A Brief History of World Standards Day
Observed globally on October 14, World Standards Day honors the creation and acknowledgement of standards and standards development organizations. The goal is raise awareness for the importance of standardization.
On this day in 1946, delegates from 25 nations gathered to create a global organization focused on creating and managing standards on a global scale.
Importance of Aviation Standards
The aviation industry is global. Regulators, suppliers, and technicians are all connected throughout a vast network. Imagine how difficult it would be for all of these people to work together if aviation standards didn’t exist.
ASA – 100 is a perfect example of the need for aviation standards. ASA – 100 focuses on competence, impartiality, and reliability. The standard enables distributors the structure to pursue accreditation. Many of the items contained in the standard refer to creating and maintaining standard, documented procedures. These procedures ensure that aircraft parts are protected from damage.
Standards, such as ASA – 100, give the industry a documented framework to ensure quality and safety. Without a documented standard, this would be impossible to maintain. World-wide, all suppliers must meet the exact same standard to obtain accreditation.
World Standards Day recognizes the people and organizations that have worked to make these standards possible.
For more information on World Standards Day, visit ISO.org
Today marks the 40th annual Metric Week celebration. The 10th day of the 10th month is known as National Metric Day in the US. The metric system is recognized as the preferred system for:
- weights & measures
The metric system is based on units of 10 and uses prefixes to refer to multiples.
US Metric Adoption
At multiple points in time, different industries in the US recognized the need to adopt the metric system. An early example involved the USPS in the 1860’s. Postal workers needed to use the gram when working with international letters and packages.
In 1875, the US signed the Meter Convention, an international treaty that established the International System of Units for global trade. The treaty was signed by 16 other nations in Paris, France.
President Ford signed the Metric Conversion Act in 1975. Afterwards, schools started teaching metric to students. Although the US practices dual standards, many people have strong opinions on using the metric system versus the imperial or “standard” measurement system. Major US companies, such as Proctor & Gamble and General Motors have both realized the benefits of metric.
Global Metric Adoption
Currently, there are only 3 countries (including the US) that do not recognize the metric system as the preferred standard of measurement. While some feel that converting over to a “metric-only” system would be costly, many feel that it would be cheaper in the long-run.
When converting units from standard to metric, errors can occur. This is especially true in situations where multiple, complex calculations are involved, such as space exploration. The Mars Climate Orbiter crash in 1998 was very costly, the main error was pinpointed as an inaccuracy when converting units between systems. Events like this illustrate the need for standard measurement.
Today, we celebrate having the ability to have a system of measurement that is recognized and used world-wide. Happy National Metric Day!
As with any type of tooling or equipment, a Fluke Multimeter will eventually need to be calibrated. Whether you’re using it for a hobby or are in a highly regulated industry, in order to get consistent, accurate readings from the Fluke you need to calibrate regularly. The timing for calibration is often dependent on your environment; whether it is in cold or harsh weather, whether it has been dropped, how often you are using it, etc. In this blog post, we’re going to explain how to check your fluke multimeter to see if it is in need of calibration.
The age old question: How often should I calibrate a torque wrench? Making sure a torque wrench is calibrated at the right time is important, without proper calibration the safety of workers is put at risk and the integrity of the equipment you are working on can be compromised. Combine these two issues and you have some costly problems, either due to unhappy customers or broken equipment. At the same time, you don’t want to calibrate too frequently simply for the wasted time the tool will be out and the amount it costs to calibrate. So, what’s the answer to “how often should I calibrate a torque wrench?”
Whenever you’re working on an aircraft, you usually have a lot of tools and assets that you need to keep track of. Not only could it be a huge cost if someone walks off with one of your tools or if you lose one, but it could be disastrous if something got left behind in the aircraft. However, no one is perfect and often time tools do go missing. All those tools need to be calibrated, as well, and keeping track of calibration time for each and every one can end up being a full time job in itself. Manual practices for aviation asset management simply aren’t efficient and are asking for trouble.
Mechanical Force Gauge Model X-C
A force gauge’s job is to measure the force of push or pull exerted between two load points. The difference between a digital force gauge and a mechanical force gauge is all about preference. The one main and noticeable difference is something that is pretty obvious in the names. One is your old school version with a static face and needles indicating what has been measured on the mechanical force gauge, whereas your digital force gauge gives an easy-to-read digital number and face. Below is a further breakdown of each instrument.
CHARDON, OH–(August 17, 2016) – e2b calibration (www.calibration.aero), an ISO/IEC 17025 calibration and repair laboratory for test equipment announced that it is now a recognized North American Authorized Service Center for Tronair’s aircraft ground support equipment (GSE). e2b calibration technicians provide maintenance, testing and repair services for Tronair products.
What is a Force Control Switch?
A force control switch works by providing switch outputs which change state by opening or closing at specific forces. The device can be set at load points specified by the customer and enacted by the manufacturer. Force Control Switches are used in a variety of operations, from the entertainment industry to elevators and cranes or more. Commonly they are used to protect against overloading or under loading, force attainment or batching.
For the safety of the worker and the people around them, choosing the right dynamometer is crucial. There is no room for a sub-par dynamometer that may or may not fail to do its job correctly. The dynamometer you choose needs to hold up in all circumstances. So, how do you know it will withstand all of the circumstances you will put it through? Below we’ve created a checklist of specifications that you cannot do without to help make the search easier.
What is a Load Cell?
A load cell comes in a few different shapes and sizes to fulfill different purposes. All in all, however, a load cell is a sensor which gives a signal output in response to load applied to it in tension or compression. The most common type of load cell technology, the strain gauge load cell, varies the voltage output in relation to the changing force. A load cells output is typically indecipherable without the use of a load cell indicator. A load cell indicator connects to the load cell and converts the signal into something that is understandable for the operator.
Most people don’t realize how often we come in contact with heavy cable wires. They are a part of the phones we use every day, they help us get to work on our daily commutes on the metro systems or commuting via aircraft, they are used in the elevators that take us up to our office and they are a part of our entertainment on ski trips and zip lines. Since these cables are entrenched in our everyday life, it is crucial that they remain safe and are tested regularly using a cable tension meter.
The scandal of Deflategate will go down in history as one of the most well-known and covered NFL scandals in history. Tom Brady, quarterback of the Patriots, was accused of deflating footballs in order to win an A.F.C championship game against the Colts in January last year. Although this is a very interesting topic to discuss from a sports point of view, it is also a very interesting topic in the world of metrology and calibration.
Finding the proper vacuum calibration service is not easy. Especially for those in a highly regulated industry who require NIST traceability, it can be extremely hard to find the right vacuum calibration lab. The best way to start your search for a vacuum calibration lab is by understanding vacuum calibration itself.
An Alicat flow meter measures mass flow, volumetric flow, absolute pressure and temperature and can give you all this information in one screw. You can even use the tool to define your own custom gas mix. No matter how high tech a tool is, however, it will always need calibration. Calibration ensures that a tool is always working properly and giving you the most accurate measurements. Alicat flow meter calibration is crucial to taking proper care of the product.
Happy World Metrology Day!
What is World Metrology Day?
Today celebrates the signing of the Metre Convention in 1875, which set the framework of our current system for measurement. Prior to the convention, countries had difficulty trading because everyone was using a different system of measurement.