Monitoring coordinate measuring machines by user-defined calibrated parts

Coordinate measuring machines (CMM) are essential for quality assurance and production control in modem manufacturing. Due to the necessity of assuring traceability during the use of CMM interim checks with calibrated objects have to be carried out periodically. For this purpose usually special artifacts like standardized ball plates, hole plates, ball bars or step gages are measured. Measuring calibrated series parts would be more advantageous. Applying the substitution method acc. ISO 15530-3 [ISO 15530-3, 2000] such parts can be used. It is less cost intensive and less time consuming than measuring expensive special standardized objects in special programmed measurement routines. Moreover, measurement results can be directly compared with the calibration values; thus direct information on systematic measurement deviations and uncertainty of the features to be measured are available. The paper deals with a procedure for monitoring horizontal-arm CMMs with calibrated sheet metal series parts.