The new method of traceability of a force-balanced piston gauge used as primary vacuum standard

Abstract The force-balanced piston gauge is a primary vacuum standard developed in the 1990s. The general principle of the instrument was first presented in Ooiwa A (Metrologia 30 (1994) 607). Non-rotating piston is connected to an electronic dynamometer and centered by means of transient gas flow in a double tapered gap between piston and cylinder. More details about it can be found in Delajoud, Girard(NCSL International Workshop and Symposium 2002; Vakuum Forschung Praxis 15 (2003) 24) and Tesar, Prazak(Vacuum 67 (2002) 307). Czech Metrology Institute developed its own method of the primary traceability of this instrument through the determination of its effective area. In this paper, there will be described experimental setup of this comparison as well as the experimental results from the traceability calibrations of the effective area in gauge and absolute mode using experimental method of hydrostatic comparison with the classical rotating piston balances and a digital non-rotating piston balance. It will, of course, include the uncertainty budget of this way of traceability and the final uncertainty of the pressure generation of the instrument.