摘要 |
The method of the invention maps pressure applied by resilient body surface (12) onto a plurality of movable gauge pins (20). The method includes the steps of: providing relative movement between the resilient body (12) and the movable gauge pins (20) to cause the gauge pins (20) to come into contact with the body (12) so as to define a three-dimensional surface which approximates the surface of the body (12); measuring the position of each of the gauge pins (20) as a reference position of each; using a spring element (38) to apply a pressure to each of the gauge pins; measuring a position of each of the gauge pins (20) after application of the pressure, to determine a test position of each gauge pin (20); subtracting the reference position of each gauge pin (20) from the test position of each gauge pin (20) to determine a pressure displacement of each gauge pin (20); and utilizing the pressure displacement and a spring constant of the spring elements (38) which applied the pressure to the movable gauge pins (20) to derive a pressure exerted upon each gauge pin (20) by the resilient body surface to enable a subsequent analysis thereof. |