Techniques for Measurement of

Threaded Hole Position

Tony Bryce
Sandia National Laboratories

Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company,

for the United States Department of Energy under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

The funny part of metrology is that

we're never right, we just have to tell
people how wrong we are, and hope
the wrong part is right enough!
Joseph Ceremuga
Sandia National Laboratories
(Livermore, CA)

How should the position be

established?
ANSI Y14.5M-1994
Section 2.9
Each tolerance of orientation or position and datum
reference specified for a screw thread applies to the axis
of the thread derived from the pitch cylinder.

Figure 5-6
Note that the length of the tolerance zone is equal to
the length of the feature, unless otherwise specified on
the drawing.
Projected tolerance zone applications

To comply with ANSI Y14.5M

I

Measure the feature or gage

as a cylinder
in multiple circle sections

Line generated between circle centers serves

as the axis

Axis is used to determine pierce points

at ends of feature or evaluation length
Zeiss UMESS UX will evaluate these
points as L1 & L2 for TP calculations and
report worst case deviation

CMM Methods
Direct probing of the thread form
I

Issues
Chips, burrs
Establishing pitch cylinder

Not able to probe pitch diameter directly

Probing a threaded/cylinder gage

Issues
$ - Cost of gage
Inconvenience of installing (time = money $)
Establishing pitch cylinder
Various gages each using a different method to locate the
pitch cylinder

How did we get interested in

this?

Threaded Holes on a Curved

Surface

Threaded Holes on a Curved

Surface

Threaded Holes on a Curved

Surface

Off-Line CMM Programming

Silma CimStation Inspection

Curved Surface Issue

Standard threaded/cylinder gage does
not seat properly?

Rocking
Motion

Technique is needed that is not

influenced by the surface the hole
is on!

What to do?
Evaluate techniques
Perform R & R tests using various
techniques on a flat surface
Test pieces having a 2 inch outside
diameter with -20 thread in center
Aluminum part
Diameter and face turned on lathe
Drill and tap hole

Steel part
Gage quality lapped thread with outside diameter
and face ground to pitch diameter axis

Test Piece Datums

Datum A = Top surface

Datum B = 2 outside diameter
Datum C = 0.25 through hole
Establish DRF - ABC

Threaded / Cylinder Gages

Obtain all available types on the market
Jo-Plug
Cylinder with straight thread and shoulder face
perpendicular to axis

Tru-Pos
Tapered thread for interference fit

CL Flex Plug
Split thread for compliance fit

Multi-Ball Gage
Expanding balls fit to pitch diameter

Jo-Plug (Spence Industries Inc.)

CL Flex Plug
(Glastonbury/Southern Gage)

Tru-Pos Locator
(LaVezzi Precision Inc. )

Multi-Ball
(True Precision Corp. )

R&R Test Parameters for

Threaded / Cylinder gages
Using UMESS UX with PCM routines,
probe a total of 32 points* on the
cylinder
8 equally spaced points at 4 different
levels over the length of the cylinder
* 24 points (8 equally spaced points at 3
levels) used on CL Flex Gage due to short
cylinder length

R&R Test Parameters

Establish pierce points of cylinder axis
with Datum A (top surface) and at 0.5
below Datum A
Record X & Y position at both pierce
points
Should show repeatability of not just
Datum A location, but of the cylinder
orientation (tilt).

Jo-Plug (Spence Industries Inc.)

CL Flex Plug
(Glastonbury/Southern Gage)

Tru-Pos Locator
(LaVezzi Precision Inc. )

Tru-Pos Locator
(LaVezzi Precision Inc. )

Multi-Ball
(True Precision Corp.)

Multi-Ball
(True Precision Corp. )

Multi-Ball
(True Precision Corp. )

Direct Probing of Thread

Use Zeiss PCM thread routine
Measure circles at both ends of threaded
hole. (8 equally spaced points)
Construct a line through the centers of
both circles
Establish pierce points at Datum A (top
surface) and at 0.5 below Datum A

PCM Measurement

PCM Measurement

PCM Measurement

Off-Line CMM Programming

Many CAD models show threaded
holes as plain cylinders (minor
diameter) and could be programmed in
a helical path to establish pitch cylinder
Use pass through commands via Silma
Cim Station Inspection

Test Parameters
CNC Program written to measure
datum features and establish W-Pos
Measure position using each of the five
techniques
Loop program for a total of 10 runs
I

