Planned Developments

The Mass Laboratory intends to undertake the following work in the period ahead:

  • Manufacturing an electronic mass comparator
  • Improving the measuring cell technology
  • Experimental determination of air density by weighing specially designed buoyancy artefacts under vacuum and in air
  • Experimental determination of air density by weighing specially designed buoyancy artefacts in inert gas
  • Investigation of convection influences on the weighing process
  • Investigation of a carbon dioxide snow cleaning method and cleaning effects on the long term stability of mass standards, comparisons with other cleaning methods
  • Investigation of different storage conditions for transfer standards and determination of the optimum storage conditions
  • Investigation of the magnetic properties of mass standards and weighing instruments
  • Determination of the density / volume of mass standards by robotic system
  • Determination of density of specially designed buoyancy artefacts using the hydrostatic system
  • Investigation of surface effects on solid objects in liquid and characterisation of surface properties by XPS
  • Improving flotation methods for the determination of the density value of solid materials
  • Dynamic mass measurements
  • Pattern approval tests of automatic weighing instruments within the scope of legal metrology (OIML R50:Belt weighers, OIML R51:Automatic catchweighers and checkweighers, OIML R61:Automatic gravimetric filling machines, OIML R106:Automatic rail-weighbridges, OIML R107:Discontinuous totalizers and OIML R134 :Automatic instruments for weighing road vehicle in motion.)