Photo By David Stoehr | Metrology and Calibration Laboratory technician Benjamin Sirois, of the Naval Undersea...... read more read more
NEWPORT, R.I. – The Metrology and Calibration (METCAL) Laboratory at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport supports more than 14,000 tools and pieces of equipment, while maintaining more than 800 calibration standards. In any given year, the technicians at the lab can work on some 3,000 pieces of test, measurement and diagnostic equipment (TMDE).
That number, though, could — and probably should — be even higher, according to Jonathan Blank of Division Newport’s Rapid Prototyping, Calibration and Survivability Branch in the Ranges, Engineering and Analysis Department, who’s headed the METCAL lab for the past four years.
“One of the problems is that calibration is more of a pain for people,” Blank said. “Someone just doesn’t want to deal with the calibration, or sometimes they don’t understand the [METCAL] program. Other people, it’s just a hassle they have with their job. It’s not the main part of their job, so it’s just a side thing they have to deal with. And some people just think they know what they need.”
Ultimately, Blank said, the calibration lab falls under the direction of NAVSEA, and “rules are rules.”
“We work for NAVSEA and NAVSEA has policies,” he said. “I don’t know how else to say it.”
The U.S. Navy METCAL Program is the brainchild of longtime Navy employee Jerry Hayes, who, while working at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Corona Division in California, in the 1950s, realized missile tests were notoriously unreliable. He identified the lack of periodic calibration for equipment used in testing as the culprit.
As a result, Hayes was tasked with creating a formal calibration program, leading to the establishment of the Navy Metrology Engineering Center. After a lifetime dedicated to his craft, the “Father of Navy Metrology” died on May 19, 2022. The Jerry L. Hayes Award is given annually to an employee at the NSWC Corona Division, to honor his legacy.
What is calibration?
Here’s the technical definition: “The comparison of a measurement system or device of unverified accuracy with a measurement system of known and greater accuracy to detect deviation of the unverified measurement system from required performance specifications (of the unverified measurement system or device) and to quantify all measured values to applicable units of the international system of units.”
Simply put, calibration is needed to ensure measurements — be it in a pressure gauge, torque wrench, multi-meter, etc. — are as accurate as possible for the user.
Division Newport has a specific scope of capabilities that include calibration for electrical, pressure, temperature and humidity, dimensional, force, mass and torque, shock and vibration and fiber optics.
Blank said there is “whole network” of Navy calibration labs in the region, meaning if a specific tool falls out of the scope of capabilities here, it can be sent to the shipyard in, say, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, or Groton, Connecticut, to be properly calibrated.
The intervals of needed calibration in a piece of TMDE can change based on failure rates, Blank said. For example, if a higher failure rate is found on equipment being used in the Navy fleet, the calibration interval could increase from 24 months to every 12 months. Those intervals also could be reversed based on a lower failure rate. NSWC Corona Division provides an updated interval list to the labs each month.
The goal, Blank said, is to provide measurement traceability to the benchmarks set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the calibration authority in the United States.
Why is calibration important?
In 2022, there were reportable instances at Division Newport of a piece of TMDE being significantly out of tolerance (SOOT), which is defined as “its performance adversely affects product quality or safety, measurement integrity, or ability to provide valid test data.”
“The importance of calibration is to provide OQE [objective quality evidence], that what we’re providing to the fleet meets the specifications,” said Anthony Stradone, Division Newport’s Quality Director/Technical Program Manager since December 2021. “That what we say we’re giving them is what we’re actually giving them. If we say an item will meet performance parameters, we can back it up with data.”
Before settling into his current role, Stradone was the Quality Assurance Manager for the Undersea Warfare (USW) Platforms and Payload Integration Department, which — along with the USW Electromagnetic Systems Department — operates under the Submarine Safety (SUBSAFE) Program.
“If something in a SUBSAFE boundary fails, you can lose a boat,” Stradone said. “That’s obviously something we don’t want to do. If you have a torque wrench, and it’s not calibrated and you don’t hit the correct torques in preloads of the torque, and that component fails and you have uncontrolled flooding, we’re losing a boat.”
During the acquisition life cycle, Blank said there is some leeway. For example, during research, development, testing and engineering (RDTE), a wider scope of tools and equipment can be used as opposed to fleet support, when restrictions are tightened vastly. That doesn’t mean, however, the TMDE shouldn’t be calibrated property at any point in the acquisition life cycle.
“There is flexibility, but it still needs to be calibrated and that’s one of the problems we have a NUWC,” Blank said. “A lot of the engineers, they don’t think the RDTE tools need to be calibrated because it’s not fleet support. But it does, because one of the things we provide here is measurement assurance. There’s less risk.”
Stradone agreed. He said even if there’s a development or test project a Division Newport employee is working on that never reaches the fleet, information from a test being performed could be used in a fleet asset.
