Albion Devices, Inc. Feb 2004 Published by: Albion Devices, Inc Solana Beach, CA 92075, USA 858.792.9585 ‘www. AlbionDevices.com WHY COMPENSATE FOR TEMPERATURE? All metals commonly used in manufacturing expand and contract as they change temperature. Different metals change size at different rates, that is to say, they have different Coeflicients of Expansion (CO Most of us know this, but few appreciate the extent to which this phenomenon affects our ability to measure accurately on the shop floor, ‘The fact is that tolerances have gradually become tighter over the years and decades, and they are forecast to continue doing so. Without it necessarily having been realized, in many instances requirements for measurement accuracy have become such that they can no longer be met without accounting for temperature. In the past, if a 3” steel part were being machined to a tolerance of + .001”, the physical effect which caused it to change size by .0002" to .0004” as temperatures varied by 10°F to 20°F was not of great concern. The total variation only represented 20% of total tolerance at worst However, with increasing pressures to improve quality, and concerns about international standards such as ISO 9000, such parts are now often specified to much tighter tolerances, or are controlled on SPC and Cpk charts. When trying to control variations on this part to + .0002", temperature fluctuations can distort results by 100% or more. Under such circumstances temperature can have a major impact on attempts to control a process, and may even cause an erroneous belief that a process was out of control, or disguise an out of control condition. Larger parts will suffer to an even greater extent. The larger the part, the more dimensional variation will be observed as its temperature changes, and the more difficult it will be to control its temperature, for it will require more "soak" or stabilization time. It will therefore probably experience more extreme temperature variations when being measured. For example, a10" steel diameter will vary by .0013" to .002" over a 20°F to 30°F temperature range. Some metals have higher Coefficients of Expansion. ‘The COE of most steel alloys approximates 6.5 ppm (parts per million) per °F, while that of aluminum and its alloys is almost double, at around 12.8 ppnv/°F, and magnesium approaches 14 ppm/*F, Some aerospace components, measuring several feet yet withtolerances typically in the thousandths, can experience variations in size of .010" to 020" for just a 10°F change in temperature, Compounding the problem, setting masters and gages also change size with temperature. Itis rarely true that gage, master and workpiece have the same COE. In particular, gages, with their combinations of materials and fasteners, probes, electronics, springs and translators, usually exhibit effective COEs which are surprisingly different from that which might be expected. The difference between the COE of the gage and that of the workpiece is known as the Nominal Differential Expansion (NDE). Gages and masters are typically certified at 68°F (20°C), the international standard. Engineering drawings specify dimensions at 68°F by default, unless otherwise stated. If shop floor ambient temperature is anything but 68°F, even if parts and gage are at stable temperature, a gaging error caused by the NDE and the variation from 68°F to ambient will occur. Attempts to overcome these problems have been made. Approaches include use of temperature control. For example, a workpiece and its gage may be given time to stabilize at nominal temperature before being measured. This can be extremely time consuming, and therefore expensive. Another approach is to use coolants to control workpiece and, sometimes, setting master temperatures. This does not always compensate for NDE and the gage temperature difference, however. In other cases estimated offsets are used, which may be better than making no adjustment, but is at best only a rough guess Albion Devices, Inc., has specialized in Automatic Electronic Temperature ‘Compensation in order to overcome these problems. These tested and reliable systems have been in common use since 1989. They have been shown to be extremely cost effective, in many cases paying for themselves in three or four weeks. Savings to users are experienced in reduced rework (two crank shaft manufacturers have reported 85% reduction in rework), increased production throughput (several axle manufacturers and re-manufacturers have increased throughput by up to 100% through reduced down time to allow time for parts to stabilize), improved process control (Big Three auto ‘manufacturers obtain increased measurement control in piston manufacturing processes) and increased customer satisfaction. By sensing temperatures of part, master and gage (the "elements"), and applying COEs for each of them, these automatic compensation systems output a corrected dimension as if all the elements were in fact at 68°F (or other specified nominal dimension). The benefits are considerable: 1) When applied universally, gage correlation can be achieved. A Q.C. auditor, for example, will obtain similar results, when inspecting parts an hour or two after production, as the machine operator obtained previously. Indeed, final inspection can be climinated, 2) Gage drift will be substantially reduced, improving real R & Rs on the floor, so that ‘gages produce results similar to those obtained in a controlled gage room. 3) Cpks are improved by the elimination of thermal drift and distortion.4) Rework is reduced because operators work with accurate measurements that eliminate the effects of temperature, (at current labor and machine rates of $50 to $90 per hour, it only takes 60 to 120 hours of rework to pay back the $3,000 to $10,000 invested in a compensated gage). 