LINEAR MEASUREMENT

METROLOGY
METROLOGY is defined as a measurement of length and
angles and other such quantities which are expressed in linear
and angular measurement.
ENGINEERING METROLOGY is the measurement of
dimensions: length, thickness, diameter, taper,
angle,flatness, profiles, and others.
Traditionally: Post process inspection
Current Trend: In-process, on-line, real-time inspection
Inspection: Check dimensions of what have been produced or
what is being produced whether it conforms with the specified
dimensional accuracy.
Dimensional Tolerances: Permissible variation in dimensions of a
part
Instruments: tools for measurements

IMPORTANTCE OF METROLOGY
IMPORTANTCE OF METROLOGY

To achieve quality control in production

To achieve up to date knowledge of the production
systems.
To reduce rejection with the help of quality control.
To develop inspection procedure.
To calibrate measuring instrument time to time.
To provide the required accuracy at minimum cost.

TERMS USED IN METROLOGY

SPECIFICATION:
Every product and part have some certain
characteristics. It gives certain thoughts of that
particular product. Its called specification. It gives
easy to understand production method.
STANDARD : Standard is define as , it is a
physical quantity which is established by higher
authority or organization .This standard is reliable
and acceptable to measure physical quantity.
Ex. METER

LENGTH STANDARD

THERE ARE TWO STNDARD SYSTEM

TO MEASURE LENGTH
1.BRITISH SYSTEM: INCH,FOOT,YARD
2.METRIC SYSTEM: MM,CM,METER

UNIT OF LINEAR MEASUREMENT:

1.British system : mile
yard
foot ()
inch ()
2.metric system: kilometer
meter
decimeter
centimeter
millimeter
3.S.I. System : meter

CONVERSION
BRITISH SYSTEM: 12 inch=1 foot
36 inch=1 yard
3 foot=1 yard
1760 yard=1mile
METRIC SYSTEM:1000micron=1mm
10mm=1cm
10cm =1decimeter
10decm=1meter
1000meter=1kilometer

S.I.SYSTEM
As per S.I.System fundamental unit of length is
METER
1.METER=1000MM
1CENTIMETER=10MM
1MILIMETER=1000MICRON
1MICRON=0.001MM

Standards of Linear Measurement

According to the instrument design the length
can be measured by using following standards
1. Line Standard. E.g. Yard, Meter
2. End Standard. E.g. Slip Gauges, End Bars
etc.
3. Wavelength Standard E.g.Interferometers

Line Standard

Distance is measured between two lines

This is the primary standard
A scale is quick and easy to employ
Scale marking are not subject to wear. However
significant wear on leading edge leads to under
sizing
A scale does not possess a built in datum
Scales are subjected to parallax effect
Not convenient for close tolerance measurement
Less accurate compared to end standard.

End Standard
Distance is measured between two surfaces.
Highly accurate and well suited for close
tolerance(0.005) measurement.
Time consuming and prove one dimension
at a time
Subjected to wear on their measuring faces
Have built in datum.
Free from parallax.

Wavelength Standard
Orange radiation of Kr86 in hot cathode discharge lamp
maintained at 68C. According this standard meter is defined
as 1650763.73 wavelength.
It is not a material standard and hence not influenced by the
effects of variation of environmental temperature, pressure,
humidity and ageing.
It need not stored under security and thus there is no fear of
its being destroyed as in the case of meter and yard.
There are no problems of transferring this standard to other
standards as in the case of meter and yard.
Easily available to all standardizing houses, laboratories and
industries.
Easily reproducible and thus identical standard are available
with all.
Can be used for comparative measurements of a much higher

Metre
The metre is the length of the path travelled
by light in vacuum during a time interval of
1
299 792 458 of a second

LINEAR MEASURING INSTRUMENTS

Linear measuring instruments can be

classified as
Non Precision Measuring Instruments.
Precision Measuring Instruments.

