Two new miniature metallic sealed-cells containing the triple point of water, WTP (273.16 K) and the triple point of mercury, HgTP (234.3156 K) have been constructed for the realization of the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) at the National Institute of Standards (NIS-Egypt). The new cells will provide facilities for the calibration of Capsule-type Standard Platinum Resistance Thermometers (CSPRTs). The two cells will complete a multi-cells compartment in order to calibrate CSPRTs in one single experiment. The multi-cells compartment contains two other cells; the triple point of argon (83.8058 K) and the triple point of oxygen (54.3584 K) that has been already developed and characterized before [M.G. Ahmed, Y. Hermier, Development of an adiabatic calorimeter in the range 54 K–273 K in frame of a scientific collaboration LNE-NIS, AIP Conf. Proc. 1552, 153 (2013)]. The system can calibrate two CSPRTs at once. The compartment is accommodated in an adiabatic calorimeter. With a special technique, the calorimeter could go down to a temperature of 52 K using liquid nitrogen and special pumping system.

One of the main calibration services of African NMIs (National Metrology Institutes) is the measurement of tapes and rules. This is mainly regulated by legal metrology and OIML (International Organisation of Legal Metrology) specifications are therefore referenced. Specifically, OIML R-35 is the standard to which rules or line scales must conform. The accuracy of most African NMIs systems however, cannot prove conformance to this specification. This article will detail the development of a new, cost effective, line scale calibration system, which will have accuracy better than the specification prescribed. The system was locally developed and its design is based on off-the-shelf components and open source software. It is also ready-for-upgrade to an absolute system. The system and details of the line detection algorithm will be presented.

The development of evaluation methods for precision measurement and inter-verification interval measurement for measurement devices based on the concept of the uncertainty of measurement is needed in order to establish the timing of the next scheduled or unscheduled verification of the correspondence of metrological characteristics to their standardised values. The definition of the timing (periodicity) of the metrological verification of measurement devices as used in business or health care, while monitoring environmental conditions and proving health and safety at work, is an urgent issue in scientific research, upon which depends the quality of goods and services. A method of evaluating the accuracy of measurements and the inter-verification interval for measurement devices is proposed, based on using international standards guidelines for quality measurement. The calibration method for evaluating the inter-verification interval of measurement devices was tested during the metrological certification of the measurement device for the moment of inertia of electric motors.

As part of its training activities, SupAgro – Institut des Régions Chaudes (IRC), an agricultural engineering school in Montpellier, has introduced an applied training session in metrology for its students. This was undertaken by the CIRAD metrology platform in partnership with the agrifood technology platform of the Qualisud Joint Research Unit. The session comprises two hour workshops during which students can apply the basic notions required for metrological monitoring of the quantities “temperature” and “weight”. To that end, standard weights, a temperature calibration device comprising a thermostatically controlled calibration oil bath (uncertainty at k = 2 of 0.14 °C) and a standard temperature probe with an accuracy of ±0.01 °C were made available to the technology platform by the CIRAD metrology platform. During practical work, these COFRAC calibrated instruments are used to check balances and, in particular, make students aware of the importance of parameters that might influence the temperature measurement of a thermostatically controlled bath (homogeneity, resolution and accuracy of the thermometers, measurement repeatability, etc.). To that end, the Qualisud team specifically adapted a water bath so as to be able to position several temperature probes at different places in the bath. Students have to acquire an approach that needs to take into account a particular measuring context. The teaching scenario of the training session is structured around these metrological checks proposed directly to the students. The training session takes place each year with 2nd year students on the SAADS 2/IAAS course “Sustainable Agriculture and Agrifood Systems in the South” at SupAgro in Montpellier.

The wood preservation laboratory of Cirad is accredited by COFRAC (French accreditation committee – accreditation No. 1-1686) for tests on (1) durability of wood and wood-based products; (2) protective efficacy of wood preservatives; (3) efficacy of termite control products. In order to test the efficacy of wood preservatives, non-durable wood blocks are treated using different product doses and exposed to the attack of xylophageous organisms (fungi, insects). To reproduce the ageing of treated wood blocks, some laboratory procedures are available. Amongst them, there is an evaporation procedure, reproducing the action of a warm air flow onto treated wood. This ageing step is very discriminant, as only the formulations fixing effectively the active ingredients will pass the biological test afterwards. This ageing by evaporation is described in the EN73 standard. Nevertheless, many points remain difficult to overcome. The tunnels used for the evaporation are all prototypes; as such equipment is not available currently on the market. So each laboratory has got its own tunnel device. Moreover the way to measure the temperature and speed of the air flow is very difficult to achieve considering the prescriptions of the EN73 standard. The EN73 standard is being revised by the European standardization group (CEN TC38) and despite the metrological aspects were crucial and inadequate in former version, they were not considered as they should. The wood preservation laboratory has forwarded remarks in order to supersede some points of the revision document in order to consider the metrological aspects. This is of main importance as the ageing procedure is commonly used prior to most of the biological test, and such tested products are put on the market based on the efficacy results.

Hardness is a measure of the resistance of a material to be penetrated and eroded by sharp projections of other materials such as diamond. The process of creating sharp projections on any test surface is known as indentation. Hardness measurement of any material is the result of a complex process of deformation during indentation. The indenter tip geometry, which includes radius of curvature at the tip and tip angle, affects the hardness measurement by influencing the nature of the penetration process on the test surface, because every indenter deforms the specimen surface with a different geometry. The controlled indenter geometry can improve the consistency of hardness measurement. In this paper we report the estimation of two important geometrical parameters, radius of curvature and tip angle of a Rockwell indenter by using a simple method of image processing and compare the results with those obtained with a traceable 3D optical profiler. Evaluation of uncertainty in measuremts is carried out as per ISO guidelines (ISO-GUM) and a detailed uncertainty budget is presented. The tip angle estimted is 119.95 degree. The radius of curvature is estimted to be 199.96 ± 0.80μm by image analysis which agrees well with the value estimated by using optical profiler i.e. 199.12 μm.

Illumination using artificial light sources is common in these days. Many manufactures are paying for the design of lamps depending on high efficacy and low UV hazards. This research is focusing on the most useable lamps in the Egyptian markets; high pressure mercury (HPM), metal Halide (MH), and high pressure sodium (HPS). A set up for relative spectral power distribution based on single monochromator and UVA silicon detector for absolute irradiance measurements are used. The absolute irradiance in (W/m2) in UVA region of the lamps and their accompanied standard uncertainty are evaluated.

At NMISA the SI unit for length is realised by an iodine stabilised He-Ne laser, an optical measurement. In industry most measurements are performed by mechanical probing. Gauge blocks are the link between the optical measurements and the mechanical measurements, and are therefore critical in disseminating traceability. The gauge block length is currently determined by wringing the gauge block onto a platen. This is laborious, requires skill and causes contact errors. Since around 1943, there have been efforts to build a double ended interferometer where gauge block length can be determined without wringing it onto a platen. While there has been a lot of progress in building DEIs, to date, there is still no commercially available DEI. We present a collaboration project between the National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA), the National Institute of Standards (NIS Egypt) and Stellenbosch University (SUN) in South Africa to build a double ended interferometer for use at the respective National Metrology Institutes. We investigate improvements to the interferometric calibration of gauge blocks and recent developments. The different systems currently in use in the national metrology laboratories are described and various designs are investigated. Lastly the expected outcome of the project will be discussed.