Surface Roughness – Significance and symbol interpretation in drawing

It has been very much common practice to indicate surface roughness

symbols in the drawing. You might have seen the symbols like – Ra 0.8 or Ra
25 or N9 on various features of component. As “Dimension” controls the
shape and size of the feature, surface roughness symbol goes one level
below and controls the texture of the surface. This article digs out the
fundamentals of surface roughness and their indication in drawing.
Surface

A surface is a boundary that separates an object from another object or

substance. In order to make understand the measurement of surface finish,
surfaces can then further be divided into two more types as following:

Real Surface: It is the actual boundary of an object. It is produced as a result

of the process that created the surface.

Measured Surface: A measured surface is a representation of the real surface

obtained with some measuring instrument. This distinction is made, because
no measurement will give the exact real surface.

Refer fig. 1 to see the magnified view of a sample surface and the
characteristics of a surface. Surface is made of – Roughness, Waviness and
Lay.

(Fig – 1: Magnified view of surface)

Surface Finish Imperfections:

The subject of surface finish imperfections consists of mainly following two

imperfections: Form Error and Texture. The Form Error is for longer
wavelength (Refer Fig. 1) deviations of a surface from the corresponding
nominal surface. Form errors result from large scale problems in the
manufacturing process such as errors in a machine tool ways, guides or
spindles, inaccurate alignment of work-piece. Form error is on the dividing line
in size scale between geometric errors and finish errors. We shall be
discussing more on the surface Texture imperfection, as it is indicated in the
drawing as surface roughness symbol.

Surface Texture

Surface texture is the combination of fairly short wavelength deviations of a

surface from the nominal surface. Texture includes roughness, waviness and
a lay, that is, all of the deviations that are shorter in wavelength than form
error deviations.

Roughness

Roughness includes the finest (shortest wavelength) irregularities of a

surface. Roughness generally results from a particular production process or
material condition.

Waviness

Waviness includes the more widely spaced (longer wavelength) deviations of

a surface from its nominal shape. Waviness errors are intermediate in
wavelength between roughness and form error. Note, that distraction between
waviness and form error is not always made in practice and it is not always
clear how to make it.

Lay

Lay refers to the predominant direction of the surface texture. Ordinarily, lay is
determined by the particular production method and geometry used.

However, in practice, both the words - „Surface Texture‟ and „Surface

Roughness‟ are used to explain common meaning of surface roughness
symbols.

Surface roughness heights are generally measured in micro inches or

micrometers. A micrometer, abbreviated µ, is one millionth of a meter.

As points of reference for how small a micrometer is, here are the sizes of
some familiar items:
  LENGTH OF FOOTBALL FIELD – 9,00,00,000 µm

 WIDTH OF HAND – 75,000 – 1,00,000 µm

 THICKNESS OF PANE OF GLASS – 2,000 – 3,000 µm

 DIAMETER OF HUMAN HAIR – 40 – 75 µm

 THICKNESS OF PAPER – 25 – 50 µm

 DIAMETER OF A SPIDER WEB STRAND – 2.5 TO 5 µm

 WAVELENGTH OF VISIBLE LIGHT – 0.4 TO 0.75 µm

 “DIAMETER” OF A HYDROGEN ATOM – 0.0001 µm

A micrometer is very small!!

Terminology explanation

This is a general term for factors such as the rou ghness, necessity of
Surface texture removal machining, crease direction, and waviness of the surface of
mach i ne parts and structural parts.

This refers to the removal of surface layers from parts by way of

Removal machining
mach i n i ng or similar methods.

This is the direction of clear creases that are formed during removal
Crease direction
mach i n i ng.

The descriptors shown below are used when pictorially representni g surface roughness. However, generaly
speaking, the standard condti ions, which are shown in red,are omtted
i ,and the indications shown in blue
l only when necessary.
areincuded
Symbol Meaning Explanatory diagram

The creases made by an edged

tool during machining are pa ral l e l
w i th the surface ca ptured in the
diagram in which the symbol is
written .

Example Shaped surface

The creases made by the edged

tool during machining are
pe rpe nd i cular to the surface
captured in the diagram i n w hich
the symbol i s wr i tten .
Example Shaped surface
(turned on a l athe ; seen from
t he si de ), c ylindri ca l l y ground
surface

The creases made by the edged

tool during machining are at an
angle and cross each oth er on the
surface ca ptured in the diagram in
whi ch the symbo l i s wr i tte n .

Ex ample Ho ning fin i shed

surface

The creases made by the edged

tool during machining cross
mult i p l e times or have no set
direction .
Example Lapped surface, su per -
f i n i shed surface, face -mi l l ed
or end-m i l led surface tha t has
been cross fed

The creases made by the edged

tool during machining form mostly
concentric circ l es i n re l ation to the
center of the surface on wh i ch the
s ymbo l i s wr i tten .

Ex ample Faced sur face

 Th e creases made by the edg ed
tool during m achining form mos tly
a rad i a l pa ttern i n re l a tion to the
center of th e surface on which the
symbol i s written .

