Int. J. Mach. Tools Manufact.

Printed in Great Britain

Vol. 32, No. 1/2, pp. 247-253, 1992.

0890-6955/9255.00 + .0(3
Pergamon Press plc

CYLINDRICITY AND ITS MEASUREMENT

By Dean J.W. Dawson
RANK TAYLOR HOBSONLIMITED
P.O. Box 36, 2 New Star Road
Leicester LE4 7JQ

ABSBCT
Out-of-Cylindricity has always been a useful geometric parameter and i t s use is becoming more
widespread. Along with this increase in use, has been an increasing awareness of the limitations
of current instrumentation in measuring c y l i n d r i c i t y .
This paper w i l l analyse the limitations of current instrumentation and measurement techniques with
respect of c y l i n d r i c i t y . The paper also suggests areas for both addressing these limitations, whilst
also developing the use of the parameter.
1.

"The surface of the component is required

to l i e between 2 coaxial cylindrical surfaces
having a radial separation of the specified
tolerance".

INTRODUCTION

Out-of-Cylindricity has always been a very

useful but under used geometric parameter.
However i t s potential for analysis of total
form geometry is being recognised more widely
and i t s specification is now more commonplace.

*(Observers w i l l note that these definitions

are based on a minimumzone cylinder).
3.

Along with this increase in 'use' there has

been an increasing awareness of the limitations
of current instrumentation, b o t h hardware and
software related, ir, measuring the c y l i n d r i c i t y
parameter.
2.

INSTRUMENTATIONREQUIREMENTS AND
LIMITATIONS

So, Cylindricity is basically a 3-dimensional

analysis of rotational form; i t attempts
to combine the characteristics of axial form,
radial f o r m and overall shape (Fig.3) by
the concept of 'best f i t cylinders' and
typically a combination of each of these
errors w i l l be present on all components.
(Fig.4)

WHAT IS Out-OF-CYLINDRICITY

The
O x f o r d English
dictionary
describes
c y l i n d r i c i t y as the "cylindrical quality of
form".
However for a rigorous assessment of
the c y l i n d r i c i t y value we require a more useful
definition.

This fact places various requirements on

any instrumentation that is used to measure
c y l i n d r i c i t y . These requirements are that
i t has the a b i l i t y to accurately measure
radial form, axial f o r m and dimensional
uniformity.(Fig.5)

No formal internationally recognised definition

actually exists for assessing the c y l i n d r i c i t y
value, although ISO TC57/SC3/WG1/NB is in draft
form. The only standards that are available
are the ISO and other national drawing office
standards (e.g. DIN 7184, BS308).

A conventional roundness and form measuring

instrument is recognised to be the most
accurate method of assessing c y l i n d r i c i t y .

These standards gererally specify a tolerance

zone and are subject to different interpretation
by users.

There are however limitations in current

instrumentation
hardware w h e n measuring
cylindricity.
These are discussed b r i e f l y
below.

I f one were to !live a definition of the

c y l i n d r i c i t y value, t h e n the following would
be as good as any ( F i g . l ) :

The m a i n limitation is the accuracy of

c y l i n d r i c i t y measurement is not sufficient
to meet some of the high precision components
currently being manufactured due to the datum
accuracy.

"The radial separation of 2 co-axial cylinders

f i t t e d to the total surface under test such
that their radial separation is a minimum".
I f one were to give a definition of the
c y l i n d r i c i t y tolerance, then the following
may be suitable (Fig.2):

247

248

D . J . W . DAWSON

Fig. 1

D--

Fig. 2

~----,!

i i

Fig. 3

'i~. . . . . . . . .

0.02 mm

\x

II

~.j

/,

C~ ~

.-I

7
!

,/

e-

4~

250

D.J.W.

For example: a high

precision
measuring instrument w i l l have the
parameters:

roundness
following

Roundness l i m i t of error: ~ O.025Nm + O.3Nm/M

Straightness l i m i t of error: l~m over 500mm
Parallelism of
500mm

column to

spindle:

1Nm over

For an instrument conforming to the above

specification the accuracy of measurement for
worst case is 1.265~m over 100mm and 3.76Nm
over 500mm, the largest contributer to this
error being the parallelism of the column to
the spindle axis.
With requirements for measuring c y l i n d r i c i t y
values of O.5~m over 100mm, i t is clear that
present instrumentation needs to be improved.
4.

