Experimental Uncertainty Analysis: A Textbook for Science and Engineering Students

Uncertainties are inevitable in any experimental measurement. Therefore, it is essential for science and engineering graduates to design and develop reliable experiments and estimate the uncertainty in the measurements. This book describes the methods and application of uncertainty analysis during the planning, data analysis, and reporting stages of an experiment. This book is aimed at postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students of various branches of science and engineering. The book teaches methods for estimating random and systematic uncertainties and combining them to determine the overall uncertainty in a measurement. In addition, the method for propagating measurement uncertainties in the calculated result is discussed. The book also discusses methods of reducing the uncertainties through proper instrumentation, data acquisition, and experiment planning. This book provides detailed background and assumptions underlying the uncertainty analysis techniques for the reader to understand their applicability. Various solved examples are provided to demonstrate the application of the uncertainty analysis techniques. The exercises at the end of the chapters have been chosen carefully to reinforce the concepts discussed in the text.

About the Author: Supreet Singh Bahga is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, New Delhi, India. He received his B.Tech. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 2007, and M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, USA, in 2009 and 2013, respectively. He has been a faculty member at IIT Delhi since 2013 and has been recognised for his teaching with the Excellence in Teaching Award at IIT Delhi. He is actively involved in experimental research in thermal and fluid engineering. He has authored over 40 articles in leading international journals and has several patents to his credit.