Machined Surfaces

Interpretation of surface traces

To be of any use to humans, surface traces are magnified moderately in the

horizontal direction and significantly in the vertical direction in order to be
presented on a computer screen or a piece of paper. As a typical example, a
4 mm trace with a 10 µ height from the highest peak to lowest valley might be
expanded to fit on a 160 mm wide by 100 mm high plot. This is a 40X
magnification horizontally and a 10,000X magnification vertically. This
differences leads to a very sharply undulating trace that easily deceives the
uninitiated as to the actual shape of the surface.

(Figure 2: Interpretation of surface trace)

The vertical magnification of a surface trace is ordinarily much greater than

the horizontal magnification. A trace that looks jagged and rough to the eye is
really a distorted view of a nearly flat surface with moderate ripples across it.

Figure 3 presents the actual surface texture plot taken by a surface roughness
measuring instrument in a laboratory.
(Figure 3: Roughness amplitude parameter for Interpretation of surface
roughness plot)

There can be many ways, thro which the surface roughness plot can be
interpreted.

Few of the most popular methods of surface roughness plot

interpretation are:

 Distance between peak to centerline

 Average distance between peaks and valleys for sample length

 Sum of average of first 5 peaks and valleys

 Maximum peak to valley height

 Maximum peak height

 RMS of peak and valley average

Because of this reason only, there are varieties of methods prevailing in the
engineering world for indicating surface roughness values in the drawing. As
per the data, worldwide more than 128 conventions are available for
interpreting above graph and presenting the results in the drawing!

The most common and popular method amongst all is interpreting thro
average roughness indication. This is known as Ra – in which, R stands for
„Roughness‟ and „a‟ stands for „average‟. The other methods are Rz, Rt,
Rmax etc. Below is the list of popular parameters:

Parameter Name
Ra Roughness Average (Ra)
Rq Root Mean Square (RMS) Roughness
Rt Maximum Height of the Profile
Rv, Rm Maximum Profile Valley Depth
Rp Maximum Profile Peak Height
Rpm Average Maximum Profile Peak Height
Rz Average Maximum Height of the Profile
Rmax Maximum Roughness Depth
Rc Mean Height of Profile Irregularities
Rz(iso) Roughness Height
Ry Maximum Height of the Profile

It is a common joke in surface finish circles that “RA” stands for Regular Army
and “Ra” is the chemical symbol for Radium; only “Ra” is the average
roughness of a surface. This emphasizes that the “a” is a subscript.

Ra – Average Roughness

Also known as Arithmetic Average (AA), Center Line Average (CLA),

Arithmetical Mean Deviation of the profile.

The average roughness is the area between the roughness profile and its
mean line, or the integral of the absolute value of the roughness profile height
over the evaluation length.
Graphically, the average roughness is the area between the roughness profile
and its center line divided by the evaluation length (normally five sample
lengths with each sample length equal to one cutoff).

The average roughness is by far the most commonly used parameter in

surface finish measurement. The earliest analog roughness measuring
instruments measured only Ra by drawing a stylus continuously back and
forth over a surface and integrating (finding the average) electronically. It is
fairly easy to take the absolute value of a signal and to integrate a signal
using only analog electronics. That is the main reason Ra has such a long
history.
Surface Roughness symbol in drawing

Surface roughness symbol is given to convey manufacturing process related

information only. Unless written specifically on the symbol, they do not carry
the surface texture type (i.e. plated / milled / cold drawn). These symbols are
given irrespective of material and its surface condition.

Though the surface roughness symbol is capable of conveying lot much

information (as mentioned later in this article), presently it is mentioned to
convey only manufacturing process related information. Also, note that the
raw material type is not controlled thro the surface roughness symbol given in
the drawing. Presently, either of following information is conveyed thro
symbols:

 We do not need to remove material

 We need machining operation
 We need to manufacture by any process

It is required to give surface finish to each feature – irrespective of its

importance and manufacturing process. And, as in tolerance, designer should
select the most „Rough‟ surface permissible for the performance. However,
unlike to tolerances where we have a concept of „Open Tolerance‟, we have
to specify each surface roughness in the drawing.
Indian context and practices of using Ra

The latest Indian Standard for method of indicating surface texture on

technical drawings suggests the practice of giving the surface roughness
value directly in micron as Ra value or by grade numbers. The earlier method
of indicating surface roughness through triangle symbols is now superseded,
however still many companies are following the older practice. Below is the
comparison table for all 3 ways of indicating surface roughness symbol in the
drawing.

Roughness value Roughness grade Roughness symbol

Ra (µm) number

50
N12
25
N11
12.5
N10
6.3
N9
3.2
N8
1.6
N7
0.8
N6
0.4
N5
0.2
N4
0.1
N3
0.05
N2
0.025
N1

Following three basic symbols are used for indicating surface texture on
components:
Surface texture obtained by any manufacturing process
(e.g., turning, grinding, plating, bending)

Surface texture obtained by material removal by machining

Operation (e.g., turning, drilling, Milling, slotting)

Surface texture obtained by WITHOUT removal of material

(e.g., casting surfaces, welding faces, Procurement size
surface)

Excepting the symbol of „Without removal of material‟, both the other symbols
are defined with value of Ra required for a particular manufacturing process.