“If you’re running a piece of equipment and it’s supposed to be operating at these parameters under this pressure, and you think you’re at ‘pressure x,’ but you’re really at ‘x minus 100,’ and then you give it to the fleet and they try to use it at ‘x,’ it doesn’t perform the way it’s supposed to and you have an issue,” he said.
‘If you don’t do it correctly, you could all die’
Petty Officer 2nd Class Brody Costantini has been an employee in Division Newport’s USW Electromagnetic Systems Department since February 2021.
While serving aboard the USS Louisville (SSN 724) in Hawaii from 2017-19, he was the quality assurance inspector. To stress the importance of calibration on a submarine, he pointed to a simple project — replacing an external hole fitting and testing it with an air hose.
“[The air hose] is supposed to be at 90 psi [pounds per square inch], but if it’s at 60 psi and you call it good, and you go down to certain depths, you’re going to start leaking,” Costantini explained. “And that leak turns into a flood, and then you’re dead. That’s pretty much what it is.”
“That’s just a very simple quality assurance procedure, but even something as simple as that, if you don’t do it correctly, you could all die,” he said.
No matter what you’re doing, whether working on a submarine or research and test endeavors at Division Newport, calibration is always a good idea, Costantini said.
“If your equipment is not calibrated correctly, what’s the point of doing whatever you need to get done? It’s just moot,” he said. “If it’s not configured correctly, it’s probably not going to work. If it’s electrical and it does work, and it’s not in spec, you could damage other equipment. You’re just creating more work.”
Calibration issues at Division Newport
Calibration at Division Newport seems to be hindered by a lack of communication, Stradone said. He recalled an incident in which he was asked to follow up with an out-of-compliance pressure gauge. The employee said it took seven months to get it back from calibration work.
When Stradone — wondering if it fell through the cracks, or perhaps wasn’t returned to the right department — contacted Blank, who went through the records, it was revealed the gauge was, in fact, returned to the correct department after just seven days.
There is a general feeling among some employees that it takes far too long to get a tool or piece of equipment returned from the lab. To that point, Stradone recommends planning ahead. If a piece of equipment is set to expire during a test, get it calibrated early, or have another one ready to go.
“Alternate in cycles,” he said. “That way you can always have at least one available.”
Another point Stradone raised was equipment purchased from a vendor that is out of the scope of services offered by the METCAL lab at Division Newport, or others in the region.
“A lot of the latest and greatest pieces of tooling, we don’t have calibration procedures for,” he said. “The scientists and engineers, I don’t blame them, they want the latest and greatest tools that the approved piece of equipment from 1990 doesn’t have. So I get it. I understand their frustration. We’re working it, but it isn’t a NUWC instruction. It’s the Navy.”
According to the Division Newport METCAL Program instruction, “All TMDE acquisitions must be approved by the METCAL Laboratory before procurement. This is to prevent duplication of equipment and to ensure the adequacy of calibration support capability.”
“All tools used at Division Newport need to be calibrated, even if it’s from a vendor,” Stradone said. “If you’re providing an asset to the fleet, that piece of TMDE needs to be calibrated.”
All pieces of TMDE must be labeled — with a sticker — to indicate current calibration status, including “inactive” or No Calibration Required [NCR].
He added that knowing the rules and requirements is a must for all Division Newport employees.
“We’re trying to get department CHENGs [chief engineers] more educated,” Stradone said. “I think that could help, just start getting department heads, division heads, branch heads, and CHENGs, all involved with it and try to change the culture and try to bring it down to the worker level.
“I’m pretty certain there is no nefarious purpose or reason why people don’t calibrate their TMDE. They just don’t know and they want to get the job done.”
NUWC Newport is the oldest warfare center in the country, tracing its heritage to the Naval Torpedo Station established on Goat Island in Newport Harbor in 1869. Commanded by Capt. Chad Hennings, NUWC Newport maintains major detachments in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Andros Island in the Bahamas, as well as test facilities at Seneca Lake and Fisher's Island, New York, Leesburg, Florida, and Dodge Pond, Connecticut.
Join our team! NUWC Division Newport, one of the 20 largest employers in Rhode Island, employs a diverse, highly trained, educated, and skilled workforce. We are continuously looking for engineers, scientists, and other STEM professionals, as well as talented business, finance, logistics and other support experts who wish to be at the forefront of undersea research and development. Please connect with NUWC Division Newport Recruiting at this site- https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Warfare-Centers/NUWC-Newport/Career-Opportunities/ and follow us on LinkedIn @NUWC-Newport and on Facebook @NUWCNewport.
| Date Taken: | 02.09.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 02.09.2023 16:33 |
| Story ID: | 438222 |
| Location: | NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 710 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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