Today’s production industry has to face considerable challenges. Decentralised andcross-linked production processes lead to a highly complex production control and aworldwide financial crisis causes drastic movements in demand. To succeed in businessunder these conditions, production needs to be transparent. One key factor to increasetransparency is the management of measurement processes. The management of measurementprocesses focuses not only on the measurement process itself that enables the decision onthe conformity of a measurand but, beyond that, it considers the acquisition of knowledgethroughout the production process, its validation, processing and feedback into theprocess chain. With proof of measurement process capability, the determination of theoptimal trade-off among measuring and production process, the adjustment of optimalworking points and tolerances is achieved. The management of measurement processes allowsobtaining a maximum benefit from metrology under the consideration of technical,organisational and economical boundary conditions.

We present a digital sampling algorithm that uses two high resolution integratingvoltmeters that are synchronized by a phase-lock loop clock to accurately measure theactive and apparent power parameters for sinusoidal power measurements. The developedsystem provides high precision measurements of the root mean square, phase and the complexvoltage ratio of the ac signal with sophisticated algorithm which process the data infrequency domain. The system was designed to be used at the Korea Research Institute ofStandards and Science as reference power standard for electrical power calibrations. Thedetail uncertainty calculations have shown that the accuracy of the measurements werebetter than 4 μW/VA (for k = 1) and the level ofuncertainty was valid for the power factor range 0 ~ 1 for both lead and lag conditions.The system is fully automated and allows power measurements and calibration of highprecision wattmeters and power calibrators at the main power frequencies of 50 and 60Hz.

Blackbody models are used as referential temperature measuring gauges for radiationthermometers calibration. Their emissivity is usually determined by calculation. Thepresented paper describes an experimental device used to measure local effectiveemissivities, using an optical radiometer. The methods to measure and evaluate emissivityand temperature are described. The results are compared with the theoretical model of acylindrical-conical cavity used to calibrate radiation thermometers.

The type of data treatment is different depending on whether the comparison, inparticular a key comparison of the MRA (mutual recognition agreement), is of thehierarchical or non-hierarchical type. This term does not mean a possible hierarchy amongthe participant laboratories; nor, in the opposite sense, a non-hierarchy among them likein the MRA key comparisons, but an intrinsic characteristic of the comparison measurand ordesign. It is a typical hierarchical comparison when the comparisoninvolves artefact standards. In this case, the summary parameters of the comparison arehierarchically higher than the input dataset. In case of non-hierarchicalcomparisons, the summary parameters are generally not of a hierarchicallyhigher level than the input dataset, because the comparison dataset can be considereddrawn from a single super-population. This happens, when a single standard is circulatedfor measurement; when the measured samples are all drawn from a single batch of areference material; when the standards are all realisations of a single condition – namelya physical or chemical state. This paper will discuss in detail these two categories.

The quality of fixtures plays an important role in product quality during manufacturing,measuring or assembly. Finding methods for evaluating a fixture’s quality, which maydepend on workpiece errors, fixture errors, influences of clamping force, friction, etc.,is necessary to improve the product quality. This paper proposes the indicators that areused for estimating the quality of a fixture based on workpiece localizationrepeatability. Here, the workpiece localization will be considered in the followingdifferent cases: (1) considering only the influence of different geometric parameters(types) of the fixture, (2) taking into account the clamping force in the different typesof the fixture, (3) the influence of friction on the contacts of the workpiece-fixture. Afixture model is presented and analysed with some examples. An experimental fixture andworkpiece are then used to analyse and compare with the theoretical results.

Efficient traffic enforcement requires a system characterized by regulations wheremetrology must have a significant role. It is important for competent authorities andmanufacturers to have efficient measurement traceability within the framework ofconformity assessment of instruments available on the market. Therefore a growing interestlies in the role of metrological decisions in conformity assessment, particularly wheremeasurements are in support of safety and health, such as in road safety. This paperfocuses on the role of Portuguese Legal Metrology in the field of road safety, itemphasizes the relevance of metrological control of some measuring instruments in thefield of the National Program Strategic Plan for Road Safety, as a way to prevent andmonitor the crash rate.