Meaning of complete surface finish symbol is as below:

a = Roughness value Ra in micrometer or
grade number

b = Production method, treatment or coating

c = Sampling length
d = Direction of lay

e = Machining allowance
f = Other roughness value than Ra

Ra is not the end of the story

Ra does not tell the whole story about a surface. For example, here three
surfaces that all have the same Ra, but you need no more than your eyes to
know that they are quite different surfaces. In some applications they will
perform very; differently as well.

(Figure 4: Surfaces with same Ra, but a lot of difference)

If we want to distinguish between surfaces that differ in shape or spacing, we
need to calculate other parameters for a surface that measure peaks and
valleys and profile shape and spacing. The more complicated the shape of the
surface, we want and the more critical the function of the surface, the more
sophisticated we need to be in measuring parameters beyond Ra.

Surface Roughness by Process

Machining Symbols

Complete Symbol
Surface Roughness
 Actual profile,Af
-It is the profile of actual surface obtained by finishing operation.

 Reference profile,Rf
-It is the profile to which the irregularities of the surface is referred to it is passes through
the highest point of the actual profile.

 Datum profile,Df
-It is the profile,parallel to the reference profile, is passes through the lowest point B of the
actual profile.

Mean Profile, Mf
-It is that profile, within the sampling length chosen (L) such that the sum of the
material-filled areas enclosed above it by the actual profile is equal to the sum
of the material void area enclosed below it by the profile.

Peak to valley height, R

-It is the distance from the datum profile to the reference profile.

Mean roughness index, R

a
-It is the arithmetic mean of the absolute value of the highest hi between the actual
and mean profile.

x=L
Ra = 1/L ∫x=0 x=0 |hi| dx , where L is sampling length
Symbols with Additional Indications.

Symbols with Additional Indications.

 Analysis of Surface Traces
A numerical assessment is assigned to indicate the degree of smoothness
(roughness) in a number of ways. In practice three roughness measures
have shown themselves to be particularly useful.

Maximum Peak to Valley Height of Roughness.

This is obviously the most common measure of roughness but is not
by any means a complete definition of roughness, e.g. in the two
cases in Fig. a1 peak to valley height is same, but frequencies of irregularities
are different and second surface is more rough in comparison to first one.
But, since this is a relatively simple method of analysis,this will be a satisfactory
measure

Fig. a1 Peak to valley height.

where it is desired to control the cost of finishing for checking the rough machining.
This method is also very advantageous in cases where the condition of surface
is likely to exert an important influence on such properties as fatigue resistance
and it is intended to clear the surface of the irregularities left by a previous operation.

Root Mean Square Value (R.M.S. Value).

This measure was in use previously and now-a-days superseded by Centre Line
Average measure, as latter has the properties of being easily measured.
R.M.S. value is defined as the square root of the mean of the squares of the
ordinates of the surface measured from a mean line.

Then hr.m.s= h12+h22+h32+.............+hn2

n
Fig. a2 R.M.S. value.
 Centre Line Average Method (C.L.A. Value).

This is defined as the average height from a mean line of all ordinates of the
surface regardless of the sign.
h1+h2+h3+...........+hn
Thus referring to fig a2, C.L.A. =
n
But of find C.L.A. value like this will be a laborious job. Also by this method, spacing
chosen may be such that important ordinates are likely to be missed.
Things can be much simplified by using a planimeter which can find out the area of
any curve. Referring to Fig.a3, let us say that somehow or other the mean line is
exactly known. Then C.L.A. value

Fig. a3 C.L.A. value.

One has to take care of units carefully to find the C.L.A. value in micron.

How to Determine Mean Line.

For it first the mean line is estimated by eye-judgement. Then total area above and below the
assumed mean line are measured and a correction is applied to the assumed mean line to get
the correct mean line. Error [IA (above) - IA (below)]/L is applied to the assumed mean line to get
the . correct mean line. Thus in Fig. a4, X’ Y is assumed mean line

Fig. a4. Mean line.

(A2+A4+A6+A8)-(A1+A3+A5+A7)
Thus correction = and this correction is added to
L
the assumed line algebraically gives the actual mean line. The C.L.A. value can be found out as
described previously.
“Talysurf’ has got built in arrangement for integrating the areas and the average value is directly given.
C.L.A. value does not give any idea regarding the greatest extent and the nature of the surface
irregularities. It is likely to give identical values for surfaces of vastly different characteristics. So this is
the main disadvantage of C.L.A. value. But when the characteristics of a surface have been found out
to be satisfactory and such conditions are produced which do not allow the surface to change radically in
manufacturing, then C.L.A. value provides a workable control.