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Calibration of Micrometers up to 1000 mm at SCL

Conference Paper · December 2012

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.3685.0726

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 Proceedings of 5th PAAMES and AMEC2012
Dec. 10-12, 2012, Taiwan
Paper No. IR-05

Calibration of Micrometers up to 1000 mm at SCL

Francis Seung-yin WONG*, Dennis Wah-kwan LEE, Cheung-kwan FUNG
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Standards and Calibration Laboratory
36/F, Immigration Tower, 7 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
*Corresponding author
E-mail address: sywong@itc.gov.hk

Abstract

Micrometers are essential instruments for measuring external sizes of physical objects. This paper
describes the method for calibration of large sized micrometers performed at the Government of the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Standards and Calibration Laboratory (SCL). The units
under test were micrometers having measurement ranges up to 1000 mm, with interchangeable anvils.
Calibration in accordance with BS870:2008 included checking the accuracy of the micrometer screw
travel, geometrical parameters of the measuring faces and measuring forces as well as the geometry
and lengths of the setting rods. Calibration was performed by comparison against SCL reference
standards, with results traceable to the International System of Units (SI) and measurement
uncertainties evaluated to the guidelines of the BIPM document, JCGM100:2008.

Keywords: Micrometer, Calibration, Measurement Uncertainty

frames, 40 interchangeable anvils and 39

1 Introduction setting rods, as shown in Fig. 1 to 3 and Table 1.
Micrometers are essential instruments for Table 1 The Units Under Test
measuring external sizes of physical objects. In
general, micrometers have plain anvils with flat Range Anvil Setting
UUT
measuring surfaces. They can be used to From To (zero offset) Rod
No.
measure objects with simple cylindrical (mm) (mm) (mm) (mm)
features (e.g. cylinders, pins, rollers or shafts) 1 0 150 0, 25, 50, 25, 50, 75,
and prismatic features (e.g. blocks, plates, 75, 100, 100, 125
sheets or foils). However, some micrometers 125
have anvils of special geometric shapes (like
2 150 300 0, 25, 50, 150, 175,
those manufactured by Mitutoyo, Mahr, Starrett
75, 100, 200, 225,
and Moore & Wright), which can be used for
125 250, 275
measuring complex features (e.g. screw threads,
3 300 400 0, 25, 50, 300, 325,
cam beams, hub thickness or keyways).
75 350, 375
Micrometers can have fixed or interchangeable 4 400 500 0, 25, 50, 400, 425,
anvils. With fixed anvil, a micrometer only has 75 450, 475
one single measuring range. While with 5 500 600 0, 25, 50, 500, 525,
interchangeable anvils (of various offset 75 550, 575
lengths), a micrometer becomes a multi-range 6 600 700 0, 25, 50, 600, 625
measuring instrument. 75 650, 675
7 700 800 0, 25, 50, 700, 725,
2 The Micrometers 75 750, 775
8 800 900 0, 25, 50, 800, 825,
75 850, 875
SCL performed calibration for interchangeable
anvil micrometers, ranging up to 1000 mm. 9 900 1000 0, 25, 50, 900, 925,
The units under test (UUT) were 9 micrometer 75 950, 975
1

Interchangeable Anvil
Fig. 1 Interchangeable anvil micrometer,
Measurement Range: (150 to 300) mm
Interchangeable Anvil
Fig. 2 Interchangeable anvil micrometer,
Measurement Range: (900 to 1000) mm
Fig. 3 Micrometer setting rods
3 Micrometer Calibration at SCL
According to the British Standard for external
micrometers, BS870:2008, the UUT is to be
calibrated and/or tested for:
(1) flatness of the measuring faces;
(2) parallelism of the measuring faces;
(3) accuracy of the screw travel;
(4) geometry and lengths of the setting rods;
and
(5) measuring force exerted by the micrometer
spindle (via the ratchet or frictional drive)
shall be within (0.7 to 1.1) kgf.
The above calibration/tests were performed by
comparison against SCL reference standards
with measurement results traceable to the SI.
The UUTs were acclimatized for more than 24
hours before the commencement of calibration,
under a controlled environment of (20 ± 1) °C
in temperature and (50 ± 8) % in relative
humidity.
3.1 Flatness Measurement for UUT
Measuring Faces
Flatness was determined by analysis of the
fringes observed at the optical flat placed in
contact with the UUT measuring surface under
the monochromatic light source. All UUT
measuring faces, including those of the anvils
and setting rods were first cleaned scrupulously
and the monochromatic light source was
warmed up sufficiently before the measurement.
3.2 Parallelism Measurement for
UUT Measuring Faces
Parallel measurement was performed using a
special measurement setup described below:
(a) A “Parallel Gauge” was made up by two
optical parallels wrung onto both ends of a
length bar assembly (which was built to the
required length).
(b) The “Parallel Gauge”, as in (a) above, was
supported at airy points on a support bench,
which was placed on the top of a floating
table, as shown in Fig. 4.
Optical Length Bar Optical
Parallel Parallel
Support Bench
Floating Table
Fig. 4 “Parallel Gauge” seated on Floating
Table via a Support Bench
2

