Engineering Measurement & Instrumentation

4th Semester

Dr. Prakash Kumar Sahu

Production Engineering Department
NIT Agartala
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 Metrology
Definition(Literary): It is a science of measurement
 Any thing that can be measured is coming under
Metrology
 Measurement can be Quantitative or Qualitative
 Quantitative: Numerical Values, Variables
 Qualitative: Comparison, Attributes

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In broader sense metrology includes;
 Instrumentations (methods, errors, maintenance)
 Calibrations (maintaining accuracy of measuring device)
 Standards (establishment, reproduction, conservation and
transfer of unit of standards)

 Environmental Influence (temperature, humidity,

chemicals, vibration, etc.)

 Human operator/Machine limitations (controlled/

uncontrolled variations such as friction, fatigue, capability of
measurement beyond certain limit )

 Work-Piece/Service features (Design, manufacturing

and testing of device of all kinds)

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 Brief History
Prehistoric people
didn’t have idea to measure

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History of Measurement
 Egyptian Cubit
• Used to build pyramids
• Dependent on the pharaoh
• Missed calibration was
punishable by death!
 But over time….

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 people started growing food

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 and developing permanent settlements

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Metrology
“the science that deals with measurement”

Measure
“to determine the dimension, quantity or
capacity of something”
 Metrology Concepts
Calibration
• Set of operations that establish the relationship
between values of quantities indicated by a
measuring instrument and a reference standard
 Metrologist
• Designs and runs
Metrologist
measurement calibrations &
tests
• Analyzes the results Calibration
Engineer
• Determines the final accuracy
of the device under test Calibration
Technician
Scientific Metrology
– Organization and development of measurement
standards and their maintenance (highest level)

Atomic Clock
Accurate to 1 s in 20
million years
Industrial Metrology
– Adequate functioning of measurement instruments
used in industry as well as production and testing
processes
 Who Needs
Accurate Measurements?
 Pharmaceutical Industry
• Metrology laboratories test
weights and volume standards
for pharmaceutical companies

• Products include medicines like

aspirin, antibiotics, vaccines,
insulin, & vitamins
 Defense Industry

• Metrology laboratories test

standards for many military
and defense companies

• These companies make the

guidance systems for the
Patriot missiles and other
things that are top secret
 Space Station, Satellites….

• Metrology laboratories test

standards for many companies
that provide parts of the space
shuttle

• These parts include the metal,

heat shield, electronics, fabrics,
o-rings, optics, and tires
 Retail Measurements

• State metrology laboratories

test standards used to test
retail scales and meters

• These include gas pumps,

produce scales, milk, bread
and other packaged items,
and price scanning systems
Who Needs Accurate Measurements?
Everybody!
 So, everybody needed a system of
measurement…

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 Metric System (SI)
SEVEN BASE UNITS
Mass Kilogram (kg)
International System
Length Meter (m) of Measurement
Time Second (s)

Temperature Kelvin (K)

Electric Current Ampere (A)

Amount of Substance Mole (mol)

Luminous Intensity Candela (cd)

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 Objective of Metrology
The basic objective of metrology is to provide the
required accuracy at a minimum cost.

Further objectives in modern engineering industry

are listed below;

1. Complete evaluation of newly developed product

2. Determination of process capability and ensure
that this is better than the relevant component
tolerance

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3. Determination of capabilities of measuring
instrument and ensure that they are quite
sufficient for their respective measurement
4. Minimizing the cost of inspection effective and
efficient use of available facilities
5. Reducing the cost of rejection by applying
various methods such as SQC technique
6. To standardise the measuring methods
7. To maintain the accuracy of measurement
8. To prepare design for all gauges and special
inspection fixture

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 INSPECTION

• Inspection is defined as a process used for

controlling and checking the quality of a
product to the laid quality standards.
 Need for Inspection
i. Man has always used inspection to determine the fitness
of anything made.
ii. In old age, same craftsman used to be producer as well
as assembler.
iii. Separate inspections were not required.
iv. If any component part did not fit properly, the craftsman
would make the necessary adjustments in either of the
mating parts and made it functioned properly.
v. So, no two parts will be alike
vi. But industrial inspection is of recent origin and has
scientific approach behind it.
vii. It came into being because of mass production which
involved inter-changeability of parts.
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 Need for Inspection
a. To remain competitive in the market place
b. Maintain highest of standards
c. Maintain customer confidence
d. It leads to improvements in metallurgy and raw
material manufacturing.
e. Inspection has also introduced a spirit of
competition which led to production of quality
products in volumes by utilizing minimum
tooling and better processing techniques
(minimum scrap & rework)

