"... offers the broadest range of experimental measurement techniques available for mechanical and general engineering applications. Offering clear descriptions of the general behavior of different measurement techniques, such as pressure, flow, and temperature, the text emphasizes the use of uncertainty analysis and statistical data analysis in estimating the accuracy of measurements. "

PREFACE

Experimental measurements can be vexatious, and a textbook about experimental methods cannot alleviate all the problems that are perplexing to the experimental engineer. Engineering education has placed an increased emphasis on the ability of an individual to perform a theoretical analysis of a problem. Experimental methods are not unimportant, but analytical studies have, at times, seemed to deserve more emphasis, particularly with the enormous computing power that is available. Laboratory work has also become more sophisticated in the modern engineering curricula. Conventional laboratory courses have consistently been changed to include experiments with rather elaborate electronic instrumentation and microprocessor- or computerbased data acquisition systems. Surprisingly enough, however, many engineering graduates do not seem capable of performing simple engineering measurements with acceptable precision. Furthermore, they are amazingly inept when asked the question: How good is the measurement? They automatically assume the results are accurate to the number of digits displayed in the computer printout.

This book represents a first survey of experimental methods for undergraduate students. As such, it covers a broad range of topics and may be lacking in depth on certain topics. In these instances, the reader is referred to more detailed treatments in specialize d monographs.

It is important that engineers be able to perform successful experiments, and it is equally important that they know or be able to estimate the accuracy of their measurements. This book discusses a rather broad range of instruments and experimental measurement techniques. Strong emphasis is placed on problem-solving, and the importance of accuracy, error, and uncertainty in experimental measurements is stressed throughout all the discussions. The book is generally suitable as an accompaniment to laboratory sessions oriented around the specific experiments available at a particular institution. Portions of the text material may be covered in a lecture session. The lectures would be concerned with the principles of instrumentation, whereas the laboratory periods would afford the student an opportunity to use some of the devices discussed in this text and laboratory manuals that may be available to faculty planning the course. The particular experiments, or the instruments used in the laboratory periods, will depend on the facilities available and the objectives set by each curriculum.A mathematical background through ordinary differential equations is assumed for the text developments, and it is expected that basic courses in thermodynamics, engineering mechanics, and electric-circuit theory will precede a course b ased on this text.

• experiments and testing
• measurement and instrumentation : X-ray microtomography

1. International building physics toolbox, general report