When a continuing current is passed by way of a thermometer of resistance Rt and a fixed reference resistor of known value Rs, the voltage across them will undoubtedly be in direct proportion to their resistance values.
The ratio of the two voltages and therefore of both resistors, can be measured very accurately using high-precision voltage divider techniques used in the AC bridges with ASL technology. As Rs is well known, Rt can be determined from n=Rt/Rs, where n may be the measured ratio.
The advantages of the AC bridge
The low-frequency AC (alternating electric current) bridge technology has major advantages over DC (direct current) systems for high-precision measurement of platinum resistance thermometers, two which are:
DC generates small voltages in the thermometer, reference resistor and cables, across every junction where different materials are employed, (for example copper, tin, platinum, palladium, nickel etc.). These voltages add to or subtract from the measured voltages and so are dependent on the various temperature differences at the junctions, hence they are referred to as ?Thermal EMFs?. Brilliant cause measurement errors and the more accurate DC bridge systems switch the polarity of the existing to attempt to solve the issue, taking between two and four seconds for each reversal. By using the ASL technology, the AC bridges perform this reversal automatically 75 times another, a more effective solution.
Active circuits, which are fundamental to the performance of DC systems, have problems with ambient temperature changes as well as the effects of component ageing. Fundamental to the ASL AC bridges accuracy is its inductive voltage divider ? a passive, precision voltage divider, the performance which is unaffected by ambient temperature change and by time. DC bridges require very stable and accurate electronics to accomplish their performance. Because active circuitry within the AC bridge is secondary to performance, the consequences of active component drifts and ageing are therefore minimised. This results within an instrument which does not require regular recalibration to remain within specification.
Note
Information on our resistance thermometry bridges can be found on the WIKA Website.