The measurement of the car exhausts plays an important role in many countries all overthe world. Often, national legislation lays down limits to preserve the environment and,in addition, special regulations exist for the metrological control of exhaust gasanalyzers. In the 90s, opacimetry was introduced as a fast and simple measuring techniqueto qualify the exhaust systems of cars equipped with Diesel engines. However, for moderncars equipped with soot reduction systems, conventional opacimetry reaches its limits.Therefore, new exhaust gas analyzers enter the market and, in parallel, the regulations inmany countries will be modified. In terms of traceability, corresponding nationalstandards must be developed for setting up a traceability chain for this new kind ofinstrument. For this reason, research is carried out with the aim of implementing particlecounter standards for aerosols. In some countries, new set-ups are under constructionwhich may lead to future intercomparisons. Today thousands of opacimeters are still inuse, yet new instruments should comply with some of the given requirements in order toallow a smooth transition from one technique to the other. In other words, new instrumentsshould combine the principles of two different “worlds”: opacimetry and particle counting.The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of the development of new exhaust gasanalyzers as well as of new national standards and new regulations in this field.

Microscopy is used in most technology processes where two-dimensional distributions, thatare digital images of the shape and appearance of integrated circuit (IC) features, revealimportant information. Optical microscopy and diffraction gratings can be used to measurethe placement of IC features with a precision of less than 1 nm (1σ) witha new technique of separately viewing multiple levels. However, the microscope’s opticaland video camera distortion may cause significant errors in the IC feature measurementunder some circumstances. In this paper, the optical and video camera distortions of anoptical microscope used in IC feature measurement were studied by analyzing digital imagesof a precision grating. MATLAB programs were used to extract the value of intensity ofeach pixel in the grating image. By matching a position dependent, phase-varied idealsinusoidal wave to the processed grating digital image, the phase of the best-fit sinewave was observed to vary by the equivalent of many nanometers at different locationswithin the digital image of the grating. This variation was similar, but significantlydifferent, for different microscope objectives. It is believed to arise from opticaldistortion within the microscope, and possibly also from distortion within the camera.Impact of optic chromatic aberration and microscope stability on the measurement of ICfeatures was also studied. The method described here is inexpensive and easy to implementsince it does not require any sophisticated equipment or controlled environment. Thistechnique provides an attractive option for small companies, university labs andinstrument manufacturers.

The advent of charge-coupled devices (CCD) has significantly extended the horizons offull-field measurement methods in many fields of fundamental and applied sciences,including fluid flow dynamics. One of the major applications of imaging sensors in fluidmechanics is the Digital Particle Image Velocimetry (DPIV), which is a non-invasive, fullfield optical measuring technique. Due to recent advances in image processing methods, andin digital imaging, laser and optics DPIV has become a dominant tool for obtainingvelocity information about fluid motion. On the other hand, over the last years,developments in micro- and nanofluidic systems have promised a shrinking of thedesktop-sized chemical and biological devices to microscale size, so a detailedinvestigation of the behaviour of flow inside these microdevices is essential for theoptimum design of microsystems, as well as for an understanding of flow dynamics in micronscales. In this work, the advances in visualization and quantitative measurements of flowvelocity measurements are reviewed and explained.

At non-linear electromagnetic measurement systems, the finite element method is the mostconvenient tool for the system analysis and measurement uncertainties budget estimation.Two non-linear devices will be analyzed by finite element method: electrical steel sheettesting device-Epstein frame and combined current-voltage instrument transformer. TheEpstein frame must comply with the standard IEC 60404-2:1996+A1:2008, and the combinedinstrument transformer with the IEC 60044-3: 2002. The Epstein frame forms an unloadedtransformer and the analytical transformer theory introduces some approximations. The mainapproximation is introduced by the standard IEC 60404-2 (through the presumption ofconstant, invariant to the specimen grade effective magnetic path length). The finiteelement method results will enable an Epstein frame and combined current-voltageinstrument transformer prototype design (by using a computer program based on geneticalgorithm with minimal uncertainty budget as goal function) with reduced measurementuncertainty, which will be experimentally verified in the Metrological Laboratory forElectromagnetic Quantities at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and InformationTechnologies-Skopje.

