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 | Bureau International des Poids et Mesures Metrologia
Metrologia 51 (2014) 87–96 doi:10.1088/0026-1394/51/1/87

Metrological characterization of a 1 N m
torque standard machine at PTB, Germany
D Röske
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig, Germany
E-mail: dirk.roeske@ptb.de

Received 16 October 2013, revised 9 December 2013

Accepted for publication 13 December 2013
Published 29 January 2014

Abstract
A few years ago, a 1 N m deadweight torque standard machine was developed, constructed and
put into operation at PTB in Germany. Since then, this machine has been used for
measurements, but also, investigations of its stability and reproducibility have been carried
out. The machine utilizes calibrated stainless-steel masses as weights and a lever made of
Invar which is supported by an H-type air bearing. The measurement range starts at 1 mN m.
Depending on the weights used, various torque steps are possible. The best expanded (k = 2)
relative uncertainty of measurement is 0.01%. In the following, technical details and
metrological characteristics of this machine will be given.

Keywords: torque standard machine, mN m, air bearing, Invar lever, deadweight

(Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

1. Need for the machine indication of a weighing instrument on which an attached

For a long time, torque transducers with small measurement
ranges up to 1 N m have been part of the standard repertoire
of known manufacturers such as, for example, the D-2452
of Lorenz-Messtechnik [1] (starting at a nominal torque of
0.005 N m), the T20WN torque measuring drive shaft of HBM
[2] (starting at 0.1 N m), or the transducer type V002-E6,3/F6,3
of DEPRAG [3] (starting at 0.2 N m). Very good transducers
(type TT1, starting at 1 N m) were also delivered by the Finnish
manufacturer Lahti Precision Oy, formerly Raute Precision Oy,
who operated an accredited force and torque laboratory [4]. A
few years ago, however, the production of the transducers was
terminated.
The users of these and of similar measuring instruments
frequently need a calibration for which traceability has been
proven. In addition to PTB, there are a number of accredited
laboratories in Germany which are capable of calibrating very
small torques. They usually trace their calibration facilities
back to the standards of PTB. According to its legal mandate,
PTB has the task to realize the units and to enable the required
traceability.
Already in the past—approximately since the mid-90s—
PTB’s torque laboratory had a torque calibrating machine with
a small measuring range where the force acting at the end of
a lever supported by an air bearing was determined via the
mass partly came to rest [5]. The weighing instrument in
question was an electromechanical balance which worked
according to the compensation principle. This force could
be altered via a reduced rotary drive on the counter-bearing
side of the machine. The acting force was the difference
between the gravitational force of the mass in the field of
gravity of the Earth and the display of the weighing instrument
converted into a weight with force units. Multiplication by
the known lever length then yielded the torque. This machine
could no longer meet the increased requirements for a small
measurement uncertainty. Furthermore, it was extremely
sensitive to disturbances, and the calibrations on it were very
time consuming. Therefore, a correspondingly exact and
stable measuring machine was required. A prerequisite for this
machine was that the course of the calibration was automated.
2. Principle of the design
The machine that will be presented here is based on
the established procedure for national standards of highest
accuracy of the measurand ‘static torque’. When, more than 20
years ago, the first torque standard machines were developed
and set up at PTB, it became clear that for a definition-
compliant realization of a pure torque, the use of lever-mass
systems is required, and that this leads to the necessity of a

0026-1394/14/010087+10$33.00 87 © 2014 BIPM & IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK

Metrologia 51 (2014) 87 D Röske

Figure 2. Feeding mechanism for the load masses: left part for
Figure 1. Photo of the 1 N m torque standard machine: 1—feeding
anticlockwise torque, right part for clockwise torque.
mechanism for the load masses, 2—frame cage for the
accommodation of the masses, 3—thin metal band for the
introduction of the force into the lever, 4—double-arm lever, 5—air
bearing, 6—calibration object, 7—counter-bearing block with motor
unit on linear stage, 8—storage room for the mass sets.

