Reference procedures

Explanatory notes for the catalogue of reference procedures

The catalogue contains quantitative as well as qualitative reference procedures.

Quantitative reference procedures

Quantitative reference procedures are presented as follows:

• Title
• Key words
• Quantities and items tested
• Testing range and uncertainty of results
• Fields of application
• Methodology and instrumentation
• Qualification and quality assurance
• Contact
• Further information

Section "Quantities and items tested" specifies the quantities determined by the procedure, the kind of objects which can be investigated and important testing conditions.

Section "Testing range and uncertainty of results" specifies the range of values, i.e. the working range as a reference procedure, for each quantity tested. Uncertainty is indicated as expanded uncertainty for an approximate confidence level of 0,95 (coverage factor k = 2), expressed as a relative uncertainty in % or as an absolute uncertainty in units of the quantity tested. As a rule the stated uncertainties from ... to … refer to the lower and upper limit of the testing range, respectively. However, where more appropriate, best-case and worst-case uncertainties are specified instead.

In section "Fields of application" the focus is on the kind of tasks for which the procedure is currently in use, or may be utilised as a "reference": quality assessment of other procedures, characterisation of reference materials and objects, determination of reference values and other tasks.

Qualitative reference procedures

Qualitative procedures are presented according to a similar scheme, with differences as follows: "Characteristics tested" are specified instead of "Quantities tested", and "Uncertainty of results" provides information on the reliability of test results.

For a convenient overview the reference procedures are allocated to the following subject fields:

1. Inorganic analysis
2. Organic analysis
3. Gas analysis and gas measurement
4. Microprobing and microstructure analysis
5. Testing of mechanical-technological properties
6. Testing of optical and electrical properties
7. Non-destructive testing
8. Testing of surface and layer properties

Due to major overlapping of subject fields this allocation has often been made by arbitrary choice among several possibilities. When searching for a specific procedure, users of this catalogue should therefore not restrict their attention to the most obvious subject field.

Service

The designated contact persons will be at customers' service for additional information about particular reference procedures of BAM and for inquiries concerning reference tests, measurements and analyses.

top