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 OBJECTIVES OF INSPECTION
1. It separates the defective components from
non-defective ones.
2. By doing so, a defective product is rejected
before reaching to the customer.
3. It prevents the further work to be done on the
defective product.
4. It helps the companies to sustain their
reputation by maintaining quality standards.
5. To find out the defects in raw materials and
errors in workmanship.
 FUNCTIONS OF INSPECTION
1. Inspection of incoming material
2. Inspection during manufacturing
3. Mechanical and metallurgical inspection
4. Tool inspection
5. Finished goods inspection
DECISIONS ABOUT INSPECTION
 Type of Inspection
• Traditionally, measurement have been made
after the part has been produced known as
post-process inspection.
• The term inspection means checking the
dimensions of what has been produced and
determining whether it complies with the
specified dimensional accuracy.
• The trend now is to make measurements while
the part is being produced on the machine, this
known as in-process inspection.

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 TYPES OF INSPECTION
• Based upon method of inspection
1. Remedial inspection
2. First-off inspection
3. In-process inspection
4. Operation inspection
5. Sampling inspection
6. Final inspection
7. Pilot-piece inspection
8. Final assembly inspection
 TYPES OF INSPECTION
• BASED UPON LOCATION
1. Centralized or crib inspection
2. Floor inspection
 Tolerance

• An important aspect of metrology in

manufacturing processes is dimensional
tolerance, the permissible variation in the
dimensions of a part.
• Tolerances are important because of their impact
on not only the proper functioning of a product,
but the manufacturing costs as well, generally,
the smaller the tolerance, the higher the
production costs.

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 Process of Measurement
Three elements of measurement;
1. Measurand: It is the physical quantity or property to
be measured. E.g. length, angle, diameter,
thickness, etc.
2. Reference: It is the physical quantity or property to
which quantitative comparisons are made. E.g. a
scale, a pressure gauge, etc.
3. Comparator: It is the means of comparing
measurand with some reference. E.g. eye is used as
comparing the measurand and reference to get a
numerical value.

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 Methods of Measurements
1) Direct method
2) Indirect method
3) Absolute or Fundamental method
4) Comparative method
5) Transposition method
6) Coincidence method
7) Deflection method
8) Complementary method
9) Contact method
10)Contact less method

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 Direct Method
Simplest method of measurement in which the value
of the quantity to be measured are directly obtained
without any calculations.
e.g. scale, vernier calliper, bevel protactor, etc.

It is not a very accurate measurement due to the

human insensitiveness in making judgement (as
comparator)
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 Indirect Method

The value of quantity to be measured is obtained by

measuring other quantities which are functionally
related to the required value
e.g. Angle measurement by Sine Bar, Screw pitch
diameter by three wire method etc.

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 Absolute or Fundamental Method

It is based on the measurement of base quantities

used to define the quantity
It may be direct or indirect method

e.g. F = m.a, so to measure FORCE, the base

quantity MASS & LENGTH & TIME are measured

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 Comparative Method

The value of the quantity to be measured is

compared with known values of same quantity or
other quantity related to it.
Only the deviation from a master gauge is determine.

e.g. Gauges, Dial indicators, comparators, etc.

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 Transposition Method

It is a method of measurement by direct comparison

in which the value of the quantity measured is first
balanced by an initial known value A of the same
quantity, then the value of the quantity measured is
put in place of this known value and is balanced
again by another known value B.

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 Transposition Method

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 Coincidence Method

It is a differential method of measurement in which a

very small difference between the quantity to be
measured and the reference is determined by the
observation of the coincidence of certain lines or
signals.
e.g. Vernier callipers, micrometer, etc.