lever support with little friction. In the case of the machines

with the smallest measurement uncertainties, air bearings are
used for the support [6, 7]. This principle is also applied for
the 1 N m torque standard machine (see figure 1).
This machine has a horizontal measuring axis, which
means that the torque vector acts in the horizontal direction
and, thus, perpendicular to the vector of the gravitational force.
The torque vector runs along an axis from the counter-bearing
through the calibration object to the rotor of the air bearing
to which the lever side plate is attached. In contrast to the
larger torque standard machines with a measurement range
of 1 kN m or 20 kN m, whose levers are assembled from two
lever side plates, connection plates as well as spacer plates or
spacer rods, the single-body principle could be implemented
for the lever of this machine: the beam as an individual part
is considerably more rigid than an assembly composed of
several parts. The lever is a double-arm design, so that both
clockwise and anticlockwise torques can be generated and
Figure 3. Introduction of force into the lever via thin metal bands.
transmitted. The single-sided lever arm length was determined
to be 250 mm.
For the realization of the force acting at the lever arm, independent of each other and with the aid of a special facility
exactly adjusted load masses (weights) are used, whose mass —in a cage which is—as suspension—permanently connected
has been determined in such a way that the desired weight to the lever via thin metal bands. Such a cage is mounted at each
force in newtons is obtained, taking the air buoyancy correction of the two sides of the lever so that the moments resulting from
into account. As is the case with all lever-mass systems, only this cancel out in a first approximation. The same mechanism
a limited number of weights can be used—in this case: ten. removes the weights from the cage and collects them when
To cover a larger range than between 10% and 100% of the they are no longer needed for torque generation (see figure 2).
maximum torque, there are several sets of weights which are In principle, it is possible to use weights with different masses
used alternately. To allow measurements to be carried out in a set of ten pieces; in view of the difficult handling and
also in the range below 10% of the torque associated with the of the protection of the masses, however, this has not so far
respective mass set, a smaller weight set can be used at the been done.
opposite side of the lever. In suitable combinations, this also In addition to the characteristics described so far, the
allows calibrations starting at 1% of the nominal torque to be machine is provided with the following equipment and has
performed in a difference method. the following properties:
Here, the weights are not applied in the form of • The force is introduced into the lever via thin metal bands
a chain suspension, but they are deposited—mechanically (5 µm in thickness). These bands are accommodated in a

88
Metrologia 51 (2014) 87 D Röske

Figure 4. Centring of the two suspension cages by means of springs (left: closed, right: open).

clamping between pins in such a way that an introduction

of the force almost free from bending moments is
guaranteed (see figure 3).
• For the duration of the load change, during which the
weights are moved to the respective positions inside the
cages and are deposited there with a downward movement,
or from where they are taken up with an upward movement
and moved out of the cage again, a centring of the two
suspension cages close to their upper and lower ends acts
by means of springs (see figure 4). On the one hand,
these keep the cages in their intended position, and on
the other hand, they allow a slight evasion in case a Figure 5. Magnetic slipper clutch as overload protection and
weight touches—when being descended with the aid of damping element.
the loading device—the cage laterally.
• Also during the load change, and via a rigid pointer
pointing vertically downwards, the lever is fixed with a • a mounting aid for particularly sensitive transducers with
small clearance. The ends of the lever are provided with a very small measurement range, as well as
supports on which the lever comes to rest. Thereby, • a carriage displaceable in the axial direction which
the transducer to be calibrated does not experience an allows transducers of different lengths to be adapted and
abrupt torque change (no ‘stroke’) when the next weight is assembled and which carries
deposited on the suspension frame. It is only after the end
∗ the counter drive,
of the depositing process that the torque at the transducer
is slowly increased via the counter drive until the system ∗ the magnetic slipper coupling,
is in equilibrium again. ∗ an x–y-table for the vertical and horizontal
• As loading with increasing torque leads to elastic adjustment of the axis on this side, as well as
deformations in the system, it must be ensured that the ∗ adaptation possibilities for the transducer.
effective lever length does not change due to a tilting of the
lever and no additional torque is generated by moving the For the whole machine, a protection is provided for the
system’s centre of gravity. For this purpose, the position most sensitive components (lever, metal bands and weights)
of the above-mentioned pointer is measured with optical against contact and air flows by means of a housing made
means, and this information is used to control the drive of of polymethylmethacrylate (acrylic glass). The automated
the counter-bearing. procedure of the calibration also minimizes the necessity of
On the side of the transducer to be calibrated, the machine interacting with the user. This leads to more stable conditions
is equipped with: and to results which are better reproducible. At the same time,
• flexible couplings which remove existing residual it offers a certain protection against operating errors.
disturbing components which may result from a non-ideal
adjustment between the axes of the air bearing and the
counter-bearing, 3. Metrological characterization
• an overload protection in the form of a magnetic slipper
clutch which can be adjusted continuously in the range In the following, expanded measurement uncertainties will
between 0.1 N m and 1.5 N m and which has, in addition, always be stated with a coverage probability of approximately
an oscillation-damping effect (see figure 5), 95%, i.e. the coverage factor k is equal to 2.