(c) The “Parallel Gauge” was allowed to float
freely in horizontal plane so that it could be
positioned between the measuring faces of
the UUT micrometer frame, which was
supported by three metal blocks, as shown
in Fig. 5.
Monochromatic
Light Unit
Parallel
Gauge
Metal Block
Fig. 5 The Setup for Parallelism
Measurement
(d) Measurement was carried out using a
monochromatic light source, which was
placed in the appropriate position to
observe fringes at the optical parallels.
With all system components in the required
positions, the micrometer spindle was adjusted
to engage with the optical parallels of the
“Parallel Gauge”. Parallelism was determined
by analysis of the fringes observed at the
measuring faces of the optical parallels.
Parallelism was checked at 4 spindle
displacement positions, each corresponding to a
quarter turn of the UUT micrometer screw.
Since the screw pitch was 0.5 mm, parallelism
was measured in 4 steps, at 0.125 mm/step (i.e.
¼ × 0.5 mm). For instance, parallelism of
measuring faces of the UUT with measuring
range equal to (900–1000) mm was measured
at the gauge lengths of 987.000 mm, 987.125
mm, 987.250 mm and 987.375 mm.
3.3 Calibrating UUT Screw Travels
All UUT spindles had nominal screw travels of
25 mm. Accuracy of the UUT screw travel was
calibrated traceable to the SI, via SCL reference
gauge blocks, in 10 cardinal points, at 2.5 mm,
5.1 mm, 7.7 mm, 10.3 mm, 12.9 mm, 15.0 mm,
17.6 mm, 20.2 mm, 22.8 mm and 25.0 mm.
A plunger probe/comparator system with a
measurement uncertainty within 0.13 µm over
a measuring range of ± 10 µm was used for the
calibration.
During calibration, the plunger probe was
aligned with the axis of the UUT spindle by a
knife edge straightedge. The UUT was
supported vertically by a mandrel which was
inserted through a hole of the frame of the
micrometer. The mandrel was mounted
horizontally on a box angle plate which was
seated on a surface plate. The frame of the
micrometer was clamped firmly to avoid any
unwanted movement, as shown in Fig. 6.
Box Angle Plate
Vice
Plunger Probe
Mandrel
Support
Fig. 6 Calibration of UUT screw travel
3.4 Calibrating the Setting Rods
The setting rods were calibrated for the
following parameters:
(1) flatness of measuring faces
(2) central length between the measuring faces
(3) parallelism of measuring faces
Flatness measurement of the two end
measuring faces was performed as described in
Section 3.1. The central lengths and parallelism
of the setting rods were calibrated by a plunger
probes/comparator system in vertical
orientation as shown in Fig. 7.
The plunger probes had a measurement
uncertainty within 0.16 µm over a measuring
3
range of ±10 µm. Prior to measurement, UUT
setting rods and SCL reference length standards
were acclimatized to a temperature within 0.3
°C variation.
Plunger
Probe
steel parallels and clamps, as shown in Fig. 9.
During the measurement, the UUT was seated
on three steel blocks. The spindle was slowly
adjusted towards the load cell by ratchet drive
until they were in fully engaging position.

Vee Block
& Clamp Load Cell

Length Bar
Steel Parallels
Stand
Length Bar
Metal Block
Base

Fig. 9 Calibration of UUT Measuring Force

4 Uncertainty Calculation

Setting Rod Guidelines of the BIPM JCGM100:2008 were

followed to evaluate the calibration uncertainty
of micrometer screw travel.

