White paper: Mounting encoder scales for optimum thermal performance

January 2019

All linear position encoder scales obey the same thermal laws: as the temperature changes, the scale length will also change which results in some measurement error. The amount of error depends on both the scale material and the method by which the scale has been mounted on the underlying machine substrate.

Renishaw has produced a new white paper that discusses how the thermal behaviour of linear encoder scales can be managed. It includes options on how to calculate and compensate for thermally induced strains. It also explains how an expansion mismatch between the scale and the machine substrate can impact on the overall performance of the encoder system. Guidance is given to customers about which scales to choose depending on their individual metrology requirements.