Results of the CIRP-Form Intercomparison 1996–1998

Abstract Between 1996 and 1998, an international form intercomparison was completed. Among the 19 participants, there were 3 from industry, 9 from universities, and 7 from national metrology institutes. The artifacts under test included a ring, a plug, and three spheres of different materials. The measurement tasks included roundness, straightness, and parallelism. The participants were allowed to choose the type of measuring instrument, and therefore the results include measurements from both classical spindle-based form testers and also coordinate measuring machines (CMMs). For all the measurements, the participants were instructed to estimate their measurement uncertainty. The closeness in agreement between the results of the various participants depended on the measurement task, the assessment parameters, and the instrument type used.