SURFACE METROLOGY

Learning Objectives

 What is meant by roughness, waviness, form?

 How to distinguish them?
 Definition of the parameters through which these quantities
can be expressed.
 Methods of measurement (Stylus Instrument)/data
acquisition.
 Key issues in surface measurements.
 Commercially available equipment/instruments (Mahr,
Taylor Hobson, Mitutoyo )
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 Introduction

 Around 30% of energy consumption is to overcome various

types friction.
 Surface characterization plays an important role in ensuring
products function safely and reliably.
Ex: Hard disk failures attributed to surface problems of head lift finish
and hard particle cleaning.

 At the micro- and nano-metrology level, dimension, shape,

roughness all play a critical role in the functional property
and product reliability. So measurements have to be made in
multiple scales.
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Typical Component

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 Surface Texture - details that make up a surface - roughness,
waviness and lay pattern .

Waviness
height

Roughness: Closely packed irregularities

(Cutting tool marks, grit of grinding wheel)
Waviness: More widely spaced irregularities (Vibration and chatter)
Error of form: Long period or non-cyclic deviations (improper work holding,
Inaccuracies in guideways, residual stresses in the component)
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Surface topography

All these are

present in
combination to
one another.

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Form removal
allows analysis
and visualisation
of roughness and
pofile error

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 Lay: Represents the predominant surface pattern. It reflects the
machining operation used to produce it.

 Roughness: Consists of surface irregularities which result from the

various machining processes.

 Waviness: this refers to the irregularities which are outside the roughness
width cut-off values. Waviness is the widely spaced component of the
surface texture. This may be the result of workpiece or tool deflection
during machining, vibrations or tool run-out.

 Form: This is the general shape of the surface, ignoring the variations due
to roughness and waviness. Deviations from the desired form may be due
to factors like: the part being machines held too tight, not firm enough,
inaccuracies in the guide-ways, residual stresses etc..
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 Factors affecting surface finish in machining
 The machining variables:
Cutting speed, Depth of Cut, Feed
 The tool geometry:
Nose radius, Rake angle, Side-cutting edge angle, Cutting
edge
 Workpiece and tool material combination and their mechanical
properties
 Quality and type of the machine tool used.
 Auxiliary tooling and lubricant used
 Vibration between the workpiece, machine tool and cutting
tool.

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The final surface roughness is considered as the sum of two
independent effects:
The ideal surface roughness is a result of the geometry of tool
and feed and
The natural surface roughness is a result of the irregularities
in the cutting operation.
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Stylus instrument

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Taylor Hobson Talysurf
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Use of MarSurf (Mahr GmbH)

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3-D Non-contact Surface Profilometer

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 Datum

(a) Use of the independent datum (b) Use of the skid datum.

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 Magnification

Stylus profile displayed with two different aspect ratios

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18
Filters for separation of surface texture into roughness,
waviness and profile, from ISO 4287: 1996

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 Filters for separation of surface texture into roughness,
waviness and profile, from ISO 4287: 1996

 λs profile filter: This is the filter that defines where the intersection

occurs between the roughness and shorter wavelength components

(micro/nano level irregularities on roughness profile) present in a

surface.

 λc profile filter: This is the filter that defines where the intersection

occurs between the roughness and waviness components.

 λf profile filter: This is the filter that defines where the intersection

occurs between the waviness and longer wavelength components

(form errors) present in a surface. 20

 FILTERS
 A filter is an electronic or mathematical method or algorithms which
separates, different wavelengths and allows us to see only the
wavelengths we are interested in. In other words, it is a mechanism for
suppressing wavelengths above and below a particular value.

 Low-pass filter (Allows lower frequencies than the threshold value set)

 High-pass filter (Allows higher frequencies than the threshold value

set)

 Band-pass filter (Allows signals between two specific frequencies)

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 2RC filters (Electronic two-capacitor, two- resistor system)

 Modified (Phase corrected) 2RC filters

 Phase correct filter such as Gaussian filter(Implemented

through mathematical algorithms by computer based
processing).

 Gaussian filter represents true surface.

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 Principle of working of stylus instrument

As the stylus tip moves on the surface being measured the

gap between the armature and the E-shaped stamping
changes. This generates an electric signal in the form of
voltage in the coil AC.
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Construction
 Principle of working of stylus instrument
 The Taylor Hobson Talysurf is an electronic instrument working
on carrier modulating principle.

 Modulation is a process in which a carrier signal of constant

phase, frequency, amplitude is modified by a non linear signal,
as a result we will have a signal output which changes its
characteristics corresponding with modulating signal

 Most communicating channels use audio signal frequency

ranging from 20Hz to 20KHz as a modulating signal.
 The measuring head of this instrument consists of a
diamond stylus of about 0.002 mm tip radius and skid or
shoe which is drawn across the surface by means of a
motorized driving unit.

 The arm carrying the stylus forms an armature which pivots

about the centre piece of E-shaped stamping.

 On two legs of (outer pole pieces) the E-shaped stamping

there are coils carrying an A.C. current
 Working
 These two coils with other two resistances form an oscillator. The
amplitude of the original A.C. current flowing in the coils is
modulated because of air gap between the armature and E-
shaped stamping.