Non Precision Measuring Instrument

and Accessories
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Steel Rule
Calipers
Surface Plates
Angle Plates
V Block
Bench Centers
Straight Edges
Spirit Level
Universal Surface gauge (used for layout work and inspection e.g. scribing
lines parallel to the datum)

10. Engineers square

11. Engineers Parallel
12. Feeler Gauges

Accuracy and Precision

Accuracy

Precision

It is the agreement of
result with the true value

It is the repeatability of
the measuring process

It can be characterized
with Average value.

It can be characterized
with Standard deviation.

It is more important when

mating parts are
manufactured in different
plants

It is more important when

mating parts are
manufactured in a single
plant.

Precision Measuring Instrument

Characteristics of Precision Measuring
Instruments
In order that precision measuring instruments function
properly they should possess the following characteristics.

High degree of Sensitivity

High degree of Accuracy
Minimum inertia in the moving parts of
mechanism.
Freedom from variance.

Precision Measuring Instrument

In order to achieve above mentioned characteristics in the measuring
instrument, the following principles must be observed.
1.
Principle of Alignment (Abbes Principle):
The line of measurement (axis of scale) should be coincident with line of
dimension being measured (Axis of specimen).
2.
Principle of Kinematics:
In order to constrain a body from all movements all the six degrees of
freedom must be checked.

Precision Measuring Instrument

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Vernier Caliper
Vernier Height gauge
Vernier Depth gauge
Length gauge
Micrometer screw gauge
Micrometer Depth gauge
Bench Micrometer
Slip gauges
End bars

STEEL RULE

Caliper

Caliper

Caliper

SURFACE PLATE
A surface plate is a solid, flat plate used as
the main horizontal reference plane for
precision inspection, marking out (layout),
and tooling setup. The surface plate is often
used as the baseline for all measurements to
the workpiece, therefore one primary
surface is finished extremely flat with
accuracy up to .00001"/.00025 mm for a
grade AA or AAA plate.

surface plate
Surface plates are a very common tool in
the manufacturing industry and are often
permanently attached to robotic type
inspection devices such as a coordinatemeasuring machine.
Material Granite, CI, Glass

surface plate

ANGLE PLATE

An angle plate is a work holding device

used as a fixture in metalworking.
The angle plate is made from high quality
material (generally spheroidal cast iron)
that has been stabilized to prevent further
movement or distortion. Slotted holes or T
bolt slots are machined into the surfaces to
enable the secure attachment or clamping
of workpieces to the plate, and also of the
plate to the worktable.
Angle plates also may be used to hold the
workpiece square to the table during
marking out operations.
Adjustable angle plates are also available
for workpieces that need to be inclined,
usually towards a milling cutter.

Use of V blocks

Indicate along top

Use clamps to secure
surface while moving
rod to V-block
along straight edge surface
straightness

Align V-Block with Straight-edge on

Surface Plate
Indicate along side
surface while rotating
cylinder - circularity

BENCH CENTRES

Straight Edges
These are used for checking the straightness and flatness of
parts in conjunction with the surface plates and spirit level.
These may be made of steel or cast iron. Steel straight edges
are available up to 2 m length and widely used for testing
machine tool slide ways. They are heavily ribbed and bow
shaped to prevent distortion. These are provided with feet
for rest when they are idle to prevent distortion. Feets are
placed at points of minimum deflection.
Types
Tool Makers Straight edge
Wide edge
Angle
box

Straight Edges

Spirit Level

Surface Gauge

Radius Gauges

Feeler Gauges

PRECISION MEASURING INSTRUMENT

TYPES OF MEASURING INSTRUMENT:
VERNIER CALIPER.
VERNIER DEPTHGAUGE
VERNIER HEIGHT GAUGE
MICRO METER OUTSIDE
MICRO METER INSIDE
MICRO METER DEPTH GAUGE
SLIP GAUGES
END BARS

VERNIER CALIPER.