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 Deflection Method

The value of the quantity is directly indicated by a

deflection of a pointer of a calibrated scale
e.g. Pressure gauge, voltmeter, multimeters, techo
meter, etc.

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 Complementary Method
The value of the quantity to be measured is
combined with a known value of the same quantity.
The combination is so adjusted that the sum of these
two values is equal to predetermined comparison
value
e.g. determination of volume of solid by liquid
displacement, etc.

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 Complementary Method

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 Contact Method

In this method the sensor or a measuring tip of the

instrument actually touches the surface to be
measured.
e.g. micrometer, dial indicator, vernier calliper, etc.

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 Contact less Method

There is no direct contact with surface to be

measured
e.g. Optical instruments such as tool makers
microscope, projection comparator, etc.

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 Measuring System
A measuring system consist of five basic elements;
1. Standard (meter, second, degrees, etc. )
2. Instrument (error free scale, watch, thermometer, etc.)
3. Work-piece (cleanliness, surface finish, scratch, hidden
geometry, etc..)

4. Person (skill & ability to select standards & instruments)

5. Environment (Temperature, humidity, dust, etc. that
affects both man & instruments)

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 Measuring System

Environment

Measured Value
Standard Instruments Work piece

Person

For convenient reference the acronym SWIPE is used in measuring system

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 Sources of Errors
True dimension of a product can not be determined
but can only be approximated

In other words;
There is always an ERROR because no
measurement can be made absolutely accurate

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 Sources of Errors
Errors in a product depends upon the following facts
(known as sources of error);

i. The accuracy and design of the measuring

instrument
ii. The skill of the operator
iii. Method adopted for measurement
iv. Temperature variations (Environment)
v. Elastic deformation of the work piece &
instrument

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 Terminologies

Accuracy indicates how close measurement comes

to the true value.

Precision refers to the agreement among repeated

measurement, that is, how close they are together.

Sensitivity, also called resolution, is the smallest

difference in dimensions that the instruments can
detect.
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 Terminologies
Difference Between Precision And Accuracy

Accurate Precision and

Precision
Accurate
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 Terminology
Reliability: It is defined as the probability that a
given system will perform it’s function adequately for
it’s specified period of lifetime under specified
operating conditions.
Calibration: The calibration of any measuring
instrument is a pre-measurement process for framing
the scale of the instrument by applying some
standard signals.
Repeatability: It is the ability of the measuring
instrument to repeat the same results for the
measurement of the same quantity by same
observer, instrument, condition, location, method,
time interval, etc.
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 Terminologies
Bias : These errors are due to mal‐adjustment of
instrument, permanent set, non‐linear errors, errors
of material measures etc. Summation of all
systematic errors
Inaccuracy: Total error of a measuring instrument
including bias and repeatability errors. If known
systemic errors are corrected, remaining errors are
due to random errors. This inaccuracy is called
“uncertainty of measurement”

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 Terminology

Standardisation and Interchageability

Component selected randomly should assemble

correctly with any other mating component. This is
interchangeability.

This is possible when certain standards are strictly

followed internationally

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 Expression for Accuracy & Precision
Mostly precision is of greater importance
1. Accuracy= √(repeatibility)²+(error)²
2. % error =
True value – measured value X 100%
True value
Precision: Find the standard deviation as follows;
– Expression of variability
– Take the mean (average)
– Calculate how much each measurement
deviates from mean
– Take an average of the deviation, so it is the
average deviation from the mean
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 Process Capability
It is the minimum tolerance to which machine can be
expected to work and produce no defectives under
the specified conditions.

It is the minimum variation that has to be tolerated on

any process under the existing situation.

Two significant factors are‐

• Process factors – process made up of no. of factors
e.g. raw materials, machine, operator’s skill,
measuring devices etc.
• Process conditions – Measurements should be
normally distributed and in a state of control.
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 Sources of Errors
Error = Measured value - True value
The error in measurement may be expressed as
Absolute Error or Relative Error
Absolute Error: It is algebraic difference between
the result of measurement and the conventional true
value.
Apparent Absolute Error: If a series of
measurement are made then the algebraic difference
between one of the results of measurement and the
arithmetical mean is known as apparent absolute
error.

