Load Error in Metrology – A General Approach

Abstract

The behaviour of a measurement processes is shaped by three types of measurement errors, by transfer errors, disturbance errors and load errors. The following sections will provide for the first time a general and consistent treatment of the load error in Metrology: An expanded model of the measurement process will reveal the significance of this rarely treated error. Besides, there are many comparable loading phenomena in different fields outside Metrology; some concepts may with good reason be transferred and adopted. It will be shown that the main concern has to be focused on backward structures because of physical loading effects, which interdict the commonly assumed nonreactive relations in metrological structures. These backward relations recommend the use of linear fractional representations (LFR) as models, with the Redheffer star product as a valuable operator. Given such general structures, load error corrections can be derived for dedicated applications.