4.1 The Measurement Model

Fig. 7 Calibration of UUT Setting Rod
E = R (1+αθ )–S(1+αsθs) +d
Measurement was made at five cardinal test
= R [1+ (δα +αs)(δθ +θs)]–S (1+αsθs)+d
points as shown in Fig. 8.
= R(1+αsθs+δαθs+αsδθ+δαδθ)–S (1+αsθs )+d
1
where
E - Error in the UUT screw travel
4
R - Reading of the UUT micrometer
S - Length of gauge block
C 2
d - Reading of the reference comparator
3 α - Coeff. of thermal expansion of UUT
αs - Coeff. of thermal expansion of ref.
gauge block
Fig. 8 Test Points for UUT Setting Rods
θ - Temperature of UUT
θs - Temperature of ref. gauge block
3.5 Determining UUT Measuring δα - α - αs
Force
δθ - θ - θs
The UUT measuring force was measured by a
miniature, compression type, load cell with 4.2 The Sensitivity Coefficients
measuring range up to 2 kgf and measurement
uncertainty within 0.003 kgf. The load cell was ∂E
mounted horizontally at the end of a mandrel CR = = 1 + α sθ s + δαθs + α sδθ + δαδθ
∂R
and in line with the UUT spindle. The entire
setup was firmly held in position by vee blocks,
4
 ∂E S1 Uncertainty of gauge block
Cαs = = R(θ s + δθ ) − Sθ s S2 Flatness of gauge block face
∂α s S3 Uncertainty in flatness of the gauge
∂E block
Cθs = = R(α s + δα ) − Sα s Es Coeff. of thermal expansion of standard
∂θ s gauge blocks
Ts Temp. dev. from 20 ºC of standard
∂E
Cδα = = R(θ s + δθ ) Ediff Difference in coeff. of thermal
∂δα expansion
Tdiff Difference in temperature
∂E
Cδθ = = R(α s + δα )
∂δθ
∂E 5 Conclusions
Cs = = −(1 + α sθ s )
∂S
Methods for calibrating large sized
∂E
Cd = =1 micrometers with interchangeable anvils were
∂d developed at SCL. Calibration in accordance
with BS870:2008, with measurement results
traceable to SI have been performed
4.3 The Uncertainty Budget successfully. Measurement uncertainty of
screw travel was calculated following the
Uncertainty,

Uncertainty,
Coefficient,

Coefficient

Degrees of
× Standard

freedom,νi
Sensitivity

Sensitivity
Standard

guidelines of JCGM100:2008.
Source,

ciu(xi)
u(xi)
Xi*

ci

R1 5.77E-01 1.00E+00 5.77E-01 200 Acknowledgements

R2 5.77E-01 1.00E+00 5.77E-01 200
R3 4.04E-02 1.00E+00 4.04E-02 ∞ The authors would like to express their
R4 1.84E-02 1.00E+00 1.84E-02 12 appreciation of the contributions made by SCL
d1 3.46E-02 1.00E+00 3.46E-02 200 colleagues.
d2 6.12E-02 1.00E+00 6.12E-02 ∞
d3 4.08E-02 1.00E+00 4.08E-02 ∞
d4 8.82E-02 1.00E+00 8.82E-02 2
S1 3.57E-02 -1.00E+00 -3.57E-02 ∞
References
S2 2.89E-02 -1.00E+00 -2.89E-02 ∞
S3 1.86E-02 -1.00E+00 -1.86E-02 13 BIPM. Evaluation of measurement data-
Es 5.77E-07 1.25E+04 7.22E-03 200 Guide to the expression of uncertainty in
Ts 3.46E-01 9.36E-07 3.24E-07 200 measurement, JCGM100:2008
Ediff 1.15E-06 1.75E+04 2.02E-02 200
Tdiff 2.89E-01 2.93E-01 8.44E-02 200
Combined standard uncertainty,
British Standards Institution (BSI). BS
uc
0.83 µm 870:2008 Specification for external
Expanded uncertainty, U 1.7 µm
νeff = micrometers
420
Coverage factor, k 1.97
Confident level 95%
Note *: Abbreviations for uncertainty sources:
R1 Sighting uncertainty, at measured
position of the UUT (i.e. 1/10 of scale
division)
R2 Sighting uncertainty, at ‘zero’ position
of the UUT (i.e. 1/10 of scale division)
R3 Flatness of UUT spindle
R4 Uncertainty in flatness of UUT spindle
d1 Error of Probe
d2 Measurement uncertainty of probe
d3 Resolution of comparator
d4 Repeatability of measurement

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