Confidence in virtual measurements

When a real measurement procedure is reproduced by simulations, it may be referred to as a “virtual measurement”. From a metrological point of view, the question is how to ensure confidence in such virtual measurements. While methods to estimate diverse sources of error in simulations have been developed over the past decades, there has to date been no accepted strategy for meeting the metrological requirements for virtual measuring devices. Recently, a method for calculating the simulation uncertainty of a virtual ultrasonic clamp-on meter for flow rate measurements has been developed. This method allows calibration factors relevant to fluid mechanics to be calculated for real measuring devices. The method is based on the comparison of real and virtual measurements and allows the continuous determination of calibration factors with their corresponding expanded uncertainty and confidence interval.

The research will be continued within the European Partnership on Metrology project “Trustworthy virtual experiments and digital twins”. The aim of the project is to develop methods and tools that enable ensuring the reliability and trustworthiness of virtual experiments and digital twins in metrology. Further information can be found at vidit.ptb.de.

The research is published in: M. Straka, A. Weissenbrunner, C. Koglin, C. Höhne, S. Schmelter: Simulation uncertainty for a virtual ultrasonic flow meter. Metrology 2, 335–359 (2022).

The paper is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/metrology2030021.

Contact: Martin Straka (7.53), Sonja Schmelter (8.41)