Investigation of error separation for three dimensional profile rotary measuring system

High precision 3D profile rotary measuring systems for large diameter workpieces are urgently needed in precision engineering. Error separation is critical for improving the accuracy of the system. In order to obtain higher accuracy for 3D profile rotary measuring systems, the random and systematic errors are analyzed and separated in this paper. In the measuring system, roll and pitch caused by the probe tilt violate the Abbe principle. Roll is removed by using two probes and pitch is separated by the interferometer method. The radial run-out and the perpendicularity error between the probe and the spindle axis are compensated by a two-probe-two-step method carried out on a standard hemisphere artifact. As the form error of the artifact is mixed with the perpendicularity error, the least-squares method is applied to fit the hemisphere and work out the perpendicularity error and the profile error of the hemisphere. Finally, numerical validation is presented using Matlab program to demonstrate the effectiveness and correctness of the proposed method.