X-ray computed tomography (XCT) has a number of benefits over traditional contact and optical techniques for coordinate metrology; not least because it allows one to peer inside the object being measured. But how do we know we are getting the right answers? As yet, there is no commonly adopted performance verification or calibration infrastructure in place for XCT, so the sceptic’s to the question is: we don’t. Specification standards for performance verification are being drafted in ISO 213, which make an attempt to map onto the standards developed for contact and optical methods, but is this really the most effective way to go? To achieve traceable measurements with contact coordinate measuring systems, complex kinematic models of the system are combined with Monte-Carlo simulations to estimate measurement uncertainties for a given object. There is as yet no equivalent for optical instruments, and XCT instruments are even further behind. Whilst there have been valiant attempts to produce such so-called “virtual instruments” for XCT, the complex physics of X-ray-matter interactions means that there is still a long way to go. At this workshop, experts in the field will review the many aspects and approaches to uncertainty estimation for XCT.

The full programme can be downloaded here

The Research Group “Ultra-Precision High Performance Cutting” (UP-HPC) is a collaboration between the University of Bremen and the Leibniz University Hannover funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Participating research institutes are the Laboratory for Precision Machining (LFM, Professor Ekkard Brinksmeier) from Bremen, the Bremen Institute for Mechanical Engineering (bime, Professor Bernd Kuhfuß) as well as the Institute of Production Engineering and Machine Tools (IFW, Professor Berend Denkena) from Hannover. The goal of this research group is it to reduce the disproportionally long primary and secondary processing times in ultra-precision machining via scientific means, in order to leverage the economic applicability of this technology in the manufacturing industry. After two funding periods and six years of research in total, the UP-HPC research unit officially comes to an end in 2020 with a final colloquium and workshop held at the euspen international conference and exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland. The colloquium will give a brief overview on the major outcomes of the five sub-projects of the research unit and is accompanied by invited talks from industrial partners.

The full programme can be downloaded here