In today’s modern world, plastics are used for a variety of everyday applications fromplastic shopping bags to medicinal applications, but most of these plastics are resistantto environmental influences such as humidity and microbial attack. The ecological problemwe now face in our landfills is the large volume of non-biodegradable plastics, which hasmade the development of biodegradable plastics an urgent matter. Because of thissituation, the Chemical Metrology Group of NMISA (National Metrology Institute of SouthAfrica) has embarked on a collaborative effort with the Fibre and Polymer TechnologyDepartment of KTH (Royal Institute of Technology) in Sweden to develop methods for theanalysis of biodegradable polymers. During the project, commercial and research samplesare analysed with various techniques, such as Pyrolysis-GC-MS, GPC, FTIR, SEM, TGA,TGA-FTIR and DSC. The aim is primarily to evaluate what information can be obtained byPyrolysis-GC-MC and FTIR-TGA with respect to thermal properties and degradation products.Currently polylactide (PLA) is the focus of many studies and it is one of the mostpromising degradable polymers. One trend is to improve the properties of PLA throughaddition of different nanofillers. In this work polylactide nanocomposites are made byblending polylactide (PLA) with zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, halloysite (aluminosilicate)or surface modified montmorillonite (phyllosilicate). The materials are characterized byscanning electron microscopy (SEM) and DSC. The thermal stability and resulting thermaldegradation products are analysed by TGA and Py-GC-MS. The results especially show theinfluence of nanoparticle surface modification on the degradation product pattern.

In France, the Clinical Biochemistry Laboratories (CBL) are in charge of the monitoringof nuclear workers. These laboratories must be accredited and have ministerialcertification. The accreditation of radiobioassay analyses requires notably ProficiencyTesting (PT) between laboratories. One of the most important PT providers, in this field,is the PROCORAD association. The specifics are to provide real biological samples spikedwith various radionuclides and to send them around international CBL. The results obtainedby the all laboratories are both statistically and anonymously exploited, thanks tohomemade software entitled Procostat. PROCORAD PT’s program answers to a definite demandfrom laboratories in charge of monitoring workers, for some years more than 70participants from all over the world have signed up to participate in these comparisonexercises. Apart from an assessment of the different laboratories performance, thecomparison exercises organized by the PROCORAD’s association enable the ClinicalBiochemistry Laboratories to evaluate the techniques implemented in terms of accuracy,reproducibility and specificity.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have become strongly promising nano-particles for developingnovel smart polymer matrix nanocomposites to satisfy the ever increasing designrequirements of the recent avenues of space industry and other special structuralapplications. The objective of this paper is to investigate the influence of doped anddispersed CNTs in polymer matrix on its intrinsic properties. Three different types ofpolymers; polyvinylchloride (PVC), polymethylemethacrylate (PMMA), and polystyrene (PS)were subjected to this experimental investigation. CNTs/polymer matrix composites with acontent ratio of CNTs up to 5% by weight were synthesized in lab. The nanocomposites werethen characterized by measuring their mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties. Inaddition, thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infra red spectroscopy(FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were applied, and the results are presentedand discussed. It can be generally concluded that both PMMA and PS polymers disclosed muchbetter matching ability and cross linking ability with the interweaving CNTs than the PVC.Both PMMA and PS polymers may thus be nominated for further extension of the investigationto cover a wider range of CNTs content ratios in an endeavour towards searching formaximum specific performance properties of such nanocomposites.

Translating measurement uncertainty into terms of effective impact associated withmanufacture, testing and incorrect assessment gives a more “stakeholder” motivated (andultimately optimised) approach to decision-making in conformance assessment. Recentlydeveloped decision-theory tools include the “optimized uncertainty” methodology and the“operating cost characteristic”. Overall costs, E, consisting of a sum oftesting costs, D, and the costs, C, associated withcustomer risk, can be calculated with the expression:

with , whereRPV denotes the region of permissiblevalues and σ is a measure of dispersion. A complete, 3D surface ofoverall cost can indicate the optimum level of measurement effort of these two ranges, asrecently published by the author in a wide range of applications: optimized acceptancesampling; optimized testing of measurement instruments; and an analysis of optimisedcalibration intervals and “guard-banding”. This approach is illustrated in the presentwork for the example of geometrical product control in the car industry, specifically thegap in vehicle closure panels taking account of customer dissatisfaction.

The main purpose of the paper is to describe the construction and performance of a newand novel Silver and Copper point system that combines a conventional ingot of silver orcopper in a graphite crucible, with a specially designed heat dewar or heat siphon to forma single entity. Furthermore, to add above this entity a heated collar to exactlycompensate for heat losses upwards and the stem conduction effects of the thermometerbeing calibrated. The overall construction contains no glass parts, is rugged, compact andtransportable. Its performance is similar to large quartz clad cells in floor standingheat pipe apparatus at a fraction of the size and cost.

