Application of repeatability and reproducibility studies for testing the capabilities of coordinate measuring machines

Abstract

When it comes to measurement systems applicable for high demand output, reliable and accurate measurements, coordinate measuring machines are the go-to measurement equipment in today’s manufacturing environments. In production conditions, providing data on the expanded measurement uncertainty for each measured quality characteristic is a demanding task, and often more than one CMM is used for measuring the quality characteristics on the same workpieces. In order to evaluate the suitability of two coordinate measuring machines for measuring three quality characteristics on one product, an expanded gage repeatability and reproducibility study was carried out. The setup and analysis of the experimental design were performed in accordance with the AS13003_1:2015 series of standards. The conducted study aimed to determine the suitability of the selected measurement systems for the defined task and the amount of their variation within the total variation of the production process. Also, considering that repeated measurements on CMMs are performed automatically, without operator influence, unsatisfactory GR&R results may indicate problems related to the choice of measurement strategy.