89
Metrologia 51 (2014) 87
3.1. Realization of the torque
In the machine, the physical quantity ‘torque’ is realized in
accordance with the common definition: ‘lever arm (length)

multiplied by force’. More precise: it is the vector product M
(cross product) from the pivot point—the reference point on
the torque axis—to the local vector r pointing to the point of
force application and the force vector F :
 = r × F .
M (1)
In order to prevent the force which is required for torque
generation from acting as a force or a bending moment on
the transducer to be calibrated, the weight of the whole lever-
mass system is captured with the aid of an air bearing which
generates, among other things, the counterforce associated
with the force. In this way, the moment is realized as a force
couple and is introduced into the transducer.
3.2. Mathematical model
For the calculation of the scalar value of the torque, (2) is used:

 n
ρL
M =m·g·l· 1− · cos (α) + Mi , (2)
ρm i=1
where m is the total mass of the active weights, g is the
local gravitational acceleration at the place of operation of the
machine, ρL is the density of the air and ρm is the density of
the material of the weights, α is the angle of inclination of the
lever against the horizontal and Mi denotes up to n different
additional influencing quantities (see below).
As expanded relative measurement uncertainty, a best
value of 0.01% had been aimed at. This means that all direct
and indirect influencing quantities had to be determined in such
a way that this objective could be achieved.
3.3. Influencing quantities
Starting from model (2), the following quantities were regarded
as decisive for the measurement uncertainty of the machine:
• the masses of the weights, the density of the material of
these bodies and of the air,
• the local gravitational acceleration,
• the lever lengths of the double-arm lever and their
temperature dependence, the angle of inclination of the
lever,
• the friction inside the air bearing, as well as
• further secondary influencing quantities (electrostatic
forces, air flows, etc).
In the following, each one of these single quantities will be
investigated.
3.3.1. Masses of the weights. The load masses made of steel
are designed as cylindrical bodies with axially sticking-out
pins (the smallest masses consist only of these pins). The pins
serve to deposit the masses in the frame cages. As density of
the material of the weights, a value of 7975 kg m−3 ± 6 kg m−3
90
D Röske
Table 1. Masses used in the machine.
Quantity Nominal mass/g Diameter/mm Torque step/(N m)
20 0.407 704 2.0 0.001
20 4.077 04 7.3 0.01
20 8.154 07 10.4 0.02
20 20.385 18 16.5 0.05
20 40.770 36 23.0 0.1
(k = 2) was found in connection with earlier works on other
machines, where this material was also used. Table 1 shows
the masses used in the machine with their nominal values and
diameters.
The 20 identical masses are to be regarded as two sets of 10
masses each which are used jointly. In principle, 10 different
masses may be composed to form one set. All masses are
clearly marked: depending on the assignment to one of the
two sets, they bear the identification ‘A’ or ‘B’. Within a set,
the masses are numbered consecutively from 1 to 10. Due
to the lack of space, the smallest masses bear only points as
inscription (1–10 points in a row), the following one or two
points indicate to which set they belong (1 point for ‘A’, two
points for ‘B’).
For the buoyancy correction, the densities of the material
of the masses and those of the surrounding air must be known.
As both enter into the ratio ρL /ρm (the density of the mate-
rial being, however, about 6400 times larger than that of the
air), it follows that the requirements for the exact knowledge
of these two values are not very high. In particular, the den-
sity of the air changes with the weather and can, among other
things, be determined from the temperature, the air pressure
and the composition of the air [8]. As the machine is operated
in a laboratory room under stable conditions, in a temperature
range of 21 ◦ C ± 1 K and in a humidity range of (43 ± 5)% RH,
the influences are very small. What remains is the variability
of the air pressure. As estimations of the natural variations
of the air pressure have shown for another machine [9], they
are not critical for an expanded relative measurement uncer-
tainty of 0.002%, so that this is valid even more for the 0.01%
mentioned here.
3.3.2. Local gravitational acceleration. The local gravita-
tional acceleration at the place of installation of the machine
has been determined by the Institute for Earth Measurement
(IfE) of Hanover University to be 9.812 524 m s−2 , with an
expanded (k = 2) measurement uncertainty of 10 µm s−2 .
3.3.3. Lever length and its stability.For practical reasons, a
value of 250 mm has been determined for the single-sided lever
length. Larger lever lengths would lead to smaller masses (the
smallest masses of approximately 0.41 g are already difficult
to handle), smaller lever lengths would lead to a lack of space
in the machine for the other components (suspension, feeding
of the masses, centring).
As material for the lever, the iron–nickel alloy Invar
was used which had already been used in other measuring
machines and which has a very small thermal expansion
coefficient (below 2 × 10−6 K−1 ) compared with steel
Metrologia 51 (2014) 87
((12–16) × 10−6 K−1 ). This allows the influences of changing
temperatures on the lever length and, thus, on the measurement
uncertainty of the torque value to be kept below 10−5 , referred
to the measured value. Due to the very small forces acting on
the lever, its elastic deformation can be neglected in contrast
to the levers of the larger machines [10, 11].
During the manufacture, the lever length was adjusted in
the workshop by grinding to gauge blocks. In the case of a
reference length of 250 mm, a deviation of 0.02 mm would
mean a relative deviation in the torque of 0.008%. After the
assembly of the machine had been concluded, an independent
check was carried out in a comparison measurement with
the 1 kN m torque standard machine (expanded measurement
uncertainty of this machine: 0.002%). In this comparison,
