This guide describes the steps required to conduct a complete repeatability and reproducibility (RR) study on nondestructive test equipment. This guide is a manual (use of calculator) method. Other methods may utilize the application of computer driven software.

Formerly under the jurisdiction of Committee F16 on Fasteners, this guide was withdrawn in March 2018. This standard is being withdrawn with no replacement because it is an abridgment of a reference manual (Automotive Industry Action Groups Measurement Systems Analysis Reference Manual) that is generally accepted in industry as it relates to product intended to be integrated into automotive applications. Further, Guide F1469 is limited in scope. As an abridgment, it does not provide guidance on certain areas, such as evaluation of the number of distinct group sand the use and analysis of variation (ANOVA). Guide F1469 has diminished flexibility in comparison to the mentioned referenced manual.

This guide is recommended for the purpose of evaluating test equipment that may be utilized in statistical process control, testing laboratories, and for in-process control of manufacturing operations.

Ask the question: What effect does the operator have on the measurement process? If possible, the operators who normally use the test equipment should be included in the study. If operator calibration of the equipment is likely to be a significant cause of variation, then the operator should recalibrate the equipment prior to each group of readings.

The test equipment should provide direct readings in which the smallest digit is no larger than one tenth of the tolerance of the characteristic being evaluated.

It is recommended that a test equipment repeatability and reproducibility study be a mandatory part of all test equipment purchases and that acceptance criteria be <10 % for certification and statistical process control (SPC) use.

1.1 This guide describes the steps required to conduct a complete repeatability and reproducibility (RR) study on nondestructive test equipment. This guide is a manual (use of calculator) method. Other methods may utilize the application of computer driven software.

1.2 This guide can be used to evaluate all test equipment that provides variable measuring data.