Monday, May 4, 2015

Calibration: What It Is & Why It's Important

By Carey Bourdier


Calibration is a highly important process for many industries. Calibration ensures that machinery is as perfectly in order as possible, which means that products will be made to exacting standards. While this might not seem important, imagine the construction of a vehicle or a piece of important medical equipment if it isn't built to specification. Imperfections can result in injuries or even death, so calibration services are crucial for all types of production.

The actual word calibration has been around since the days of the Civil War, when it mainly referred to different types of artillery. You may have heard someone discuss the "caliber" of a weapon, which relates to the diameter of the barrel of a firearm. However, it quickly became apparent many years earlier, during the Industrial Revolution, that calibration was necessary for all types of production, even if the word itself was not yet used.

There are many circumstances which require that you hire someone to provide calibration service. Most instruments and machinery need general calibration and maintenance from time to time. This depends on the amount of time that has passed between calibrations, as well as how many hours the machine, instrument or device has been used, as time and usage can cause calibration to become off. It also is necessary to calibrate a new instrument or one that has been changed or repaired.

Occasionally, a piece of equipment must be modified because a new customer has different specifications from what was already in place, and calibration is needed to make sure that the changes are accurate. Even a natural occurrence, such as an earthquake, can cause changes in an instrument or piece of machinery which will require recalibration services.

The individuals charged with the tasks of calibration are known as calibration engineers. Not only does this job require a college degree, typically either a bachelor's or master's degree, you also have to earn certification. Your college course list will include classes such as trigonometry, metrology, algebra, engineering drawing, physics and perhaps even chemistry classes.

There are many different tools that are used by calibration engineers. Pressure gauges and temperature gauges are two tools used for calibration, as well as voltmeters, oscilloscopes and even different types of calipers. The type of tools that you have to use depends on what you are calibrating. There is also calibration software that you will need to learn how to use.




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