The laboratory offers a calibration and measurement service for parallel blocks, which guarantees traceability to the International System for dimensional measurements at the millimetre scale.
Gauge blocks are the oldest and most widely used dimensional samples in industry. They are parallelepipeds whose opposite faces (measurement faces) represent a length equal to the distance between the faces. Typical materials are steel and ceramics, but also tungsten carbide. They are divided into ‘short’ blocks, i.e. up to 100 mm in length, and ‘long’ blocks, exceeding this length, as defined by the international reference standard, UNI EN ISO 3650. Short blocks are usually used in workshops for zeroing instruments such as internal micrometers and altimeters. Long blocks are mainly used in acceptance tests and periodic re-verification of CMMs (coordinate measuring machines), according to UNI EN ISO 10360-2.
The laboratory is able to calibrate both types, using completely different measuring stations. The calibration station for long blocks is currently being revised and improved to meet the more stringent requirements of increasingly accurate CMMs.