DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS 2021/2022
FIRST YEAR SECOND SEMESTER EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR
OF SCIENCE IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING AND BACHELOR OF EDUCATION
TECHNOLOGY IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING.
EMG 3212 METROLOGY
DATE: May, 2022 TIME: Two Hours
Instructions:
This paper contains FIVE questions.
Question one is compulsory.
Attempt Question one and any other two questions.
QUESTION ONE (Thirty marks)
a) (i) State any two base units and any two derived units in the SI system (2 marks)
(ii) With the aid of sketches, differentiate between line standards and end standards (3 marks)
(iii) State and briefly describe the two types of errors encountered in measurement (4 marks)
b) (i) With the aid of a sketch, describe a transition fit (2 marks)
(ii) Define traceability as applied to metrology (1 mark)
(iii) State any two advantages and two limitations of vernier caliper over micrometer screw
gauges (2 marks)
c) (i) Define tolerance (1 mark)
(ii) State any two considerations in setting work tolerances (2 marks)
(iii) Differentiate between unilateral and bilateral tolerances (2 marks)
(iv) With the aid of a sketch, briefly describe how a sine bar is used. (3 marks)
d) With the aid of a sketch, differentiate between major and minor diameter as applied to internal
screw threads (2 marks)
e) (i) Describe how the involute profile for gear teeth is generated (3 marks).
(ii) Describe any three parameters in gear metrology and how they can be
measured/determined (3 marks)
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QUESTION TWO (Twenty marks)
a) (i) With the aid of a sketch, describe a vernier caliper (2 marks)
(ii) With the aid of a sketch, illustrate how misalignment of vernier calipers affects the readings
of a vernier caliper when taking external measurements. (3marks)
(b) (i) With the aid of a sketch, describe in detail the working principle of an angle dekkor. (7 marks)
(ii) With the aid of a sketch, describe how a dial gage, a set of gage blocks and surface
plate/marking out table can be used as a comparator. (3 marks)
(c) A hole has a diameter of 35 .. . Ignoring wear, design a GO NOGO gauge using a bilateral
tolerance system. (5marks)
QUESTION THREE (Twenty marks)
(a) (i) With the aid of sketches, describe how a cylindrical square is used in calibrating squares
(4 marks)
(ii) State one advantage and one limitation of cylindrical squares (2 marks)
(b) A six piece angle gage block set has the listed pieces: 10 , 30 , 50 , 150 , 300 , 450 . With the aid of
sketches, describe how the following angles can be generated using the pieces:
(i) 270 (3 marks)
(ii) 480 ( 3 marks)
(c) An inspection room has a 300 mm sine bar and a set of gauge blocks with sizes given in Table Q3c.
With the aid of a sketch, describe how the sine bar and the gage blocks can be used to generate an
angle of 10.01950 on a surface plate. (8 marks)
Size (mm) Step (mm)
1 Block 1.005 -
9 Blocks 1.01 – 1.09 0.01
9 Blocks 1.1 – 1.9 0.1
24 Blocks 1 - 24 1
4 Blocks 25 - 100 25
Table Q3c
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QUESTION FOUR (Twenty marks)
(a) (i) A Wheatstone bridge can be used as a comparator. With the aid of a sketch, describe the
principle of operation of how such a comparator (7 marks)
(ii) Give one advantage and one limitation of the comparator in 4(a)i above (2 marks)
(b) (i) An ISO thread has an angle of 600, and a pitch of 2 mm. Determine the wire diameter that
can be used to measure the pitch diameter of the thread using the three wire method. (3 marks)
(ii) State any two methods used in determining the pitch of threads (2 marks)
c) A roughness measurements generated the data below:
i 1 2 2 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Ri (µ m) 7.4 7.3 7.5 7.5 7.2 7.8 7.9 7.5 7.8 7.6
i 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Ri (µ m) - 7.2 -7.9 -7.5 -8.0 -7.9 -7.5 -7.8 -7.4 -8.0 -7.9
The positive values represent crests while the negative values represent troughs. For the sampled length,
determine
(i) the arithmetic mean, Ra (3 marks)
(ii) the ten point average, Rz (3 marks)
QUESTION FIVE (Twenty marks)
(a) With the aid of a sketch, describe the working principle of a pneumatic back pressure
comparator (5 marks)
b) With the aid of a sketch (graph), illustrate how the root mean square method (RMS) is determined, as
applied to surface roughness measurement (4 marks)
c) (i) With the aid of a sketch, describe how a micrometer screw gauge can be used to
measure the major diameter of external screw threads (2 marks)
(ii) State any one requirement in (c) (i) above so as to obtain accurate reading (1 mark)
Page 3 of 4 pages EMG 3212
d) using an appropriate sketch, describe the principle of operation of a skid type surface
roughness measuring instrument, giving one advantage and one limitation as compared to
the true datum instrument. ( 6 marks)
Page 4 of 4 pages EMG 3212
