Dead-Weight Gauge

About the dead-weight gauge

The dead-weight gauge, is a null-reading type of measuring instrument in which weights are added to the piston platform until the piston is adjacent to a fixed reference mark, at which time the downward force of the weights on top of the piston is balanced by the pressure exerted by the fluid beneath the piston. The fluid pressure is therefore calculated in terms of the weight added to the platform and the known area of the piston.

The instrument offers the ability to measure pressures to a high degree of accuracy but is inconvenient to use. Its major application is as a reference instrument against which other pressure measuring devices are calibrated. Various versions are available which allow measurement of pressures up to 7000 bar.

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