Calibration of an interferometric surface measurement system on an ultra-precision turning lathe

On-machine measurement avoids the time-consuming transposition operations between the measurement and machine coordinates. The present work integrates an interferometric probing system on an ultra-precision turning machine. Due to the relatively harsh environment in the machine tools, metrological characteristics of the surface measurement instrument would deviate from those tested under standard laboratory conditions. In order to improve the performance of on-machine measurement systems, it is necessary to calibrate the on-machine measurement (OMM) system and compensate for any systematic errors. Three key issues, including on-machine vibration, machine tool kinematics error, and linearity error are discussed in this study. Experimental investigation is conducted to prove the validity of proposed calibration methodology and the effectiveness of on-machine measurement.