a deviation of approximately 0.02% was found in the
measurement range from 0.1 N m to 1 N m, which was taken
into account via correction factors (0.999 854). In addition,
there was a residual asymmetry between clockwise and
anticlockwise torque, i.e. in a range below about half the
expanded uncertainty of the machine, the lever was shorter
on the left than on the right. To eliminate the effects of the
uncertainties of the weights used on this measurement result,
the measurements were also carried out with exchanged mass
stacks. The remaining deviation was compensated for by the
addition of a piece of metal, 10 µm in thickness.
The inclination of the lever is measured with optical
methods. The deviation of the lever position from the ideal
horizontal position α has two consequences. On the one
hand, it leads to a shortening of the effective lever arm
length with the factor cos(α) in (2). In the case of a
maximally permitted inclination of 0.0017◦ (corresponding to
a displacement of 10 µm in the case of a pointer length of
350 mm), the influence on the measurement uncertainty is—
due to the shortening of the lever arm—in any case a quantity
which can be neglected. On the other hand, an inclination
of the lever leads to a displacement of the lever’s centre of
gravity if the same does not exactly lie on the rotary axis,
which may cause a torque change M, contributing to the
sum in (2). The influence of the position of the centre of
gravity of the inclined lever on the acting torque has been
checked experimentally by generating a rotation via the drive
on the counter-bearing side with the torque transducer installed
and loaded and with unloaded torque, which corresponds to
a horizontal displacement of the measurement point on the
pointer of 250 µm, i.e. 25 times the inclination permitted in
measuring operation. Thereby, no change of the display at the
amplifier has been detected. It must also be taken into account
that—due to the controlled counter-drive—the position of the
lever is reproduced up to a maximum permissible deviation of
0.0017◦ , which corresponds to approximately 0.03 mrad. This
means that a deviation of the position of the centre of gravity of
the lever from the rotary axis—which equals an imbalance—
will, on average, always enter to the same extent into the
measurement and will, due to the differential measurement
procedure, not appear in the result between measurement
point and zero value. For the subsequent calculation of the
measurement uncertainty, the investigated value of 25 times the
maximally permitted inclination—i.e. a value of 0.71 mrad—
will be used.
91
D Röske
3.3.4. Influence of the air bearing. For the bearing of the
lever-mass system, an air bearing is used. The rotor, which has
the form of an H in the longitudinal cut, consists of a cylindrical
centre part with an outer diameter of 40 mm, an internal hole
of 20 mm and a length of 43 mm. This part is responsible for
the aerostatic radial support. To both ends, a circular ring disc
is applied via which an aerostatic axial support is achieved.
A shaft, which bears the lever on one end—and to the other
end of which the couplings and adaptations for the transducer
are attached—has been introduced into the internal hole of
the rotor. In addition to the radial and axial forces, the rotor
of the air bearing can also pick up bending moments, so that
one single degree of freedom remains: the rotation about the
longitudinal axis.
The air bearing is operated with dried and cleaned
compressed air at approximately 4 bar. The thin air film (a few
micrometres in thickness) which is formed between rotor and
stator allows a fine rotation of the rotor to be performed with
very little friction. Nevertheless, remaining friction forces
which lead to the friction moments δMR and which reduce
the torque to be transmitted must, however, be taken into
account. In the free state of the bearing without adapted
components, the friction can be measured by pendulum tests
and can often be reduced by a long rotation. After the bearing
has been installed, usually only sensitivity tests remain to be
performed, with the aid of which the upper limit for the whole
remaining friction can be determined. The air bearing used for
the machine was selected from a group of bearings as the one
with the smallest remaining friction. Pendulum tests furnished
a remaining friction moment below 1 µN m. In addition to
the documentation of the current state, repeated sensitivity
tests are very important for the investigation of the long-term
stability of the air bearing. The result of such a measurement
is shown in figure 6. With the aid of a short piece of metal
foil (mass: approximately 4 mg) deposited at a lever length of
50 mm, a torque of 2 µN m was generated and measured by
a torque transducer with a measurement range of 100 mN m.
In the case of a known characteristic value of 660 µV V−1 at
the upper limit of the transducer’s measurement range, such a
torque should produce a signal of 13 nV V−1 . This can also
clearly be seen in the figure. Likewise, it becomes visible that
the application of the weight sometimes leads to minimum
overshootings and that this measurement was carried out at the
limit of the resolution and stability of the amplifier and of the
transducer. In spite of this, proof could be furnished that the
friction influences are below 1 µN m. For the determination of
the measurement uncertainty, this value was used as the width
for the assumed rectangular distribution of this quantity.
Another effect may be caused by the air bearing: the air
flowing through the nozzles into the gap may exert a driving
torque on the rotor which has the effect of an insufficient
adjustment of the centre of gravity. If this torque is constant
during the measurement, it will have no effect on the calibration
result, because it manifests itself in both the zero signal
and the measurement value and drops out by the subsequent
calculation of the difference by the programme (taring). What
remains is a residual influence, for example due to driving
torques which change with the loading and are difficult to
Metrologia 51 (2014) 87 D Röske