Loop includes establishing W-Pos

Run the CNC program on 3 different

CMMs

CMMs Used & Specifications

Prismo (9/12/7)
I

1D = 2.2 microns + L / 300

3D = 2.7 microns + L / 300

Contura (7/10/6)
I

1D = 2.0 microns + L / 300

3D = 2.3 microns + L / 300

UPMC 550 (CAA)

1D = 0.9 microns + L / 400
3D = 1.3 microns + L / 300
L = Length in millimeters

CMM Software
UMESS UX
Version 8.7

Prismo

Contura

UPMC 550

Test Results
Steel Test Piece
Contura
Results In Inches
X
Y

Datum A
Position Std. Dev.
-0.00009 0.00003
-0.00012 0.00002

Projected -0.5"
Position Std. Dev.
-0.00019 0.00001
-0.00020 0.00001

X
Y

-0.00016
-0.00002

0.00002
0.00001

0.00050
-0.00015

0.00003
0.00003

X
Y

-0.00002
-0.00014

0.00019
0.00014

-0.00033
-0.00054

0.00019
0.00014

X
Y

0.00002
-0.00019

0.00006
0.00003

0.00041
0.00012

0.00002
0.00008

X
Y

-0.00015
-0.00015

0.00002
0.00002

0.00060
0.00060

0.00001
0.00001

Jo-Plug

Tru-Pos

CL Flex

Multi-Ball

PCM

Test Results Contura

Steel Test Piece
Results In Inches

Gages

PCM

0.0013 TP

0.0017 TP

Test Results
Steel Test Piece
Prismo
Results In Inches
X
Y

Datum A
Position Std. Dev.
-0.00013 0.00005
-0.00010 0.00002

Projected -0.5"
Position Std. Dev.
-0.00013 0.00002
-0.00010 0.00004

X
Y

-0.00014
-0.00003

0.00002
0.00002

-0.00014
-0.00003

0.00001
0.00003

X
Y

-0.00022
-0.00002

0.00014
0.00015

-0.00021
-0.00002

0.00022
0.00024

X
Y

0.00005
-0.00024

0.00008
0.00004

0.00004
-0.00025

0.00003
0.00006

X
Y

0.00162
-0.00017

0.00001
0.00001

0.00162
-0.00018

0.00001
0.00017

Jo-Plug

Tru-Pos

CL Flex

Multi-Ball

PCM

Test Results Prismo

Steel Test Piece
Results In Inches

Gages

PCM

0.0005 TP

0.0033 TP

Test Results
Steel Test Piece
UPMC 550
Results In Inches
X
Y

Datum A
Position Std. Dev.
-0.00011 0.00002
-0.00012 0.00002

Projected -0.5"
Position Std. Dev
-0.00019 0.00001
-0.00020 0.00001

X
Y

-0.00017
0.00001

0.00001
0.00001

0.00050
-0.00015

0.00003
0.00003

X
Y

-0.00026
-0.00014

0.00009
0.00007

-0.00033
-0.00054

0.00019
0.00014

X
Y

0.00004
-0.00014

0.00006
0.00003

0.00041
0.00012

0.00002
0.00008

X
Y

-0.00018
-0.00018

0.00001
0.00001

0.00060
0.00060

0.00001
0.00001

Jo-Plug

Tru-Pos

CL Flex

Multi-Ball

PCM

Test Results UPMC550

Steel Test Piece
Results In Inches

Gages

0.0012 TP

PCM

0.0017 TP

Test Results
Steel Test Piece
Average All CMM's
Results In Inches
X
Y

Datum A
Position Std. Dev.
-0.00011 0.00002
-0.00011 0.00001

Projected -0.5"
Position Std. Dev
-0.00017 0.00003
-0.00017 0.00006

X
Y

-0.00016
-0.00001

0.00002
0.00002

0.00029
-0.00011

0.00037
0.00007

X
Y

-0.00017
-0.00010

0.00013
0.00007

-0.00029
-0.00037

0.00007
0.00030

X
Y

0.00004
-0.00019

0.00002
0.00005

0.00029
-0.00001

0.00021
0.00021

X
Y

0.00043
-0.00017

0.00103
0.00001

0.00094
0.00034

0.00059
0.00045

Jo-Plug

Tru-Pos

CL Flex

Multi-Ball

PCM

Test Results Average of all CMMs

Steel Test Piece
Results In Inches

