Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Why and When Should One Calibrate a Measurement System

Published

Author(s)

Raghu N. Kacker

Abstract

A measurement without its uncertainty is not adequate. The stated uncertainty ceases to be valid when the measurement system goes out of calibration. A conventional re-calibration interval may not be optimal for all usage conditions. The cost of re-calibration may be viewed as unnecessary expense when there is no indication that the system is out of calibration. We propose that the system should be checked at regular intervals in real-time. Then we provide a simple, generic, and widely applicable formula for the checking interval. The formula is illustrated with application to coordinate measuring machines.
Citation
National Conference of Standards Laboratories

Keywords

calibration, conventional re-calibration interval, uncertainty

Citation

Kacker, R. (2008), Why and When Should One Calibrate a Measurement System, National Conference of Standards Laboratories (Accessed April 19, 2024)
Created October 16, 2008