0.005060

0.005055

0.005050

0.005045

Signal in mV/V 0.005040

0.005035

0.005030

0.005025

0.005020
13:10:00 13:15:00 13:20:00 13:25:00
Time

Figure 6. Result of a sensitivity measurement with a torque of 2 µN m: signals of the 100 mN m torque transducer when a weight for
clockwise or anticlockwise torque is added and removed.

Table 2. Uncertainty balance for the 1 N m step (10 weights).

Standard Distribution Sensitivity Contribution to relative

Quantity Xi Estimate xi uncertainty w(xi ) function coefficient ci measurement uncertainty wi (y)
m 0.407 705 84 kg 0.27 mg normal 2.45 N m kg−1 0.007 × 10−4
g 9.812 524 m s−2 5 µm s−2 normal 0.102 N s2 0.51 × 10−6
l 0.250 00 m 5 µm normal 4N 0.20 × 10−4
ρL 1.20 kg m−3 0.0462 kg m−3 rectangular −1.3 × 10−4 N m4 kg−1 −5.80 × 10−6
ρm 7975 kg m−3 6.09 kg m−3 rectangular 1.9 × 10−8 N m4 kg−1 0.11 × 10−6
α 0 rad 0.714 mrad normal −7.1 × 10−4 N m rad−1 −0.51 × 10−6
δMR 0Nm 0.000 29 mN m rectangular 1 0.29 × 10−6
δMD 0Nm 0.000 29 mN m rectangular 1 0.29 × 10−6
δMF 0Nm 0.000 29 mN m rectangular 1 0.29 × 10−6
M 1.0000 (1 ± 0.42 × 10−4 ) N m (k = 2)

detect. Here, they are referred to as δMD . Their expected
value amounts to 0 N m, as the driving torques may both
increase and decrease with respect to the initial value. For
the determination of the measurement uncertainty, a value
of the order of the detection limit achievable with precision
transducers (see section 3.3.5) of 0.001 mN m was used as the
width for the assumed rectangular distribution of this quantity.
3.3.5. Further additional influences. As additional
influencing quantities, torques must be taken into account
which occur as a result of undesired force effects (for example,
air flows onto the masses and the lever, as well as all other
components involved in the generation of torques). But also
magnetic and electrostatic forces come into consideration. An
advantage of the material PMMA used for the housing is
that it is transparent. A disadvantage is that it may become
electrostatically charged. It has turned out that in some
measurements, this effect caused force effects on the lever
which could not be neglected. Therefore, the interior side
was subsequently coated at the critical points with grounded
copper foil which discharges the static charge. As the expected
value for the additionally acting forces δMF , a value of
0 N m is assumed. As an effect could no longer be detected
with the best measuring instruments, the detection limit of
a precision transducer (TT1 with approximately 1.3 mV/V)
with a precision measurement transducer (DMP40, resolution
to 106 increments) was used as uncertainty for this quantity,
so that a value of less than 0.001 mN m is obtained. For the
determination of the measurement uncertainty, this value was
used as the width for the assumed rectangular distribution of
this quantity.
Also the torque transducers to be calibrated contribute to
the uncertainty of the calibration result. Independent of the
torque generation, very small transducers are frequently influ-
enced more strongly by temperature and humidity variations
of the surrounding air than larger sensors. During the measure-
ment, one therefore tries to limit the variations of the tempera-
ture in the measuring machine to ±0.1 K and that of the relative
air humidity to ±1% RH. This is, for example, achieved with
the aid of suitable covers and local housings. The users should
be informed about the large sensitivity of calibration objects
to the ambient conditions. This influence is not, however,
important for the characterization of the measuring machine.
3.4. Uncertainty budgets
The calculation of the measurement uncertainties which are
assigned to the torques realized in the measuring machine
was performed on the basis of GUM [12]. Based on the
model equation (2) and on the explanations given so far with
respect to the contributions of the influencing quantities, the
values shown exemplarily in tables 2 to 5 are obtained for the
measurement uncertainties. The effective degrees of freedom
have not been checked.
As the angle α enters into the formula with the cosine,
its derivative—the sine function—furnishes, however, at

