What is meant by calibration “traceability” and why is it important?
A. Traceability is achieved through an unbroken link of reference calibrations back to a physical constant or national standard. In many cases this may be to the US National Institute of Standards (NIST) or in Europe to the UK National Physical Laboratory (NPL) or Germany’s national calibration authority (PTB). Traceability is important to ensure the validity of the overall calibration system results. Typical calibration techniques utilize a back-to-back or reference sensor with which the test accelerometer signal is compared. In calibrating the system reference accelerometer, each step in the link of these reference calibrations adds more uncertainty into the end calibration performed. To provide the lowest possible uncertainty in our customers’ calibration data, PCB Group is one of the few organizations that operates our own in-house laser interferometer and is accredited for primary calibration of accelerometers for test and reference use. Q. Walk us through the typical process for
