Abstract Tungsten balls with a diameter of less 100 μm can function as probe tips for micro-coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) to measure ultraprecise workpieces with complex features. A high-precision measuring system was developed to evaluate the roundness of self-made tungsten ball tips. The system based on two-point method was composed of two oppositely placed interferometers and a turntable. The turntable rotated the tested ball, and the interferometers measured the variation in radius. A new model based on minimum zone method was proposed to evaluate roundness. The fabrication principle of tungsten balls was introduced and the analysis was conducted on the maximum permissible contact force and bending stress of tungsten ball tips. The elastic mechanism was designed based on the analysis. A ruby sphere with a sphericity of 130 nm was measured to verify the system's effectiveness. Repeated experiments were performed for two tungsten ball tips. Results show the roundness error of tungsten ball-A is between 550.9 and 586.2 nm with a standard deviation of 11.0 nm while tungsten ball-B’s roundness error is between 898.5 and 959.9 nm with a standard deviation of 21.7 nm. The uncertainty is calculated as 144.6 nm. The developed system can stably measure the roundness of tungsten ball tips.
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