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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Significant deformation of thin films occurs when measuring thickness by mechanical means. This source of measurement error can lead to underestimating film thickness if proper corrections are not made. Analytical solutions exist for Hertzian contact deformation, but these solutions assume relatively large geometries. If the film being measured is thin, the analytical Hertzian assumptions are not appropriate. ANSYS is used to model the contact deformation of a 48 gauge Mylar film under bearing load, supported by a stiffer material. Simulation results are presented and compared to other correction estimates. Ideal, semi-infinite, and constrained properties of the film and the measurement tools are considered.

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A mesoscale dimensional artifact based on silicon bulk micromachining fabrication has been developed and manufactured with the intention of evaluating the artifact both on a high precision coordinate measuring machine (CMM) and video-probe based measuring systems. This hybrid artifact has features that can be located by both a touch probe and a video probe system. A key feature is that the physical edge can be located using a touch probe CMM, and this same physical edge can also be located using a video probe. While video-probe based systems are commonly used to inspect mesoscale mechanical components, a video-probe system's certified accuracy is generally much worse than its repeatability. To solve this problem, an artifact has been developed which can be calibrated using a commercially available high-accuracy tactile system and then be used to calibrate typical production vision-based measurement systems. This allows for error mapping to a higher degree of accuracy than is possible with a typical chrome-on-glass reference artifact. Details of the designed features and manufacturing process of the hybrid dimensional artifact are given, and a comparison of the designed features to the measured features of the manufactured artifact is presented and discussed. Measurement results are presented using a meter-scale CMM with submicron measurement uncertainty; an optical CMM with submicron measurement uncertainty; a micro-CMM with submicron measurement uncertainty using three different probes; and a form contour instrument.

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There are no accepted standards for determining how many measurements to take during part inspection or where to take them, or for assessing confidence in the evaluation of acceptance based on these measurements. The goal of this work was to develop a standard method for determining the number of measurements, together with the spatial distribution of measurements and the associated risks for false acceptance and false rejection. Two paths have been taken to create a standard method for selecting sampling points. A wavelet-based model has been developed to select measurement points and to determine confidence in the measurement after the points are taken. An adaptive sampling strategy has been studied to determine implementation feasibility on commercial measurement equipment. Results using both real and simulated data are presented for each of the paths.

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A mesoscale dimensional artifact based on silicon bulk micromachining fabrication has been developed and manufactured with the intention of evaluating the artifact both on a high precision coordinate measuring machine (CMM) and video-probe based measuring systems. This hybrid artifact has features that can be located by both a touch probe and a video probe system with a k=2 uncertainty of 0.4 {micro}m, more than twice as good as a glass reference artifact. We also present evidence that this uncertainty could be lowered to as little as 50 nm (k=2). While video-probe based systems are commonly used to inspect mesoscale mechanical components, a video-probe system's certified accuracy is generally much worse than its repeatability. To solve this problem, an artifact has been developed which can be calibrated using a commercially available high-accuracy tactile system and then be used to calibrate typical production vision-based measurement systems. This allows for error mapping to a higher degree of accuracy than is possible with a glass reference artifact. Details of the designed features and manufacturing process of the hybrid dimensional artifact are given and a comparison of the designed features to the measured features of the manufactured artifact is presented and discussed. Measurement results from vision and touch probe systems are compared and evaluated to determine the capability of the manufactured artifact to serve as a calibration tool for video-probe systems. An uncertainty analysis for calibration of the artifact using a CMM is presented.

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Manufactured parts are designed with acceptance tolerances, i.e. deviations from ideal design conditions, due to unavoidable errors in the manufacturing process. It is necessary to measure and evaluate the manufactured part, compared to the nominal design, to determine whether the part meets design specifications. The scope of this research project is dimensional acceptance of machined parts; specifically, parts machined using numerically controlled (NC, or also CNC for Computer Numerically Controlled) machines. In the design/build/accept cycle, the designer will specify both a nominal value, and an acceptable tolerance. As part of the typical design/build/accept business practice, it is required to verify that the part did meet acceptable values prior to acceptance. Manufacturing cost must include not only raw materials and added labor, but also the cost of ensuring conformance to specifications. Ensuring conformance is a substantial portion of the cost of manufacturing. In this project, the costs of measurements were approximately 50% of the cost of the machined part. In production, cost of measurement would be smaller, but still a substantial proportion of manufacturing cost. The results of this research project will point to a science-based approach to reducing the cost of ensuring conformance to specifications. The approach that we take is to determine, a priori, how well a CNC machine can manufacture a particular geometry from stock. Based on the knowledge of the manufacturing process, we are then able to decide features which need further measurements from features which can be accepted 'as is' from the CNC. By calibration of the machine tool, and establishing a machining accuracy ratio, we can validate the ability of CNC to fabricate to a particular level of tolerance. This will eliminate the costs of checking for conformance for relatively large tolerances.

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A mesoscale dimensional artifact based on silicon bulk micromachining fabrication has been developed with the intention of evaluating the artifact both on a high precision Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM), and on a video-probe based measuring system. A high accuracy touch-probe based CMM can achieve accuracies that are as good as the 2-D repeatability of video-probe systems. While video-probe based systems are commonly used to inspect mesoscale mechanical components, a video-probe system's certified accuracy is generally much worse than its repeatability. By using a hybrid artifact where the same features can be extracted by both a touch-probe and a video-probe, the accuracy of video-probe systems can be improved. In order to use the micromachined device as a calibration artifact, it is important to understand the uncertainty present in the touch-probe measurements. An uncertainty analysis is presented to show the potential accuracy of the measurement of these artifacts on a high precision CMM.

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We are developing calibration artifacts for mesoscale metrology (especially vision probing) by using silicon bulk micromachining. We evaluate these artifacts on both high accuracy coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) and on typical production vision-based measurement systems. This will improve the accuracy of vision-based measurement equipment used in production. Successful realization of these mesoscale artifacts will enhance both production metrology capabilities and reduce manufacturing costs. Copyright © 2006 by ASME.

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