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Differences between ISO 21920-2 and ISO 4287

Conference Paper · February 2023

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 International Academy for Production Engineering
CIRP WINTER MEETINGS in PARIS, France – 22-24 February 2023

Standard update: Differences between

ISO 21920-2:2021 and ISO 4287:1996
by

François Blateyron
Presenting author: F. Blateyron, Director of Research & Metrology, Digital Surf, Besançon, France,
Email: fblateyron@digitalsurf.fr

SCIENTIFIC TECHNICAL COMMITTEE meeting

"S" (SURFACES) 23rd February 2023 08.30 - 12.30

CIRP office: 9 rue Mayran, 75009 PARIS – France, E-mail: cirp@cirp.net, http://www.cirp.net

In this presentation, I would like to focus on an important change

made recently in the surface texture standards related to profile
analysis.
In December 2021, a new standard in 3 parts was published: ISO
21920.

1
 ISO standards on profile parameters, before 2021

• ISO 1302:2002 Indication of surface texture in technical product documentation

• ISO 4287:1997 Profile method – Terms, definitions and surface texture parameters

• ISO 4288:1996 Profile method – Rules and procedures for the assessment of surface
texture

• ISO 12085:1996 Profile method – Motif parameters

• ISO 13565-2:1996 Profile method – Surfaces having stratified functional properties –

Part 2: Height characterization using the linear material ratio curve
• ISO 13565-3:1998 Profile method – Surfaces having stratified functional properties –
Part 3: Height characterization using the material probability curve

Before 2021, profile surface texture standards were in use since the
late 1990s, which is more 25 years ago.
New instrument techniques have appeared, surface machining have
evolved and surfaces have become more complexe. In addition some
definitions of these documents needed to be revised.
That is why a new standard was proposed, that would collect and
modernize all existing surface texture parameters in one document.

2
 Replaced by ISO 21920, published in 2021

• ISO 1302:2002 → ISO 21920-1

• ISO 4287:1997 → ISO 21920-2
• ISO 4288:1996 → ISO 21920-3
• ISO 12085:1996 → confirmed
• ISO 13565-2:1996 → ISO 21920-2
• ISO 13565-3:1998 → ISO 21920-2

Withdrawn

Almost all these old standards are now replaced by the new ISO
21920.
Only one standard, ISO 12085, is however kept as it is, for continuity,
especially for the French automotive ecosystem.
It is important to recognize that many of these old standards have
officially been withdrawn from ISO.

3
New root symbol

ISO 1302 profile

ISO 21920-1 profile

ISO 25178-1 areal

In order to differentiate specifications that refer to ISO 21920 instead

of one of the old standards, a new symbol is introduced. It adds a
small segment above the triangle on the left side of the root symbol.
New specifications will need to use this new symbol and the
associated rules defined in ISO 21920.
We can also note that the symbol for areal specifications, defined in
ISO 25178-1, has a small tilted square, also to differentiate from the
historical root symbol.

4
Changed process diagram

ISO 21920
Real surface Real surface
ISO 3274 / ISO 4287

Profilometer Profilometer

Mechanical Profile Mechanical Profile

Primary
Nominal Form Removal Profile S-Filter Nis
Surface Profile

Profile Filter ls Nominal Form Removal

Primary Profile Primary Profile

One important change is that the order of some operations were

changed.
In the former ISO 4287, the primary profile was obtained after a
nominal form removal followed by a lambda S filter. In the new
standard, these operations are reversed, in order to be aligned with
what was done for surfaces.
In practice, the difference on results will be very small but for some
profiles, especially those that contain form, the parameters may show
significant differences.
Verification procedures will have to take that into account when
verifying specifications based on ISO 21920.

5
 Parameters defined over the evaluation length
µm
4
ISO 4287:
2
Parameter = Average of estimators
0

-2 calculated on each sampling length.

-4

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 mm

µm
4
ISO 21920:
2

0
Parameter = One value calculated
-2 on the evaluation length.
-4

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 mm

The second major change concerns parameters that are no longer

averaged over sampling lengths. In ISO 4287, parameters were
estimated on each sampling length (by default: 5) and the final value
was indeed the average of these estimators.
The aim of this procedure was to stabilize results when measured by
workshop profilometers, in production.
Now, only one value is calculated over the evaluation length. The
effect on parameter values depends on the parameter. Some are
quite stable, but others, like Rsk or Rku may be different.

6
Peak parameters defined over the section length

Section length = cut-off length

Five section lengths by default

Rp, Pp, Wp mean peak height

Rpt, Ppt, Wpt max peak height
Rv, Pv, Wv mean pit depth
Rvt, Pvt, Wvt max pit depth
Rz, Pz, Wz max height

Rzx, Pzx, Wzx max section height → corresponds to the Rmax (VDA 2006)

The only case where an average is kept is for peak parameters. In

this case, they are calculated on section lengths (equivalent to the
former sampling lengths).

