Angular Measurement

Angle
Opening between two lines which meet at a point.
Measurement of angle is indispensable in workshops for the
manufacture of interchangeable parts.

The Radian
Angle subtended by an arc of length equal to the radius.

d = radius

A circle is divided into 2π radians (360o)

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 Angle Measuring Devices
Angle gauges Laser interferometer

Auto-collimator Profile projector

Beam comparator Protractors

Clinometers Tool maker’s microscope

CMM Sine bar

Electronic level Spirit level

Angle Gauges
Using angle gauges, any angle can be set up to nearest 3’’

3.2

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89

Typical size and shape of an angle Gauge

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Available in sets
Standard A Standard B
13 gauges and a square block 12 gauges and a square block

1o, 3o, 9o, 27o, 41o 1o, 3o, 9o, 27o, 41o
1' , 3' , 9' , 27' 1' , 3' , 9' , 27'
0.05' , 0.1' , 0.3' , 0.5' (or 3'' , 6'' , 18'' , 30'' ) 0.1' , 0.3' , 0.5' (or 6'' , 18'' , 30'' )

Direct combination enables computation of any angle up to 81o 40.9'

Angles larger than this can be made up with the help of a square block

Addition & Subtraction

36o

Addition

18o

Subtraction
6

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 Sine Bar
 Sine bar is a lapped steel bar
 Two equal and accurate cylinders fixed at each end
 Center distance of rollers: 100 mm or 250 mm (usually)

Essential requirements of a sine bar

1. The rollers must be of equal diameter and true geometric cylinders

2. The distance between the roller axes must be precise (± 2.5 μm for 100 mm
bars) and the axes must be mutually parallel.

3. Upper surface of the beam must be flat (1.3 μm for 100 mm bars) and parallel
with the roller axes.

Sine Principle: The ratio of the length of two sides of a right triangle is used in deriving
the angle

+ +
l
Sine bar

Sine bars are used mainly

• to measure an unknown angle
• to locate a work to a given angle

Dial gauge

l
h θ
Gauge blocks (h)

Work Sin θ = h/l

θ
Surface plate

Measuring an unknown angle

Note: Sine bar in itself is not a complete measuring instrument. It is

used in conjunction with surface plate, slip gauges and an indicating
device. 8

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 Procedure to set a height
a) Set up the sine bar as shown such that the upper
surface of the work is approximately parallel to
surface plate.
b) Take readings with dial gauge at both ends and
note their difference, noting which end of the work
is low.
c) Assuming the end near the high end of the sine bar
is low, then gauge blocks height must be increased
by an amount equal to the difference in the dial Checking angle by a sine bar
gauge readings multiplied by the proportion of the
sine bar length to work length.

Ex. End of workpiece is 0.01 mm low

Sine bar length = 250 mm
Workpiece length = 100 mm
250
Required increase in gauge block height = 0.01  0.025 mm
100
This will not give an immediately correct setting from a first approximation, but
it is much quicker than by a trial and error method 9

Various Configurations

Checking angles by level and tilted surface

Checking angles by
sine bar and dial gauge

Checking large component using a sine bar 10

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Errors of Setting
Accuracy of the angle set by a sine bar is influenced by
1. errors in slip gauges
2. error in center distance

We know for a sine bar that,

h  l sin 
The setting error d can be found by partial differentiation w.r.t 
dh sin  dl
dh  dl sin   l cos  d d   tan 
l cos  sin  l
dh  dl sin   dh dl 
d  d  tan    
l cos   l sin  l 
dh dl
d   tan   dh dl 
l cos  l d  tan      l sin   h 
h l 

Errors of Setting …
8
7 l = 100 mm and h=l sin θ
Error, dθ (seconds)

6 dl = -0.003 mm
5
dh = +0.0005 mm
4
3
2
1

0
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Angle, θ (degrees)
Combined effect of errors in center distance and gauge block height

For angles larger than 45o, the error in measured angle is progressively more
significant.

Hence, for high accuracy applications, the use of sine bar is restricted to
measure angles below 45o 12

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 Measuring Angles > 450
Sine bar is set to the complement of the angle to be measured

Checking steeper angles (>450)

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Measuring Taper Plug Gauge using Sine Center

Semi angle of a conical work is checked.

14

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 Measuring Taper Plug Gauge
using
Rollers and Gauge Blocks
Construct suitable Rt. Angled triangles and derive the expressions for
half taper angle, θ, Diameters Dmin and Dmax

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Internal Taper Measurement

16

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Measuring Taper Ring Gauge
Construct suitable Rt. Angled triangles and derive the expressions for
taper angle, θ, Diameters DS and DL

r1  r2
sin  
(h2  r2 )  (r1  h1 )

D1  d1 sec 
D2  d 2 sec 
θ

DL  D1  2( r1  h1 ) tan 
Ds  D2  2( H  h2  r2 ) tan 

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