Publications

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Contact probing of gaging surfaces is used throughout dimensional metrology. Probe tips such as ruby, sapphire, or diamond are commonly employed as styli for universal length measuring machines (ULMs) and coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) due to the hardness, durability, and wear resistance. Gaging surfaces of gage blocks are precision ground or lapped, with very low surface roughness to enable wringing. Damage or contamination of these surfaces can prevent wringing and lead to measurement error. Experimental investigations using a horizontal ULM and CMM have revealed that even at low force settings (≤0.16 N), probe materials such as ruby and sapphire can cause plastic deformation to hardened carbon chrome steel (such as AISI 52,100) gage block surfaces at the microscale, likely attributed to fretting-associated wear. Under some conditions, permanent transfer of material from the probe stylus to the gaging surface is possible. Results demonstrate irreversible changes and damage to gaging surfaces with repeated probe contact on a ULM and CMM. Optical microscopy, optical profilometry, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provide a semi-quantitative assessment of microscale plastic deformation and material transfer. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and Raman techniques confirm chemical constituency of reference materials used (gage blocks and probes) and also identify makeup of deposits on gaging surfaces following probe contact.

The basis of this project was to characterize the various uncertainty contributors of an acoustic chamber. The acoustic chamber will be used to calibrate and characterize infrasound sensors used in the field in the frequency range of 0.001 Hz to 4 Hz. The components characterized include the internal volume of the chamber, the piston area of the speaker creating the dynamic sound wave, the environmental stabilization of the chamber and the chamber's leak rate. Also, the resonant frequency of the chamber was evaluated and found to be far outside the frequency band of interest. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to acknowledge Randy Rembold and John Merchant for supporting and funding this project through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). We would also like to thank Henry Lorenzo and Monico Lucero of Manufacturing Liaison working along with Robert Jones and Tony Bryce of Mechanical Calibration for performing the dimensional measurements of the Acoustic Chamber. We would like to thank Curt Mowry and Adam Pimentel of Organization 01852 for measuring the density of a sample of the fiber-reinforced material of the grate. We would also like to thank the two main reviewers of this document Raegan Johnson and Dalai la Mora whose comments/suggestions helped improve and clarify this report.

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The conventional value of the result of weighing in air is frequently used in commercial calibrations of balances. The guidance in OIML D-028 for reporting uncertainty of the conventional value is too terse. When calibrating mass standards at low measurement uncertainties, it is necessary to perform a buoyancy correction before reporting the result. When calculating the conventional result after calibrating true mass, the uncertainty due to calculating the conventional result is correlated with the buoyancy correction. We show through Monte Carlo simulations that the measurement uncertainty of the conventional result is less than the measurement uncertainty when reporting true mass. The Monte Carlo simulation tool is available in the online version of this article.

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The Third Seminar on Surface Metrology for the Americas (SSMA) took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico May 12-13, 2014. The conference was at the Marriott Hotel, in the heart of Albuquerque Uptown, within walking distance of many fantastic restaurants. Why surface metrology? Ask Professor Chris Brown of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), the chair of the first two SSMAs in 2011 and 2012 and the chair of the ASME B46 committee on classification and designation of surface qualities, and Professor Brown responds: “Because surfaces cover everything.”

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