SED navigation bar go to SED home page go to SED publications page go to NIST home page SED Home Page SED Contacts SED Projects SED Products and Publications Search SED Pages


contents     previous     next


4.1 Advanced Mass Measurements

Carroll Croarkin
Statistical Engineering Division, ITL

Georgia Harris
Office of Weights and Measures, Technology Services

A 5-day workshop on mass measurements was given at NIST in March 1999 for industrial and state metrologists, weight manufacturers and balance manufacturers. Participants take two lower level courses before registering for this workshop which, in large part, focuses on statistical methods for controlling mass measurement processes and assessing uncertainties of mass determinations. Attendees were introduced to concepts of: theory and solution of weighing designs; error analysis; components of variance; and procedures for controlling measurement processes. Specific applications to mass measurements included:weighing designs for common weight sets; propagation of uncertainties through several series of designs; computations of uncertainty from check standard measurements; control of balance precision; and computation of total uncertainties. Course materials were supplemented by interactive computerized workshops which strengthen skills in the areas of weighing designs and process control, and this year, for the first time, attendees were instructed in the use of pages in the NIST/SEMATECH Engineering Statistics Handbook that relate to mass calibrations.




\begin{figure}
\epsfig{file=/proj/sedshare/panelbk/2000/data/workshops/massdesign.ps,width=6.0in} \end{figure}

Figure 20: A detail from the Handbook showing three series for calibrating a 5,3,2,1 weight set starting with 2 reference kilograms



contents     previous     next

Date created: 7/20/2001
Last updated: 7/20/2001
Please email comments on this WWW page to sedwww@nist.gov.