Dynamic accuracy of the electromagnetic flowmeter

¹ Department of Physiology, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

Dynamic calibration of electromagnetic flowmeters was performed by resolving the output signal when sinusoidal flow of known characteristics was pumped through the probe. In two instruments amplitude and phase were found to be frequency dependent in the range 0–20 cycle/sec; the magnitude of these effects was not insignificant as many have assumed. In a sine wave instrument using a variety of probes, both amplitude and phase increased linearly with frequency: the former increasing by 0.57% per cycle per second, the latter by 3.6° per cycle per second. In the square wave flowmeter at 0 damping, amplitude decreased significantly above 5 cycle/sec, while phase lag increased by 4.9° per cycle per second. These effects are concluded to be due to the output filtering network. In the sine wave instrument it was demonstrated that magnetic field nonuniformity within the probe did not alter the accuracy in recording steady or oscillatory flow. It was thus possible to construct a small short flowmeter probe having narrow electromagnet coils, and it is expected that this probe should cause minimal interference to pulsatile flow patterns.

Submitted on April 16, 1964

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