According to the increasing interest in metrological systems for the dimensionalmeasurements of large-size objects in a wide range of industrial sectors, severalsolutions based on different technologies, working principles, architectures, andfunctionalities have recently been developed. Among all, the most flexible and easilytransportable solutions are those that have aroused most interest and have found greatersuccess. In order to address the needs of Large-Scale Metrology (LSM) applications, adistributed flexible system based on a network of low-cost InfraRed (IR) sensors – theMobile Spatial coordinate Measuring System II (MScMS-II) – has been developed at theIndustrial Quality and Metrology Laboratory of Politecnico di Torino. This paper presentsa preliminary uncertainty assessment of the system referring to the measured pointcoordinates in the 3D space, focusing on the sources of measurement uncertainty and therelated propagation laws. A preliminary metrological characterization of MScMS-IIarchitecture, experimentally evaluated through a system prototype, is also presented anddiscussed.

This study is an overview of the capability evaluation of measurement systems.Principally, the determination of capability of a measurement system is an importantaspect of quality and process improvement initiatives. In practice, various methods aredeveloped and used for determining measurement system capability. As a measurement tool,potential effectiveness of gauge should be considered and significant factors should beidentified for that purpose. A set of procedures referred to as Measurement SystemsCapability Studies are conducted for assessing capability of gauge, isolating sources ofvariability in the system, evaluating how much of total observed variability is due togauge, and investigating two components of measurement error: repeatability andreproducibility of gauge. Gauge Repeatability & Reproducibility (GaugeR&R) Study tries to estimate repeatability and reproducibility components ofmeasurement system variation with primary objective of assessing whether gauge is suitablefor intended application or not. Measurement System Analysis (MSA) is a collection ofstatistical methods, which includes Gauge R&R Study, for analysis of measurementsystem capability. In this study, detailed literature review of MSA, Gauge R&R andMeasurement Systems Capability Studies, and general discussion of misclassificationprobabilities that give useful, reliable information about measurement systems performancewould be provided.

In the building domain, components or equipment are often subjected to severeenvironmental conditions. In order to predict the reliability and the life-time of suchequipment, accelerated life testing can be carried out. Severe conditions are applied toaccelerate the ageing of the components and the reliability at nominal conditions is thendeduced considering that these nominal conditions are not constant but stochastic. In thispaper, the accelerated life testing of photovoltaic modules is carried out at severemodule temperature levels. The module power losses are monitored and the limit state isdetermined when a threshold power is reached. The stochastic data and the reliability aresimulated during a period of twenty years. Finally, the life time of the component isevaluated.

A common measurement model for a gas operated piston-cylinder based pressure standardeffective area is the well known integral equation formulation originally developed byDadson of the NPL. However a problem with directly applying this exact mathematical modelis that it cannot be easily cast into a functional form suitable for application of theGuide to the expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) which is reliant on theconcept of sensitivity coefficients without various simplifications. In this paper, weexamine the standard approximations that are currently necessary in order to directlyapply the GUM for a pressure standard effective area uncertainty determination. We alsocompare and contrast this to the exact effective area uncertainty results obtained throughthe direct application of the Monte Carlo Method (MCM) which has recently been publishedas Supplement 1 to the GUM. Based on these investigations we also draw some preliminaryconclusions on the relative merits on the extent to which the shape of the piston andcylinder radii and whose uncertainties may vary along the engagement length of thepiston-cylinder may be modeled and incorporated into a piston-cylinder’s effective areauncertainty calculation.

The analyses of the performance of a complete photovoltaic system require precisemeasuring equipment in order to obtain reliable comparative results. This paper presents acomputer-based instrumentation system suitable for a characterization of photovoltaicconversion chains. Consisting in a data acquisition stage, a data processor, photovoltaicgenerators and power conditioners, the system evaluates the respective efficiency ofmaximum power point tracker (MPPT) and power conditioner. The efficiency of unknown MPPTfunctions is estimated with great accuracy by means of an extremum control-based MPPT usedas a reference. Efficiency evaluations of two photovoltaic battery chargers during 4 daysillustrate the estimation procedure and the system test facilities.