Eynas Amer

In this study, the shock tubes at RISE and PTB were validated at low pressure region (up to 200 kPa) and frequency up to 100 kHz by an inter-laboratory comparison using two transfer standards (TSs). Shock tubes can generate step-like pressure pulses at the end-wall plate of the driven section where the device under test is mounted. The generated reference step pressure is assumed to have the shape of a Heaviside step function. Therefore, the pressure amplitude can be calculated using the Rankine–Hugoniot step relations with the knowledge of the Mach number of the incoming shock wave and the initial static pressure of the gas medium. In this case, the shock tube is considered as a primary standard. On the other hand, shock tube can be used as a generator of repeatable reference pressure steps while its amplitude is measured using other primary methods, such as laser absorption spectroscopy. In this work, the respective shock tubes at RISE and PTB were used as both primary standards and pressure generators where laser absorption spectroscopy method was deployed to measure the reference pressure amplitudes. Two TSs were characterized at RISE and PTB facilities, and their dynamic responses were calculated at different pressure amplitudes and the associated uncertainty budgets were evaluated. The comparison between the shock tube results obtained at RISE and PTB showed good consistency.

In this paper, a development of the shock tube at RISE, the National Metrology Institute of Sweden, to extend its capability to the high-pressure regime is presented. The shock tube was developed to be operated in three different configurations: conventional, with an amplification system and with a converging cone. In the conventional and with the amplification system, the well-established shock tube analytical solution was used to calculate the reference pressure, while in the converging cone, a numerical simulation was applied. To demonstrate the capabilities and limitations of each configuration, a device under test (DUT) was characterized. The results show a good agreement in the DUT dynamic response calculated using the three configurations in the overlap regions between them. The uncertainty in measurements was estimated for each configuration. The three configurations complement each other to reach a pressure range from 0.1 MPa to 25 MPa and a frequency range from 0.5 kHz to 500 kHz.

Fabry–Pérot-based refractometry has demonstrated the ability to assess gas pressure with high accuracy and has been prophesized to be able to realize the SI unit for pressure, the pascal, based on quantum calculations of the molar polarizabilities of gases. So far, the technology has mostly been limited to well-controlled laboratories. However, recently, an easy-to-use transportable refractometer has been constructed. Although its performance has previously been assessed under well-controlled laboratory conditions, to assess its ability to serve as an actually transportable system, a ring-type comparison addressing various well-characterized pressure balances in the 10–90 kPa range at several European national metrology institutes is presented in this work. It was found that the transportable refractometer is capable of being transported and swiftly set up to be operational with retained performance in a variety of environments. The system could also verify that the pressure balances used within the ring-type comparison agree with each other. These results constitute an important step toward broadening the application areas of FP-based refractometry technology and bringing it within reach of various types of stakeholders, not least within industry.

In this paper, we introduce a robust method for dynamic characterization of pressure measuring systems used in time-varying pressure applications. The dynamic response of the pressure measuring systems in terms of sensitivity and phase as a function of frequency at various amplitudes of the measurand can be provided. The shock tube which is the candidate primary standard for dynamic pressure calibration at the National Laboratory for pressure, Sweden, was used to realize the dynamic pressure. The shock tube setup used in this study can realize reference pressure with amplitudes up to 1.7 MPa in the frequency range from below a kilohertz up to a megahertz. The amplitude of the realized step pressure was calculated using the Rankine–Hugoniot step relations. In addition, the accurate time of arrival of the generated shock at the device under test (DUT) was measured using an optical probe based on shadowgraphy. The optical detector has a response time in nanosecond time scale which is several orders of magnitude faster than the response time of any pressure measuring system. Hereby, the latency between physical stimuli and response of the DUT can be measured. By the knowledge of the amplitude and the accurate time of arrival of the reference step pressure, the transfer function of the DUT can be calculated and presented in Bode diagrams of sensitivity and phase response versus frequency. The uncertainty in sensitivity and phase measurements was estimated. The information provided by this work is useful for developing reliable models of dynamic pressure measuring system and provide accurate information about their dynamic response. That in turn will contribute to establish a traceability chain for dynamic pressure calibration.

Accurate dynamic pressure measurements are increasingly important. While traceability is lacking, several National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) and calibration laboratories are currently establishing calibration capacities. Shock tubes generating pressure steps with rise times below 1 μs are highly suitable as standards for dynamic pressures in gas. In this work, we present the results from applying a fast-opening valve (FOV) to a shock tube designed for dynamic pressure measurements. We compare the performance of the shock tube when operated with conventional single and double diaphragms and when operated using an FOV. Different aspects are addressed: shock-wave formation, repeatability in amplitude of the realized pressure steps, the assessment of the required driver pressure for realizing nominal pressure steps, and economy. The results show that using the FOV has many advantages compared to the diaphragm: better repeatability, eight times faster to operate, and enables automation of the test sequences.

The two techniques of lateral shear interferometry and speckle deflectometry are analyzed in a common optical system for their ability to measure phase gradient fields of a thin phase object. The optical system is designed to introduce a shear in the frequency domain of a telecentric imaging system that gives a sensitivity of both techniques in proportion to the defocus introduced. In this implementation, both techniques successfully measure the horizontal component of the phase gradient field. The response of both techniques scales linearly with the defocus distance, and the precision is comparative, with a random error in the order of a few rad/mm. It is further concluded that the precision of the two techniques relates to the transverse speckle size in opposite ways. While a large spatial coherence width, and correspondingly a large lateral speckle size, makes lateral shear interferometry less susceptible to defocus, a large lateral speckle size is detrimental for speckle correlation. The susceptibility for the magnitude of the defocus is larger for the lateral shear interferometry technique as compared to the speckle deflectometry technique. The two techniques provide the same type of information; however, there are a few fundamental differences. Lateral shear interferometry relies on a special hardware configuration in which the shear angle is intrinsically integrated into the system. The design of a system sensitive to both in-plane phase gradient components requires a more complex configuration and is not considered in this paper. Speckle deflectometry, on the other hand, requires no special hardware, and both components of the phase gradient field are given directly from the measured speckle deformation field.