4.1

CYLINDRICITY AI~LYSIS AND ITS LIMITATIONS

ReferenceCy|inders

I t is in the area of c y l i n d r i c i t y analysis

that convergence of the d i f f e r e n t methods is
required. We shall s t a r t with the reference
cylinders. There are 4 main types of cylinder
f i t s to which measured data is analysed, each
with its relevant application c r i t e r i a .
The minimum zone cylinder is mainly used where
running f i t s are required. (Fig.6)
The minimum circumscribed cylinder would be
used on components where the surface of the
outside diameter is important, such as plug
gauges for the inspection of internal bores.
(Fig.7)
The maximum inscribed cylinder would be used
where the inside diameter of a component is
important such as a ring gauge. (Fig.8)
The least squares cylinder (LSC) is used in
many general purpose applications when measuring
cylindricity.
The main limitations of
circles are:

the above reference

4.1.1 - There may be several reference cylinders

that satisfy the M.I. (MC) c r i t e r i a .
However
current computational methods do not take the
p o s s i b i l i t y of several solutions into account.
4.1.2 - On MI and MC reference cylinders, there
is inherent i n s t a b i l i t y on tapered components.
This is shown in figure 9 where i f an MC
cylinder were f i t t e d to a tapered component,
then i t must touch in at least 3 positions.
In this case i t would 'skew' the cylinder axis
from the axis of the component. Furthermore
there would not be a unique position thus making
i t s value limited.
4.1.3 - The aforementioned cylinder axes are
also very dependant on a particular data set,
hence any change in this set due to dust
particles,
etc.
(Fig.lO)
w o u l d produce a
r e l a t i v e l y large change in the axis postion,
hence affecting i t s s u i t a b i l i t y in relational
measurements. This effect is not so pronounced
on the Least Squares Cylinder.

DAWSON

Also, in general for a l l 4 reference cylinders

the actual method employed in analysis is
an approximation method, (for
speed of
computation purposes).
The main l i m i t a t i o n in a l l the reference
cylinders is the c y l i n d r i c i t y peak to valley
parameter.
The cylindrical forms shown in
figure 11 would a l l return the same peak
to valley value but no indication would be
given as to the three dimensional form of
the component, which may impair i t s function.
4.2

Sampling Schemes

Another l i m i t a t i o n of c y l i n d r i c i t y analysis
is that no direct method is available for
relating the measurement to process control
changes that
w o u l d affect
the
three
dimensional form.
This l i m i t a t i o n is compounded by the fact
that there is a lack of harmonisation in
the results with respect to the sampling
schemes used by different manufacturers.
So we see that there are various limitations
in the measurement of c y l i n d r i c i t y with
respect to the instrumentation used and the
various analysis methods. These limitations
need to be addressed as o u t - o f - c y l i n d r i c i t y
becomes a more widespread parameter and to
aid further development of 3-D form analysis.
How should we address these limitations?
What basis should be used for the development
of this area of analysis?
5.

THE INCREASINGREQUIREMENTS

A starting point could be the increasing

customer requirements
and
the
various
applications to which c y l i n d r i c i t y is being
specified.
The increasing requirements of c y l i n d r i c i t y
are
very
similar
to
the
increasing
requirements
of
measurement in
general.
These are:
Increasing
measurement.

accuracy

requirements

of

- Repeatability of measurement.

- Form error specification and detection.

