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• Buyers Guide Posted on: 05/19/2003
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Clicks Get Answers for CMM Calibration Uncertainty
• This Month's By Dr. Jim Salsbury
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• Quality If it were possible to travel back in time a few years and ask people working in the quality field
Communities measurement uncertainty and accreditation, the response would be blank stares and puzzled
faces. If the same questions were asked today, most quality professionals would understand
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reference, but their faces still might reflect the confusion that surrounds these issues. The co
• Downloads of accredited calibrations and estimation of measurement uncertainty have made a significan
• News impact in the dimensional metrology arena in terms of documentation, traceability and the ne
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The year 2000 will be remembered in dimensional metrology history as the year of the accred
boom. Because of the Jan. 1, 2001, deadline for suppliers to meet the accreditation requirem
spelled out in the Third Edition of QS-9000, an accreditation movement spread across the co
STAFF DIRECTORY last year. When QS-9000, Third Edition, was released in 1998, only a handful of calibration
INDUSTRY RELATED laboratories had considered accreditation. By the end of 2000, hundreds of calibration service
SITES providers had been, or were in the process of becoming, accredited. In addition, business
ASSOCIATIONS & opportunity hit the accreditation field, and many companies began offering ser-vices to accred
ORGANIZATIONS calibration laboratories. In a few short years, the U.S. accreditation business for dimensional
CLASSIFIEDS calibration went from basically nothing to hundreds of companies across the country.
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EDITORIAL Proving technical competence sets accreditation apart from registration or certification to qua
GUIDELINES systems such as QS-9000 and ISO 9000. The biggest challenge in proving technical compet
EDITORIAL the correct estimation of measurement uncertainty. Unfortunately, uncertainty is still not gene
REPRINTS well understood and few standards exist to help end users. Estimating the uncertainty of
MARKET RESEARCH dimensional measurements made in temperature-controlled laboratory environments is a cha
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but the difficulty reaches higher levels when measurements are made in the field. The mandat
accredited calibrations applies not only to calibration laboratories, but also to any provider of
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When field service engineers calibrate measurement equipment, whether that equipment is n
a machining center, stamping press, shipping dock or inside a measurement lab, the
measurements should come from an accredited source, and the measurement uncertainty sh
be properly estimated. This applies whether any repairs or adjustments are made or not--any
on a calibration certificate should be accompanied by uncertainty estimates and a proper
accreditation number. If not, then the value of the work should be questioned.

Environmental influence
Environmental influences are com-monly listed as contributors in an uncertainty analysis for
dimensional measurements. Temperature is one of the biggest factors and, for this reason, m
dimensional calibration laboratories precisely control temperature. If temperature variation is n
controlled or, even worse, unknown, then determining the impact of temperature on any
measurement is difficult. This is the real challenge in estimating uncertainty for field-service

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Features Item : Get Answers for CMM Calibration Uncertainty Página 2 de 3

measurement is difficult. This is the real challenge in estimating uncertainty for field-service
calibrations--the uncertainty estimation methodology must be able to handle all potential
environmental situations at a customer's facility. The uncertainty of calibrations made when th
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customer has the instrument in a room that is precisely temperature-controlled will differ from
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Quality Magazine instrument that is located near the bay door of an active shipping dock.
delivered right to your
door. Managing a variety of environmental conditions is a problem that most laboratories do not hav
consider in their uncertainty. Calibration laboratories will typically have a fixed uncertainty for
type of measurement. This is normally listed as the "best measurement uncertainty" on the s
of accreditation for the particular measurement. A fixed uncertainty normally works for calibra
laboratories because the environment is controlled. The best measurement uncertainty listed
scope of accreditation is often the actual uncertainty of the calibrations performed. For field se
calibration, particularly for dimensional measurements, this is rarely the case. Instead, uncer
varies from situation to situation, and the best measurement uncertainty only occurs in speci
and sometimes uncommon, situations. This is particularly true for large dimensional measurin
instruments, the most common example of which is the coordinate measuring machines (CM

Three standards
Because of the availability of nationally and internationally recognized performance test stand
CMMs are calibrated and tested using well known and understood techniques. Most CMMs a
sold using specifications from one of three available test standards: the international standard
10360-2:1994; the U.S. standard, ASME B89.4.1-1997; and the German guideline, VDI/VDE
These standards were developed for purposes of commerce, in that they detail specific tests
customers can use to easily compare the accuracy of various machines, and they become pa
purchase contracts to ensure clear communication of expectations and deliverables. Though
written as calibration standards, end users have adopted the performance test standards for
calibration purposes. They are now the de facto calibration standards for CMMs.

