Glossar - Details

Calibration

Complete set of operations which estimates under specified conditions the calibration function from observations of the response variable, Y, obtained on reference states. (from DIN ISO 11843-1:2004-09)



VDA Volume 6 Part 4 Activities carried out under specified conditions to achieve mutual alignment between the measured values of a measurement device or measurement system, or the values provided by a dimensional entity or a reference material, on the one hand, and the associated values of a dimension determined by a reference standard. (VDA Volume 6 Part 4)



An operation which, under specified conditions, in a first step establishes a relationship between the variables provided by standards with measurement uncertainties and the corresponding indications with their associated measurement uncertainties and in a second step, uses this information to establish a relation for obtaining a measurement result from an indication.

Note 1: The result of a calibration can be expressed as an indication, a calibration function, a calibration diagram, a calibration curve or a calibration table. In some cases, it can consist of an additive or multiplicative correction of the display with the associated measurement uncertainty.

Note 2: Calibration should not be conflated with measuring system adjustment, which is often incorrectly referred to as "self-calibration," or with calibration verification.

Note 3: Just the first step of the definition above is often considered calibration. (VDA Volume 5)

Reference Volume (and volume-specific, additional or differing definitions to the standard):
DIN ISO 11843-1:2004-09

VDA Volume 6 Part 4


VDA Volume 5 Measurement and inspection processes, 3rd, revised edition, July 2021