- Automated measurement and
times.

faster

cycle

- Standardisation of analysis.
5.1

Instrumentation

The main area of development needs to be

in improving instrument accuracy. To measure
many of today's high precision components,
a measurement accuracy for c y l i n d r i c i t y in
the order of O.1Nm is required, an improvement
of at least 10:1 on current instrument
capability.
Software error correction techniques
already
being
applied
to
radial
straightness datums.

are
and

Cylindricity Measurement

251

CYUNDER AXIS
I
I
I

i
I

Fig. 7

CYUNDER~IS
t
I
I

Fig. 8

P-V

j/~ ,iiiil.,ii.iiiii~
~~:,
:~iii~i~iiiiiii~i~ii!ii!ii~iiiii~i!~i!
ii!i!iiiiiii!i!iiiii~

Fig. 9

........ !i............. i ~

fj~/
t

252

D . J . W . DAWSON

I
I

ASPERITY

r
i

Fig. 10

I
I
I

SHIFTED ~
DATUM

~
~

ORIGINAL
DATUM

CURVED
Fig. 11

WAISTED

BARRELED

Cylindricity Measurement

I f current instrumentation design is maintained,

then these error correction techniques could
be extended to ccrrect for coning error and
the parallelism of the spindle and column.
Manufacture and development of higher accuracy
datums is only part of the answer, for
3-dimensional
form
analysis,
it
is
the
interaction of the axes that contributes the
largest errors.
Repeatability of ~leasurement is also becoming
an increasing requirement due mainly to the
t i g h t tolerance levels now being applied on
drawings. Tolerance levels of between 1um amd
3um are
becoming increasingly common on
relational measurements (e.g. total cylindrical
runout of one diameter to another).
For a given set of measurement parameters,
non-repeatability of 3-D form analysis has
more to do with factors such as accurate
repositioning of the gauge and instrument
stability
than
any
other
factors.
So
advancement such as the resolution and control
of gauge positioning both v e r t i c a l l y and
r a d i a l l y are required.
5.2

PARAMETERS

As explained b r i e f l y e a r l i e r in the t e x t , the

cylinder peak to
v a l l e y value gives no
indication of the shape of the component which
may impair i t s function.
Also there is no direct method for checking
the effects of process variation on 3-D form.
To overcome this a new set of parameters is
required to distinguish form from peak to v a l l e y
error.
Whichever the parameters used, the basis on
which they are defined should be determined
by f u n c t i o n a l i t y ( i . e . the use the component
w i l l be put to and how a particular error w i l l
affect i t s performance).
Examples of relevant parameters are:
5.2.1 - Waisting/Barrelling analysis: analysing
the degree of 3-dimensional surface curvature.
For example: analysing a r o l l e r bearing.
5.2.2 - Axial curvature:
a measure of the
degree of curvature of the axis and i t s
orientation.
This is generally a function
of the axial straightness error.
5.3

Standardisation of Analysis

The final area in ensuring that the ever

increasing measurement requirements are met
is in the f i e l o of the computation of the actual
measured value, there are various areas here
that need to be addressed.
The main point i~ that there is no o f f i c i a l l y
accepted
international
definition
of
c y l i n d r i c i t y , unlike roundness for example.
Although a draft document exists, this needs
to be accepted formally.

253

To support any new parameters that may be

derived, sampling schemes need to be developed
further.
When considering sampling schemes, the main
determinant of any method should be related
to f u n c t i o n a l i t y .
Hence, i f we are trying
to determine the general form error of a
cylindrical component, the sampling method
w i l l obviously be different from that employed
to determine process control variation.
To enable these sampling schemes to be
e f f e c t i v e l y employed, greater consideration
must be given to the development of f i l t e r i n g
to c y l i n d r i c i t y whilst also increasing the
resolution of datalogging.
6.

CONCLUSION

Whilst current instrumentation is suitable

for c y l i n d r i c i t y measurement on a wide range
of components, problems may occur when
measuring the high precision components with
c y l i n d r i c i t y tolerances of about 1K~m. These
problems are due mainly to l i m i t a t i o n s of
accuracy of the instrumentation.
For c y l i n d r i c i t y measurement to
develop
adequately for high precision components,
f i r s t l y improvements in instrument accuracy
need to be made and secondly, parameters
need to be developed that w i l l enable the
detection and measurement of 3-D forms such
as barrelling and waisting, whilst at the
same time monitoring any changes in the
manufacturing process.