5) Rough grinding can remove more material, avoiding the need to leave excess amounts to allow for thermal contraction, thus reducing time spent on finishing,THE THERMAL ERROR INDEX (TED A recent conference, held in Seattle, WA and sponsored by ASPE, focused on, among other things, issues relating to the effects of temperature on manufacturing processes, There is clearly an increasing awareness of this phenomenon, which is becoming more important as machined part accuracies become more critical. Mr. Kenneth Blaedel, of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, delivered a particularly relevant half day tutorial on thermal effects in precision engineering. He referred to a useful formula for calculating the Thermal Error Index contained in ANSI B89.6.2 and referenced again in ANSI B89.1.12M-1990. ‘The Thermal Error Index (TEI) is intended as an estimation of the maximum possible measurement error due to all thermal effects. It was originally conceived as a tool to assure that temperature control is adequate for the calibration of measuring equipment, as well as the manufacture and acceptance of workpieces. It recognizes that if measurements ate not made with all elements of the gaging system being at 68°F (20°C), temperature- induced measurement errors will occur. It also acknowledges that there are uncertainties in estimating coefficients of expansion, and in accurately measuring temperatures. The formula addresses Nominal Differential Expansion (NDE) and the Uncertainty of Nominal Differential Expansion (UNDE). NDE represents the net variation in dimension which can be anticipated as a result of differences in the assumed values of the coefficients of expansion in part, master and gage. UNDE represents the difference between the handbook values and the true values of the coefficients of expansion. The difference is often approximated at 10% of the handbook value. Temperature Variation Error (TVE) is also considered. TVE is defined by ANSI as an estimate of the maximum possible measurement error induced solely by deviation of the environment from average conditions. TVE is determined from the results of two drift tests, one of the master and the comparator and the other of the part and the comparator. The TEI formula, which results in an answer expressed as a percentage of the total tolerance, or Working Tolerance (WT), is as follows: TEI = [(NDE+UNDE+TVE)WT] x 100 A calibration, part manufacture, or acceptance procedure complies with this standard if it is carried out with all components of the measurement system at 68°F/20°C, or if it can be shown that the TEI is a reasonable and acceptable percentage of the working tolerance. In applying TEI, for example, to the acceptance testing of a coordinate measuring machine, ANSI declares that the measuring environment is unacceptable if the TEI is greater than 50%. ISO is currently considering the concept of TEI for adoption into their own standards. ExampleConsider measuring 3 inch diameters of aluminum parts to a tolerance of + .0002 inches using a steel master and a gage comprising both steel and aluminum. The nominal coefficient of expansion (COE) is about 6.5 ppm (parts per million) per degree F for steel, about 13.1 ppmv°F for aluminum and the effective COE of the comparator (gage) is 10 ppnv°F. Temperatures in the environment can vary by as much as 20°F, but are measured to 1°F, (so they can actually vary by as much as 21°F). Assume that the comparator is mastered immediately before each measurement and therefore the temperature of mastering and measuring will be close. If no compensation is applied to correct for NDE, then Case # EI = [(.000416 + .000116 + .000015)/.0004] x 100 = 137% (13.1 - 6.5) ppmv°F x 21°F x 3 inch = ,000416 inch representing the contribution from the difference between the nominal COFs of the steel master and the aluminum part UNDE = 1.85 ppmv"F x 21°F x 3 inch = .000116 resulting from the sum of the uncertainty of the COE of the aluminum part, estimated here at about 1.3 ppnv°F (ie 10% of the nominal COE) and the uncertainty of the COE for gage block steel, estimated from a number of studies to be about .55 ppmv*F, ‘TVE = ,000015 inch as obtained from a drift check over the course of perhaps 1 minute, WT = .0004 inch ‘Without compensation for NDE, this environment is clearly unacceptable. Case #2: If compensation is applied to correct for NDE, then TEI = [(.00002 + .000116 + .000015)/.0004] x 100 38% where, NDE = (13.1 - 6.5) ppmv°F x 1°F x 3 inch = .00002 inch because correction for NDE can only be made in this case to the nearest 1°F, UNDE = 1.85 ppnv°F x 21°F x 3 inch = .000116 inch, the same as above TVE = .000015 inch as obtained above, and WT = .0004 inch With compensation for NDE, and using the guideline that a TEI of less than 50% defines an acceptable environment, this environment is acceptable to make the measurement.