VERNIER CALIPER.

Vernier calipers are available in size of 150 mm,

225 mm, 900 mm and 1200 mm. The selection
of the size depends on the measurements to be
taken. Vernier calipers are precision
instruments, and extreme care should be taken
while handing them.

VERNIER CALIPER.

In the Vernier caliper shown in fig the main scale

division (9mm) are divided in to 10 equal parts in the
Vernier scale.
i.e. one main scale division (MSD) =1mm
one Vernier scale division (VSD) =9/10mm

Least count is 1 mm- 9/10

=1/10mm

The difference between one MSD and one VSD=0.1mm

VERNIER CALIPER.
VERIER CALIPER WITH 0.02MM LEAST COUNT IS GENERLY USED IM WORK SHOP.
In this Vernier caliper main scale division (49mm) are divided in to 50 equal part in the Vernier scale.
i.e. 1 main scale division

=1 mm

(MSD)
1. Vernier scale division

=49\50 mm

(VSD)
Least count is 1mm 49\50 =1\50 mm

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 1.MSD and 1. VSD=0.02MM

USES OF VERNIER DEPTH GAUGE

Base (1), Graduated
beam (2), Clamping
screw (3), Fine
adjustment mechanism
(4) and Vernier scale
(5).

The main parts of a Vernier height

gauge and their function are given.
1.base

2. beam
3.Vernier slide
4. fine setting device
5. Vernier plate
6. locking screws
7. scriber

MICRO METER OUTSIDE

A micro meter is a
precision instrument
used to measure a job,
generally within an
accuracy of
0.01mm.Micrometer
used to take the outside
measurements are know
as outside micrometer

WOKING PRINCIPLE: The micrometer works on the principle

of screw and nut .The longitudinal movement of the spindle
during one rotation is equal to the pitch of the screw. The
movement of the spindle to the distance of the pitch or its
fractions can be accurately measured on the barrel and
thimble.
In metric micrometer the pitch of the spindle thread is 0.5mm.
Thereby ,in one rotation of the thimble, the spindle advances
by 0.5 mm.
On the barrel a 25 mm long datum line is mar-ked.
This line is further graduated to millimeters and half
millimeters (i.e. 1 mm& 0.5 mm).

 RANGES OF O.S. MICROMETER: Outside micrometer are available in

ranges of 0 to 25mm, 25 to 50mm, 50 to75mm, 75 to
100mm,100to125mm, 125 to 150mm. For all range of micrometer, the
graduations marked on the barrel is only 0-25 mm

DEPTH MICROMETERS
Depth micrometers are
special micrometers used to
measure
The depth of holes.
The depth of grooves and
recesses

The heights of shoulders or

projections.

Used for measuring

cylinder bores,
housing bores
Screw pitches same
as outside
micrometer
One inch of travel
Used more often
with transfer
measurements

Slip Gauges or Jo Blocks ISO 3650

Make up any dimension by wringing blocks
together

Sets come in several grades,

According to the tolerance grade (IS:2984)
Grade2
Grade1
Grade 0
Grade 00
Calibration grade

Sets include two wear blocks to be

mounted to either end of stack to protect
the measurement blocks from wear

Slip Gauges
The sets in metric units are
M112, M105, M87, M50, M33 AND M27
Most gauge blocks are produced from high grade
steel, hardened and stabilized by a heat treatment
process to give a high degree of dimensional stability.
Gauge blocks are also manufactured from tungsten
carbide, which is an extremely hard and wear
resistant material.
Some times gauge blocks are chrome plated