 This is further demodulated so that the current now is directly

proportional to the vertical displacement of the stylus only.
 The demodulated output is caused to operate a pen recorder to
produce a permanent record and a meter to give a numerical
assessment directly. In recorder of this instrument the marking
medium is an electric discharge through a specially treated paper
which blackens at the point of the stylus.
 Effect of different filters

[a]

[b]

[c]

a) Primary profile obtained after applying λs filter on total profile

b) Roughness profile obtained after applying λc filter on primary profile
c) Waviness profile after applying λf filter and λc filter on primary profile

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 Filtering of surface profiles

Stylus tip (2,5,10 μm) usually act

the first filter λs

These are internationally recognized cut-offs of varying lengths.29

 Separation of roughness and waviness
Filtering implies selecting a range of structure in the total profile that is
judged to be that of significance to a particular situation.

r(x) =z(x)-w(x) [From ISO 16610, 2003]

z(x) - primary profile, w(x) - waviness profile , r(x) - roughness profile

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 Filtering of 2D profiles

Cut-off=0.25 mm

Primary profile (Blue), Waviness (red) Roughness (green)= primary profile - waviness

Cut-off=2.5 mm

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Effect of cut-off values

With 0.08
0.08 mm cut-off, Ra = 1µm
mm

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 Cut-off length: A cut off is a filter and used as a means of separating or
filtering the wavelengths of a component. It allows only wavelengths
below the cut off length and remove the unwanted wavelengths on the
surface.

 Sampling length: Breaking the data into equal sample lengths. It is

numerically same as the cut-off length.

 Evaluation length/Assessment length: An assessment length is the

amount of data left after filtering to be used for analysis. It is generally 5
times the cut-off selected.

 Traverse length is the measured length which is generally 7 times the cut-
off length.

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Sampling length, Evaluation length and Traversing length

Generally sampling length for machined components = 0.8 mm

Evaluation Length = 0.8 x 5 = 4 mm
Traversing Length = 0.8 x 5 + 0.8 x 2 = 5.6 mm
To produce a good statistical analysis, cut-off is chosen in the
order of 10 times the wavelengths under consideration.
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 Parameters defined in ISO 4287-1997

Pp Rp Wp Maximum profile peak height

Pv Rv Wv Maximum profile valley depth

Pz Rz Wz Maximum height of profile

Pc Rc Wc Mean height of profile elements

Pt Rt Wt Total height of profile

Pa Ra Wa Arithmetic Mean deviation of the assessed

profile
Pq Rq Wq Root mean square deviation of the assessed
profile
Psk Rsk Wsk Skewness of the assessed profile

Pku Rku Wku Kurtosis of the assessed profile

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 Parameters defined in ISO 4287-1997

PSm RSm WSm Mean width of the profile elements

Pdq Rdq Wdq Root mean square slope of the assessed

profile
Pmr(c) Rmr(c) Wmr(c) Material ratio of the profile

Pdc Rdc Wdc Profile section height differences

Pmr Rmr Wmr Relative material ratio

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Profile element

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Amplitude parameters
(peak and valley)

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Maximum profile peak height (Rp) ( example of a roughness profile )

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Maximum profile valley depth(Rv)

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Maximum height of profile (Rz)

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Rz (JIS) parameter

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JIS: Japanese Industry Standard
Rt parameter
Rmax and Rz are
evaluated within a
sampling length
whereas Rt evaluated
in the assessment
length

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Amplitude parameters
(average of ordinates)

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Ra

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Manufacturing Process Ra in µm
Turning 0.32 to 25
Milling 0.8 to 6.3

Drilling 1.6 to 20
Boring 0.4 to 6.3
Reaming 0.4 to 3.2
Planing 1.6 to 50
Shaping 1.6 to 12.5
Broaching 0.4 to 3.2
Honing 0.25 to 0.4
Lapping 0.012 to 1.16
Cylindrical grinding 0.068 to 5 46
 sharp peaks

deep valleys

No sharp peaks and deep valleys

Ra does not tell the whole story about a surface.

Same Ra but have different surface profiles

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Rq parameter

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 Skewness parameter (Rsk)

Skewness is a measurement
of the symmetry of the
surface deviations about the
mean reference line and is
the ratio of the mean cube
value of the height values and
the cube of Rq within a
sampling area.
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Skewness paramter
The direction of the skew is
dependent on whether the bulk
of the material is above the
mean line (negative skew) or
below the mean line (positive
skew).

The Rsk parameter correlates

well with load-carrying ability
and porosity.

This is a useful parameter in

predicting component
performance with respect to
wear and lubrication retention
Negative skew good for lubrication and
positive skew is good for adhesion.
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 Kurtosis parameter

Kurtosis provides a means of

measuring the sharpness of the
profile, with a "spiky" surface
exhibiting a high numerical value
of Rku alternatively, a "bumpy"
surface topography will have a
low Rku value.
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 Profiles with low (top) and high (bottom) values of Rku

The Rku parameter characterizes the spread of the height

distribution. A surface with a Gaussian height distribution has a
kurtosis value of three. Unlike Rsk, this parameter not only
detects whether the profile spikes are evenly distributed but also
provides a measure of the spikiness of the area. 52
Cut-off wavelength (sampling length )

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 Specification of Surface roughness in Production Drawings

a - first surface texture requirement (sampling length)

b - second surface texture requirement (Roughness value)
c - manufacturing method
d - surface lay and orientation
e - machining allowance

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Roughness symbols and Corresponding values

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Thank you

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