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NIST ELECTROSTATIC FORCE BALANCE EXPERIMENT

John A. Kramar, David B. Newell, Jon R. Pratt
  • Abstract:
    We have designed and built a prototype electrostatic force balance for realizing forces in the micronewton range. The active electrodes are concentric cylinders, the outer serving as the reference and the inner suspended and guided by a rectilinear flexure mechanism. The geometry has been designed such that a near-linear capacitance gradient of 1 pF/mm is achieved at a working overlap of 5 mm. We have used this balance in a null-displacement mode to compare an electric realization of force with the force generated by calibrated deadweights of nominal mass 1 mg, 10 mg, and 20 mg. The preliminary measurements reported here agree to within a few parts in 104 after including all known correction factors.
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  • DOI:
    _unreg_tc3-2002.029

Event details:

  • IMEKO TC:
    TC3
  • Event name:
    Joint International Conference on Force, Mass, Torque, Hardness and Civil Engineering Metrology in the age of globalization
  • Title:

    18th Conference on Force, Mass and Torque (together with 8th HARDMEKO TC5 Conference on Hardness Measurement and 1st TC20 Conference on Civil Engineering Metrology)

  • Place:
    Celle, GERMANY
  • Time:
    24 September 2002 - 26 September 2002