Gages

0.0009 TP

PCM

0.0019 TP

Test Results
Aluminum Test Piece
Contura
Results In Inches
X
Y

Datum A
Position Std. Dev.
-0.00084 0.00016
0.00107 0.00005

Projected -0.5"
Position Std. Dev.
-0.00088 0.00010
0.00107 0.00002

X
Y

-0.00022
0.00137

0.00005
0.00005

-0.00094
0.00149

0.00008
0.00027

X
Y

-0.00046
0.00098

0.00025
0.00026

-0.00140
0.00101

0.00028
0.00034

X
Y

0.00011
0.00112

0.00020
0.00010

-0.00089
0.00138

0.00016
0.00008

X
Y

0.00085
-0.00006

0.00002
0.00001

-0.00033
0.00032

0.00002
0.00001

Jo-Plug

Tru-Pos

CL Flex

Multi-Ball

PCM

Test Results Contura

Aluminum Test Piece
Results In Inches

Gages

PCM

0.0035 TP

0.0017 TP

Test Results
Aluminum Test Piece
Prismo
Results In Inches
X
Y

Datum A
Position Std. Dev.
-0.00082 0.00007
0.00111 0.00006

Projected -0.5"
Position Std. Dev.
-0.00082 0.00007
0.00214 0.00007

X
Y

-0.00018
0.00129

0.00003
0.00005

-0.00018
0.00129

0.00012
0.00012

X
Y

-0.00043
0.00133

0.00037
0.00029

-0.00045
0.00135

0.00044
0.00041

X
Y

0.00037
0.00116

0.00019
0.00013

0.00036
0.00118

0.00014
0.00011

X
Y

0.00075
0.00003

0.00002
0.00005

0.00075
0.00004

0.00001
0.00008

Jo-Plug

Tru-Pos

CL Flex

Multi-Ball

PCM

Test Results Prismo

Aluminum Test Piece
Results In Inches

Gages

PCM

0.0046 TP

0.0015 TP

Test Results
Aluminum Test Piece
UPMC 550
Results In Inches
X
Y

Datum A
Position Std. Dev.
-0.00081 0.00017
0.00112 0.00013

Projected -0.5"
Position Std. Dev
-0.00095 0.00007
0.00101 0.00005

X
Y

-0.00013
0.00128

0.00009
0.00005

-0.00071
0.00140

0.00006
0.00006

X
Y

-0.00051
0.00107

0.00027
0.00033

-0.00134
0.00101

0.00027
0.00040

X
Y

0.00041
0.00124

0.00017
0.00014

-0.00131
0.00106

0.00013
0.00016

X
Y

0.00079
0.00015

0.00003
0.00009

-0.00037
0.00005

0.00001
0.00004

Jo-Plug

Tru-Pos

CL Flex

Multi-Ball

PCM

Test Results UPMC550

Aluminum Test Piece
Results In Inches

Gages

0.0034 TP

PCM

0.0016 TP

Test Results
Aluminum Test Piece
Average All CMM's
Results In Inches
X
Y

Datum A
Position Std. Dev.
-0.00082 0.00002
0.00110 0.00002

Projected -0.5"
Position Std. Dev
-0.00088 0.00007
0.00141 0.00063

X
Y

-0.00018
0.00132

0.00004
0.00005

-0.00061
0.00140

0.00039
0.00010

X
Y

-0.00047
0.00113

0.00004
0.00018

-0.00106
0.00112

0.00053
0.00019

X
Y

0.00029
0.00117

0.00016
0.00006

-0.00061
0.00120

0.00087
0.00016

X
Y

0.00080
0.00004

0.00005
0.00010

0.00002
0.00014

0.00064
0.00015

Jo-Plug

Tru-Pos

CL Flex

Multi-Ball

PCM

Test Results All CMMs

Aluminum Test Piece
Results In Inches

Gages

PCM

0.0033 TP

0.0016 TP

Test Result Summary

Manufacturers
I

Jo Plug
Spence Industries Inc.

800-991-1396
http:// www.jo-plug.com

Multi Ball
True Precision Corporation
317-899-0899
http://www.trueprecisioncorp.com

Manufacturers
I

CL Flex Plug
Glastonbury / Southern Gage

800-229-4243
http://www.gsgage.com

Tru-Pos
LaVezzi Precision Inc.
800-323-1772
http://www.lavezzi.com

Questions?