The need for standardization of measurement is vital in order to meet interchangeability

and functionability. Today's widespread manufacturing can function only if machinist
everywhere are able to check and adjust their measuring instruments to the same
standards.
Gauge blocks are the most accurate form of representing size by means of its two
parallel surfaces which are very flat.
They permit a comparison between the working measuring instruments of manufacturing
and recognized international standards of measurement.
They are one of the most important measuring tools which served as a standard for
comparison in achieving the standardization of measurements.
They are the most accurate form of representing size.
Gauge blocks are commonly used in metrology laboratories for calibration of measuring
instruments in tool rooms and machine shops for measurement of components and the
establishment of precise angles such as sine-bar.
TYPES AND GRADES
Gauge blocks are commonly available individually or in a set. They usually come in
three standard shapes: round, square, and rectangular. They are made f
hardened tool or ceramic in which the measuring surfaces are well finished by lapping.
The measuring surfaces of the gauge blocks are so smooth, flat, and even, that they can
be attached together by wringing method to obtain the length required for measurement.

Measurement System
Analysis
(MSA)

Sources of Errors in Measurement

For statistical study and study of accumulation
of errors, Errors are classified as
1. Systematic or Controllable errors
2. Random errors

Sources of Errors in Measurement

Systematic or Controllable errors
a.
b.

c.
d.

Calibration Error
Ambient Condition
(Temperature 20C, Barometric Pressure 760mm of Hg, Vapor Pressure
10 mm of Hg)
Stylus pressure Error
Avoidable errors
i.
Error due to parallax
ii. Error due to Misalignment

Random Error :
These are accidental and its magnitude and sign can not be predicted from
knowledge of measuring system and conditions of measurement
Ex.

Operator error

Slight displacement of lever joint

Transient fluctuation of friction in the instrument.

Errors likely to creep in Precision

Measurement
1. Effect of Environment-Temperature
2. Effect of support
3. Effect of Alignment
4. Effect of Dirt
5. Errors due to vibrations
6. Metallurgical effects
7. Contact point penetration
8. Error due to deflection
9. Error due to looseness
10. Error due to Wear in Gauges
11. Error due to location
12. The parallax Effect
13. Error due to poor contact
14. Error due to Impression of measuring stylus.

FACTORS AFFECTING THE ACCURACY OF A MEASURING

SYSTEM

a. Standard:- It may be affected by internal and external influences

(thermal expansion), stability with time, elastic properties,
traceability and manipulation.
b. Work piece:-It may be affected by internal and external influences,
cleanliness, surface condition, elastic properties, geometric truth,
establishment of the work piece reference, etc.
c. Instrument:-It may be affected by hysteresis, backlash, friction,
dents or wear, errors in amplification device, calibration errors, etc.
d. Personal:-can be many and mainly due to improper training and
handling, skill, lack of concentration, attitude towards and realization
of personal accuracy achievement, improper selection of instruments,
etc.
e. Environment:-It may be affected by temperature, heat radiation,
heating components, vibrations, people, surrounding and many other
factors.

Points of Minimum Deflection

Airy Points

Important terms in Precision Measurement

Precision
Accuracy
Range measurand interval over which a sensor is designed to respond
Span algebraic difference between the upper and lower range values
Hysteresis It is the difference between the indications of a measuring instrument when
the same value of the measured quantity is reached by increasing or by decreasing that
quantity.
Linearity
Calibration : It is the process of determining the value of the quantities being measured
corresponding to a pre established standard scale.
Sensitivity: it is the quotient of the increase in observed variable (indicated by pointer
and scale) and the corresponding increase in the measured quantity.
Bias: It is the characteristic of a measuring instrument to give indications of the value of
a measured quantity whose average differs from the true value of that quantity.
Uncertainty: It is the range about the measured value within which the true value of the
measured quantity is likely to lie at the stated level of confidence. It can be calculated
when population standard deviation is known or it can be estimated from standard
deviation calculated from finite number of observation having normal distribution.
Traceability: this is the concept of establishing a valid calibration of a measuring
instrument or measurement standard by step by step comparison with better standards up
to an accepted or specified standard. In general, the concept of traceability implies
eventual reference to an appropriate national or international standard.