Final report on SIM Regional Key Comparison SIM.L-K1.2007: Calibration of gauge blocks by optical interferometry

This Key Comparison of gauge blocks (GB) calibration by optical interferometry was carried out to support this Calibration and Measurement Capability (CMC) of the National Measurement Institutes (NMI) from the SIM Region for this specific service and for those that rely on this kind of technique as required by the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA). It provides evidence of the participant's technical competence and supports the uncertainties they state in their CMC. It is a Regional Key Comparison and should be linked to the upper level corresponding comparison CCL-K1. The comparison had nine participants, five from the SIM Region—NRC-CNRC, Canada; NIST, USA; CENAM, Mexico; INMETRO, Brazil; and INTI, Argentina— and four from other regions—CMI, Czech Rep.; CEM, Spain; NPLI, India; and NMISA South Africa. It included the circulation of fourteen GB—seven steel GB and seven ceramic GB. The circulation of the artifacts started on 2007-11-01 and ended on 2010-04-25. Some additional time was required to publish the results as the same artifacts were used thereafter for comparison SIM.L-S6, Calibration of GB by mechanical comparison, and the results could not be disclosed until the participants of the second circulation loop had sent their results. The final report of this comparison was sent out for review in May 2012 and the final version was approved in August 2012. The behavior of the artifacts throughout the circulation was good and therefore the results obtained were judged technically valid. The reference value was taken as arithmetic mean of the largest subset of consistent results. Most of participates obtained results in good agreement with the reference values with a few exceptions mentioned in the report. The corresponding NMIs are responsible for identifying the causes and taking corrective action. This makes the present comparison exercise valid to support the CMC claims of the participants in GB calibration by optical interferometry. Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCL, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).