92
Metrologia 51 (2014) 87 D Röske

Table 3. Uncertainty balance for the 100 mN m step (1 weight).

Standard Distribution Sensitivity Contribution to relative

Quantity Xi Estimate xi uncertainty w(xi ) function coefficient ci measurement uncertainty wi (y)
m 0.040 770 601 kg 0.03 mg normal 2.45 N m kg−1 0.007 × 10−4
g 9.812 524 m s−2 5 µm s−2 normal 0.0102 N s2 0.51 × 10−6
l 0.250 00 m 5 µm normal 0.4 N 0.20 × 10−4
ρL 1.20 kg m−3 0.0462 kg m−3 rectangular −1.3 × 10−5 N m4 kg−1 −5.80 × 10−6
−3
ρm 7975 kg m 6.09 kg m−3 rectangular 1.9 × 10−9 N m4 kg−1 0.11 × 10−6
α 0 rad 0.714 mrad normal −7.1 × 10−5 N m rad−1 −0.51 × 10−6
δMR 0Nm 0.000 29 mN m rectangular 1 2.90 × 10−6
δMD 0Nm 0.000 29 mN m rectangular 1 2.90 × 10−6
δMF 0Nm 0.000 29 mN m rectangular 1 2.90 × 10−6
M 0.100 00 (1 ± 0.43 × 10−4 ) N m (k = 2)

Table 4. Uncertainty balance for the 10 mN m step (1 weight).

Standard Distribution Sensitivity Contribution to relative

Quantity Xi Estimate xi uncertainty w(xi ) function coefficient ci measurement uncertainty wi (y)
m 0.004 077 139 kg 0.02 mg normal 2.45 N m kg−1 0.05 × 10−4
g 9.812 524 m s−2 5 µm s−2 normal 0.001 02 N s2 0.51 × 10−6
l 0.250 00 m 5 µm normal 0.04 N 0.20 × 10−4
ρL 1.20 kg m−3 0.0462 kg m−3 rectangular −1.3 × 10−6 N m4 kg−1 −5.80 × 10−6
ρm 7975 kg m−3 6.09 kg m−3 rectangular 1.9 × 10−10 N m4 kg−1 0.11 × 10−6
α 0 rad 0.714 mrad normal −7.1 × 10−6 N m rad−1 −0.51 × 10−6
δMR 0Nm 0.000 29 mN m rectangular 1 2.90 × 10−5
δMD 0Nm 0.000 29 mN m rectangular 1 2.90 × 10−5
δMF 0Nm 0.000 29 mN m rectangular 1 2.90 × 10−5
−3
M 0.010 000 (1 ± 0.11 × 10 ) N m (k = 2)

Table 5. Uncertainty balance for the 1 mN m step (1 weight).

Standard Distribution Sensitivity Contribution to relative

Quantity Xi Estimate xi uncertainty w(xi ) function coefficient ci measurement uncertainty wi (y)
m 0.000 407 7359 kg 0.01 mg normal 2.45 N m kg−1 0.25 × 10−4
g 9.812 524 m s−2 5 µm s−2 normal 0.000 102 N s2 0.51 × 10−6
l 0.250 00 m 5 µm normal 0.004 N 0.20 × 10−4
ρL 1.20 kg m−3 0.0462 kg m−3 rectangular −1.3 × 10−7 N m4 kg−1 −5.80 × 10−6
ρm 7975 kg m−3 6.09 kg m−3 rectangular 1.9 × 10−11 N m4 kg−1 0.11 × 10−6
α 0 rad 0.714 mrad normal −7.1 × 10−7 N m rad−1 −0.51 × 10−6
δMR 0Nm 0.000 29 mN m rectangular 1 2.90 × 10−4
δMD 0Nm 0.000 29 mN m rectangular 1 2.90 × 10−4
δMF 0Nm 0.000 29 mN m rectangular 1 2.90 × 10−4
M 0.001 000 (1 ± 0.10 × 10−2 ) N m (k = 2)