For those new to uncertainty estimation, the mathematics involved is a concern. In general,
however, the math is straightforward. The most important challenge is in knowing the measur
process. Uncertainty is all about estimating potential error. The more you know about the sou
and magnitudes of errors in the measurement process, the simpler the estimation of uncertai
becomes. The first step in estimating uncertainty is to carefully examine the measurement p
For CMM calibration, the test that is common to all the standards is length measurement usi
calibrated artifact or instrument. The one artifact that is common to all the standards is a step

Simple stuff
The setup and measurement is simple. Once the proper coordinate system has been establis
points are taken on the faces of the steps on the gage. The distances between the points det
the length measurements. The measurement results are then compared to the calibrated valu
the step gage.

The first step in estimating the uncertainty of a particular measurement process is to analyze
process and list the various sources of uncertainty. In practice, this is often done as a
brainstorming session among those who are most familiar with the measurement process, su
the technicians and engineers who operate and manage the measuring equipment. For a step
measurement on the CMM, the following questions will typically arise:

l What is the uncertainty of the calibration of the step gage? This should be found on th
gage calibration certificate.
l Did a laboratory accredited by a recognized accreditation body calibrate the step gage
not, then the calibration values are useless for your accreditation purposes. This can b
major issue, and it is usually checked carefully by accreditation assessors. The more
established international accreditation bodies do not recognize many of the new
accreditation groups in the United States, as reviews of their processes have not been
completed.
l How repeatable is the measure-ment process? A statistical study may be needed, su
a gage repeatability and reproducibility study.
l Does the alignment or workpiece coordinate system vary much? If so, how does it imp
the length measurement? In general, this effect is small, but it may be a problem depe

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Features Item : Get Answers for CMM Calibration Uncertainty Página 3 de 3

the length measurement? In general, this effect is small, but it may be a problem depe
on fixturing and choice of datums.
l Is the step gage bending or de-forming? How does the fixturing com-pare to that used
the step gage was calibrated?
l How well do you know the temperature of the step gage or machine scales during
measurement? Is the temperature measured directly or is the machine's temperature
compensation system used? Either way, what is the uncertainty of the temperature
sensors? Who calibrated the sensors, and which organization accredited them? If the
temperature isn't measured, then a much bigger problem exists because an estimate o
temperature has to be made. Without a calibrated temperature sensor, this is difficult,
impossible.

If the CMM is not located in a room that is exactly 20 C (68 F), then how well known is the th
expansion coefficients of the step gage and the machine scales? These values will always ju
estimates, and because of this, additional uncertainty occurs.

The answers to these questions are used to build an uncertainty estimate. Clearly, the answe
the tempera-ture questions vary depending on the environment in which the CMM is located. I
machine is located in a stable, temperature-controlled room, then it is much easier to determ
temperature of the step gage and the machine. If the temperature around the CMM varies qui
then the uncertainty can increase dramatically. These are reasons that field calibration uncer
estimation is more difficult than laboratory uncertainty.

Shortened versions of two uncertainty budgets are shown in the table, "Uncertainty Estimates
One-Meter Length Measurement." The estimates are for the exact same measurement of a o
meter length on a steel step gage, except one is for a more tightly controlled environment. Th
values shown were chosen as examples; however, the list of uncertainty sources and the gen
approach has success-fully passed the scrutiny of technical accreditation assessors for CMM
calibration of length measurement.

Coordinate measuring machine calibrations must take into account the uncertainty factors ca
by environmental conditions. Photo: Mitutoyo America Corp.

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