms have a resistance change of opposite sense (that is, increase and decrease). If this
resistance change has a maximum value of 5 Ω;
(i) Draw the bridge circuit and calculate the peak open circuit output voltage from the bridge when it is
supplied from a 10 V direct source of negligible internal resistance.
(ii) If two galvanometers A and B are available for measuring the strain gauge bridge output, determine
which should be used to obtain the largest deflection given that galvanometer A has a sensitivity of
10 µA/mm and terminal resistance of 500 Ω, and that galvanometer B has a sensitivity of 15 µA/mm
and terminal resistance of 200 Ω.

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PRINCIPLE OF WHEATSTONE BRIDGE
Tests to Locate Cable Faults
Within a factory, cable lengths are
generally comparatively short and runs
readily accessible so that faults are not
usually difficult to trace by sectionalizing
the circuits. In Many cases the fault will be
obvious when the cable run is examined.
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 However, with some circuits, and
especially where underground cables are
used, a loop test may be necessary to
locate a short circuit or an earth fault.
The Murray Loop Test is one simple
method based upon theWheatstone bridge
principle.

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MURRAY LOOP TEST

For this test, it is essential to have one good conductor as a

return lead. Instruments are made to enable loop test to be
carried out, and figure below shows the arrangement for the
Murray loop test for a short circuit fault. Figure (a) shows
the circuit diagram for locating the short-circuit fault by
Murray loop test. The four arms of the Wheatstone
bridge are P, Q, R and X. The bridge is balanced by
adjusting the known variable resistances P and Q.

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In the balanced position of the bridge, the galvanometer
indicates null deflection. For this test, it is essential to
have one good conductor as a return lead. The good and
the faulty conductors are connected together at one end
and the test is made from the other end. Note that fault
resistance is in the battery circuit and not in the bridge
circuit. In any case, the resistance of the fault, being in the
battery circuit, will not affect the accuracy of the
measurement, although it may affect the sensitivity.

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From the circuit arrangement shown in Figure (a), the
resistance of the good conductor plus the resistance
from far end of the fault is R and the resistance from
the test end to the fault is X. The total resistance of the
good and faulty cores is L = R + X
Thus, the value of X can easily be determined;
At balance,

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Figure (a): Murray Loop Test for Short-Circuit Fault
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