α = 0 rad, the value ‘zero’. This would lead to a sensitivity
coefficient having the value zero. Although the contribution of
the inclination is negligible for the small values regarded here,
a value according to [13] is applied to take this contribution
also into account in the uncertainty budget. Hereby, the
partial derivative of the model function according to α is not
determined at the position α = 0 rad, but at the value of the
uncertainty of the angle α. Although this influence is, thereby,
rather somewhat overestimated, this has—due to the smallness
of the amount—no influence on the budget.
4. Measurement results
The procedures described in the preceding section have been
supplemented by exhaustive measurements, in particular with
respect to the lever length. To verify the measured values
for this length, comparisons with the 1 kN m torque standard
machine were performed in the upper measurement range up
to 1 N m, for which an expanded (k = 2) relative measurement
uncertainty of 2 × 10−5 is stated. In addition, long-term
investigations were carried out with the aid of stable transfer
standards which are, from time to time, calibrated under the
same constant conditions.
4.1. Length measurements
At a later date, the lever length was checked once again with
a portable coordinate measuring device (‘measuring arm’) for
which a calibrated length standard was available as reference
standard. Here, too, the small deviation could be seen which
had already been determined before, and the measurements led
to slightly adapted values for the correction factors (0.999 834

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Table 6. Results of comparison measurements.

Measurement #1 Measurement #2: exchanged weight sets

1 kN m 1Nm 1 kN m 1Nm
Torque: machine machine, 1 N m machine, Relative machine machine, 1 N m machine, Relative
1Nm D1 kN m raw data corrected D1 N m,corr deviation d D1 kN m raw data corrected D1 N m,corr deviation d
Mounting
position mV/V mV/V mV/V mV/V mV/V mV/V
0◦ 1.474 180 1.474 450 1.474 205 — 1.474 157 1.474 466 1.474 221 —
120◦ 1.474 331 1.474 420 1.474 175 — 1.474 293 1.474 438 1.474 193 —
240◦ 1.474 157 1.474 442 1.474 197 — 1.474 146 1.474 457 1.474 212 —
mean 1.474 223 1.474 437 1.474 192 −2 × 10−5 1.474 199 1.474 454 1.474 209 7 × 10−6

Table 7. Evaluation of the long-term stability using a customer’s transducer.

Result at 1 N m Relative Result at −1 N m Relative

Date of calibration in mV/V deviation d in mV/V deviation d
4 March 2011 1.499 791 — −1.499 530 —
11 February 2013 1.499 928 0.9 × 10−4 −1.499 763 1.6 × 10−4

compared to 0.999 854 before). The length difference between
the right and the left lever arm had, before, been compensated
for by an additional piece of metal foil. After all these measures
had been taken, very good agreement was achieved between
the calibration results obtained on the 1 N m torque standard
machine and those obtained with the 1 kN m torque standard
machine. In the near future, the length measurement using
absolute laser interferometry will be investigated in order to
further improve the traceability of the lever length.
4.2. Comparison measurements
For the comparison measurements, mainly the TT1 transducers
with a measurement range of 1 N m were used which are
available in the laboratory. In other comparison measurements,
transducers of this type have demonstrated very small relative
reproducibility uncertainties in the range of a few 10−6 [14].
In order to eliminate the influence of residual deviations in
the weight of the masses, the measurements were carried out
before and after the weight sets were exchanged. The result
of a comparison measurement, which has been performed in
connection with the measuring machine discussed here, is
shown in table 6. In this table, the relative deviations are
calculated from the mean values according to
D1 N m,corr − D1 kN m
d= . (3)
D1 kN m
4.3. Long-term stability
The long-term stability was evaluated by comparing the
calibration results of one transducer that had been obtained
at different times. Here, ensuring the constancy of the
calibration conditions proved to be a particular challenge.
A transducer of the type DmTN/1 N m of a customer was
calibrated three times over a period of four years. As it is
known that transducers are not yet very stable—in particular
at the beginning of their history—only the last two results of
the calibration of this transducer from the years 2011 and 2013
were used for the evaluation. Table 7 shows the result of such
an evaluation of the long-term stability of the transducer, of
the measurement amplifier and of the calibration machine.
The relative deviations are calculated from the deflections
measured at the later date DDate2 and at the earlier date DDate1
according to
DDate2 − DDate1
d= . (4)
DDate1
In the future, the long-term stability of the machine will
also be observed by repeated comparison measurements with
the 1 kN m torque standard machine.
4.4. Typical calibration results
As a typical calibration result, the results of another customer’s
transducer were selected. This TT1 transducer with a nominal
torque of 1 N m was calibrated in the measurement range
from 0.1 N m to 1 N m in accordance with DIN 51309 [15],
separately for clockwise and anticlockwise torque. In addition,
the torque was measured in the partial range between 0.01 N m
and 0.1 N m—also separately for clockwise and anticlockwise
torque. The two measurement results obtained each time in the
points jointly measured (0.1 N m and −0.1 N m)—in the full
measurement range with the first mass of the associated mass
set for 1 N m, in the partial range with all ten masses of the
mass set for 0.1 N m—show very good agreement. The values
are shown in table 8. The relative deviations are calculated
according to (4).
Two figures show the characteristic curves of the
transducer in the full range (figure 7) and in the partial range
(figure 8). The full symbols identify the results for torques
with increasing amount, the empty symbols show torques with
decreasing amount.
The curves reflect the relative deviations of the measured
values from a fitting straight line, the deviations being related to
the measured mean value of the final values. The fitting straight
line is defined by the value of its slope which is contained
in the caption (the axis intercept is zero). The curves for