7
Clearer definition for peaks and valleys
µm
20

10

-10

-20
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 mm

Section 1 Section 2 Section 3 Section 4 Section 5

1 peak 1 peak 0 peak 2 peaks 0 peak
0 pit 2 pits 0 pit 1 pit 1 pit

Rp1 Rp2 Rp3 Rp4 Rp1 → Rp: average on 3 sections

Rv1 Rv2 Rv3 Rv4 Rv1 → Rv: average on 3 sections
Rz1 Rz2 Rz3 Rz4 Rz1 → Rz: average on 2 sections

The procedure to define particular points is now clearer and more

detailled.
Peaks and pits are first detected on the full evaluation length. And in a
second pass, parameters are estimated by section length. In practice,
some section lengths may not have a peak or a pit, leading to an
average that is done on a different number of section lengths.
This may be critical, in particular for peak parameters calculated on a
waviness profile.

8
 Better detection of profile elements (Rsm)
A new “crossing-the-line” segmentation method, defined in ISO 16610-45
is now used to define profile elements and calculate Rsm.

The Rsm parameter was known for its instability on rough profiles.
The initial definition of ISO 4287 was not clearly specified and many
different implementations made by manufacturers and software
editors lead to different results.
A more stable algorithm was introduced in an amendment and later
improved. The new definition is much more robust. It calculates Rsm
as a mean of two detections using a “crossing-the-line” segmentation,
done once from left to right and once from right to left. It also impacts
the definition of Rpc (peak count) as it is now defined from Rsm.
In any case, users must remember that feature parameters must only
be calculated on periodical or pseudo-periodical profiles.

9
Default decision rule is now Tmax

Tmax: (new default)

All measurements < tolerance

T16%: (former default) Still available but needs to be explicit on drawings

> 84% of measurements < tolerance

Tmed: based on the median

Median of all measurements < tolerance

10

Another significant change is about the decision rule. The former 16%
rule is no longer the default rule and is replaced by the Max rule.
The 16% rule was not really used in practice (except in Japan and in
some places in Germany). And when used, it was not fully
understood. So, the new rule is much simpler to understand.
But we need to expect different decisions between the two standards,
on the same samples.
A third method is introduced, Tmed, that is based on the median of a
series of measurements. It may be useful on large series of values.

10
New procedure based on Setting classes

• Depends on the specification (tolerance)

• Same procedure for all profiles (periodical or not)

• Still complex!
• Justification for these numbers?

11

The former ISO 4288 standard had a special procedure to allow users
to find what cut-off value should be used.
This procedure had three problems: 1) It required to measure several
profiles, sometimes more than 10, which had a cost. 2) It broke the
independence principle of GPS, as the specification was driven by
verification. 3) The procedure was different whether the profile was
considered periodical or non-periodical.
This is why a new method is now proposed, based on the tolerance
value written on the drawing. Several tables are proposed in ISO
21920 part 3 to determine the default cut-off and other values. This
method takes into account only a fe parameters. For the other
parameters or for cases not covered by this method, there is no
default defined and users should carry out a correlation study to
determine what cut-off should be used. Unfortunately, this method is
complex and the threshold values seem to come from nowhere…

11
New procedure based on Setting classes

12

An annex gives a workflow for the different cases. The new concept
of setting class is the input that allows to find the correct column and
the default values for several characteristics.

12
 Expected differences in parameter values
R² = 99,9% R² = 84,1% R² = 66,4%

Calculated on 101 profiles (measured on mechanical components)

13

When calculated on the same profiles, the two standards may show
good correlations on some parameters, but also very different results
on other parameters. It will be necessary, for industrial users, to carry
out a study to adjust the tolerances on their drawing, if they want to
switch to the new standard.
In any case, users should be aware that the former standards, ISO
1302, ISO 4287, ISO 4288, ISO 13565-2 and -3 are now withdrawn.
However, despite these drawbacks, the new standard is more modern
and aligned with the areal case. Designers, metrologists, researchers,
teachers, all need to learn the new standard and be aware of the
differences with the former standards.

13
Summary
• New root symbol
• F-Operation and S-Filter order is inverted (compared to ISO 4287)

• Parameters are defined on the evaluation length (no averaging)

• except peak parameters that are defined on section lengths
• Default decision rule is Tmax (instead of T16%)
• New procedure with Setting classes
• New segmentation algorithm for Spacing parameters (Rsm)
• New volume parameters
• New feature parameters (based on watershed segmentation)
• and a few minor new changes… 14

14
 Thank you for your attention

fblateyron@digitalsurf.fr

Surface Metrology Guide: surfacemetrology.guide

15

These changes brought by ISO 21920 are already available in our

analysis software MountainsMap version 9.3. Previous standards are
also available.

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