Understanding Calibration & Its Applications

By Carey Bourdier


While you might have heard the term calibration before, you might not really understand what this process is all about. It's really quite simple and it just means that two measurements are being compared. One measurement is known to be correct, and you measure another object to see whether or not it matches this known measurement. If the measurements match exactly, then the object you are testing is calibrated. If not, adjustments will need to be made until there is a match.

Ever since the days of the Industrial Revolution, the process of calibration has been improving. It's extremely important that machines, instruments and devices are calibrated to ensure that products are assembled correctly and that measurements are taken correctly. Every type of industrial endeavor has need of calibration, whether you are creating packaging for a toy, building vehicle parts or even doing some type of medical testing.

Calibration obviously is important before you use a device the very first time; after all ,you want to ensure that it will work correctly. However, devices and equipment also need to be calibrated every so often as the months and years pass. For some industries, calibration is required in order to gain certification. Whenever an employee notices problems with a device or instrument, it should be recalibrated to ensure that measurements are accurate. Additionally, if the machine is jostled or moved or perhaps there is an earthquake or other type of seismic anomaly, you need to calibrate. Even vast changes in temperature can affect some machinery or devices, and this might mean you need to call in someone to perform calibration services.

There are several different types of instruments used for calibration, and each instrument takes a specific type of measurement. Some calibrators can perform multiple functions, and there are also black body calibrators, pressure calibrators, temperature probe calibrators and many more types.

In many cases, because calibration is often not needed every day, these calibration services are outsourced to companies that specialize in calibration. The employees are experienced, skilled technicians who not only can take the measurements and comparisons, but also make the adjustments and sometimes repairs that are needed in order to ensure calibration. In addition, these technicians also often are authorized to handle certification of devices and machinery.

Calibration technician is the proper name of a person who performs these types of services and not only does it require several years of training from a technical school, you also have to have about five years of fieldwork before you can earn certification as a Certified Calibration Technician. However, many techs actually have four-year degrees or beyond in majors such as mechanical engineering or perhaps metrology, which is the study of measurements. If you become a calibration technician, you will learn how to use a variety of devices and calibrate all sorts of equipment, from optical devices to electrical equipment to perhaps even chemical equipment.




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