With several hundred installations worldwide, the Werth Fiber Probe, developed in co-operation with the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB – German National Metrology Institute), is currently the most commonly used micro-probe. It has been used for many years to measure micro-gears, gages, or micro-holes in fuel injectors and turbine blades. In these applications, diameters as small as 90 µm must be captured with tolerances in the single-digit micron range. Due to its very low contact force, the WFP is also suitable for calibrating optical measurements on workpieces with sensitive surfaces.
By directly assessing the contact element, the WFP achieves probing uncertainties in the range of a few tenths of a micron. Bending of the stylus shaft has no effect on the measurement result. Resolution is in the nanometer range, and is ultimately dependent only on the optics used. In scanning mode, the Werth Fiber Probe captures a wide variety of contours with a large number of measurement points. The probe is continuously kept in motion by an oscillator, in order to prevent stick-slip effects.