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Metrologia 51 (2014) 87 D Röske

Table 8. Partial and full range calibration results of a customer’s transducer.

Calibration Result at 0.1 N m Relative Result at −0.1 N m Relative

Date of calibration range in mV/V deviation d in mV/V deviation d
3 March 2011 1Nm 0.122 709 — −0.122 713 —
9 August 2011 0.1 N m 0.122 715 0.5 × 10−4 −0.122 721 0.7 × 10−4

0.02

0.01
Linearity deviations in % of F.S.

0.00

-0.01

-0.02

-0.03

-0.04
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Torque in N·m
0°inc 0°dec 0°inc2 120°inc
120°dec 240°inc 240°dec

Figure 7. Characteristic curves (linearity deviations in % of full scale) of a TT1/1 N m transducer in the full measurement range (reference
value = slope of the fitting straight line: 1.226 630 mV/V).

0.02
Linearity deviations in % of F.S.

0.01

0.00

-0.01

-0.02
-100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100
Torque in mN·m
0°inc 0°dec 0°inc2 120°inc
120°dec 240°inc 240°dec

Figure 8. Characteristic curves (linearity deviations in % of full scale) of the TT1/1 N m transducer shown in figure 6 in the partial range up
to 10% of the nominal torque (reference value = slope of the fitting straight line: 0.122 723 mV/V).

clockwise and anticlockwise torque should not be regarded as
coherent; the respective starting points of the curve branches
have been displaced into the coordinate origin by programmed
taring of the raw data. In particular, the zero points which
have not been tared are—after loading with clockwise torque—
clearly different from those after loading with anticlockwise
torque [16].
One can see immediately that the characteristic curves of
the partial range measurement in figure 8 are not as smooth
as those of the full range. Due to the reference value which
is ten times smaller, small variations of the measurement
signal manifest themselves ten times stronger in the relative
quantities. In addition, the different scalings of the ordinate
axis in the two diagrams must be taken into account.
The characteristic curves shown in the figures illustrate—
in particular near the zero point—that there is no indication
of excessive friction influences of the air bearing down to
10 mN m. This is indicated by the return of the curve shape to
the zero point to, on average, almost the same relative value
of 0.005% in both cases. This value is in figure 8 not ten
times larger than in figure 7 as could be expected. This seems
to be due to the larger influence of the creep (relative creep
characteristic: approximately (2–4) × 10−4 ) in the full range
so that the remaining deviation of the signal from the zero point
is, in the case of figure 7, larger by approximately a factor of
ten in absolute values. This influence also plays a role in the
case of the fitting straight line, as the times for loading with
one weight or loading with ten weights are different.
5. Summary
The investigations and measurement results presented here in
connection with the metrological characterization of a 1 N m

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Metrologia 51 (2014) 87
torque standard machine with load masses acting directly on
an Invar lever supported on an air bearing show that the unit
‘torque’ can—with this method—be realized down to values
from 1 mN m to 10 mN m with small expanded (k = 2)
measurement uncertainties of 0.1%, in the torque range from
0.01 N m to 0.1 N m with uncertainties of less than 0.02%, and
uncertainties below 0.01% in the torque range from 0.1 N m to
1 N m. These values should serve as basis for a ‘Calibration
and Measurement Capabilities’ (CMC) application. The limits
are mainly set by the properties of the air bearing. Friction
influences cannot be ruled out and play—in spite of their
smallness in the µN m range—a dominating role in the case
of the very small torque values.
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[15] DIN 51309-Werkstoffprüfmaschinen-Kalibrierung von
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