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 Sources of Errors
Relative Error: It is the quotient/measure of
absolute error. i.e. Relative error gives an indication
of how good a measurement is relative to the size of
the thing being measured.
Example:
Let’s say that two students measure two objects with
a meter stick. One student measures the height of a
room and gets a value of 3.215 meters ±1mm
(0.001m). Another student measures the height of a
small cylinder and measures 0.075 meters ±1mm
(0.001m). Clearly, the overall accuracy of the ceiling
height is much better than that of the 7.5 cm cylinder.
The comparative accuracy of these measurements
can be determined by looking at their relative errors.
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 Sources of Errors
Types of Error
1. Statistic error
2. Instrument loading error
3. Dynamic error

1. Statistic Error: These error results from the

physical nature of various component of measuring
system.
There are three basic source of static error
a) Reading error
b) Characteristic error
c) Environment error
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 Sources of Errors
Reading error: Reading error applies to the readout
device. It includes
-Parallax error (Reading position)
Eliminated by using a mirror
-Interpolation error (This is the reading error resulting
from in-exact evaluation of the position of index in
between two adjacent graduation marks.)
Eliminated by using digital read out system.

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 Sources of Errors

Characteristic Error
It is defined as the deviation of output of the
measuring system from theoretical predicted
performance.

If theoretical output is a straight-line, calibration error

is included in characteristic error.

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Environmental error
This is the error occurred due to the effect of change
in environment condition, such as temperature,
pressure, humidity etc.
This can be reduced by controlling atmosphere
according to the specific requirements.

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 Sources of Errors
2. Instrument Loading error
This is the error occurred due to the change in
measurand when it is being loaded for measurement
as a result of small pressure.
It is the difference between the value of the
measurand before and after the measuring system
is connected/contacted.
3. Dynamic error
This is the error caused due to the inability of system
to respond truly to a time varying measuring
measurement. The main causes are inertia,
damping, friction etc.
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 Sources of Errors

For statistical study the error can be broadly

classified as
1. Systematic or controllable error
2. Random error

1. Systematic or controllable error

These are regularly repetitive in nature. There are of
constant and similar form. The error occurred due to
improper conditions or procedures. This error
includes:-
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 Sources of Errors
a. Calibration Error: The error is caused due to
variation in the calibrated scale from its normal value.
The actual length of standard (slip gauge) and
engraved scale will vary from nominal by a small
amount, which causes an error in measurement of
constant magnitude.
b. Environmental error: Variation in
ambient/atmospheric condition (temperature.
Pressure and moisture content) from international
standard (20° temp and 760mm of Hg) at the place of
measurement, give rise to error. Among them temp is
a significant factor, because expansion and
contraction occurs due to temp.
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 Sources of Errors

c. Stylus Pressure: While measuring the work piece

is pressed with some pressure, that may cause an
error. The pressure is small but sufficient to cause
appreciable deformation of both stylus and work
piece.
d. Avoidable Error: These error may be due to
parallax, non-alignment of work piece centers,
improper location of measuring instrument.

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 Sources of Errors
Random error
Random errors are occurred randomly and
accidental in nature. These are non-consistent and
difficult to eliminate.
The source of random error are
i) Variation in the position of setting standard and
work-piece.
ii) Displacement of lever joints of measuring
instrument.
iii) Operator error in scale reading.
iv) Fluctuation in the friction of measuring instrument.
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 Sources of Errors

STANDARDS FOR LINEAR MEASUREMENT

The two standards of Measurement are –
• English system‐ yard
• Metric system‐ metre

The various standards known for linear

measurement are
• LINE STANDARD
• END STANDARD
• WAVELENGTH STANDARD

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 Sources of Errors

LINE STANDARD
When length is expressed as a distance between
two parallel lines engraved across the standard it is
called a line standard e.g. Ruler with its division.

END STANDARD
In this length is expressed as a distance between
two flat parallel surfaces e.g. slip gauges, end of
micrometer anvil etc.

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 Sources of Errors

WAVELENGTH STANDARD

In this, wavelength of pure monochromatic light is

used to express length. Wavelength of red radiation
of cadmium is used. This is not influenced by
variation of environmental conditions like temp,
pressure humidity, ageing, etc.

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 END…
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