Wear 255 (2003) 556–568

Communication
Detailed surface roughness characterization of engineering surfaces
undergoing tribological testing leading to scuffing
Allison Y. Suh a , Andreas A. Polycarpou a,∗ , Thomas F. Conry b
a Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, 1206 West Green Street, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
b Department of General Engineering, 104 South Mathews Avenue, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

Abstract
Controlled tribological scuffing experiments were conducted on typical engineering surfaces (Al390-T6 discs and 52100 steel pins)
under starved lubrication conditions (a mixture of R410A refrigerant combined with a polyolester (POE) lubricant) to simulate the contact
conditions in an automotive air conditioning compressor. The time-to-scuff was established and was repeatable using a test protocol with
increasing load increments. Test were then conducted for periods of 25, 50, and 75% of the time-to-scuff to investigate the progression of
surface change preparatory to scuffing. Detailed studies of the surface topography were conducted using line and areal (usually referred as
one dimensional (1D) and two dimensional (2D), respectively) analyses. Simple amplitude roughness parameters as well as more detailed
spatial, hybrid, and functional parameters were calculated and used to track detailed roughness changes as the Al390-T6 samples undergo
progressive wear until scuffing occurs. One-dimensional amplitude descriptors, such as the root-mean-square value, were not reliable in
tracking surface topographic changes. However, 2D functional parameters, such as the surface bearing index and the fluid retention index,
clearly showed progressive changes as the surfaces wear and reach scuffing.
© 2003 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.
Keywords: Surface roughness; Engineering rough surfaces; Al390-T6; Scuffing; Compressor surfaces

1. Introduction the case of scuffing under starved lubricated contact condi-

In many engineering applications, surfaces in prolonged
contact may experience abrupt catastrophic failure in the
form of scuffing. Scuffing is typically preceded by a mild
wear process after which friction, noise, vibration, and in-
terface temperature increase abruptly in the sliding contact
region, indicating a catastrophic failure [1]. Types of wear
processes known to have a precursor role leading to scuffing
include adhesive wear [2], abrasive wear [3], fatigue wear
[4], and corrosive wear [5]. Under operational test condi-
tions, scuffing is signaled by a drop in electrical contact re-
sistance in a critically worn area, indicating a breakdown
in the boundary films and the resulting contact of the base
materials [6]. Factors influencing scuffing include pressure,
velocity, temperature, lubrication, surface topography, ma-
terials and metallurgical composition, and film coatings on
the surfaces in contact [6–8].
The characterization of surface topography and roughness
are important factors in describing the wear and damage
to surfaces in engineering tribological applications. Surface
roughness in particular is known to play an important role in
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-217-244-1970; fax: +1-217-244-6534.
E-mail address: polycarp@uiuc.edu (A.A. Polycarpou).
tions. Ludema [9] showed the significance of surface rough-
ness as it affects the magnitudes of the real area of contact
and the local contact pressures and temperatures. However,
commonly used roughness parameters are generally limited
to one dimensional (1D) profiling line amplitude properties,
e.g. center-line average (CLA) and root-mean-square (rms),
which lack information about other roughness characteris-
tics. Since mild wear processes usually alter the top surface
and the contained topographic features, decreasing trends
in the CLA or rms may not provide any new and signifi-
cant insights into how scuffing-induced damage induces to-
pographic change that can contribute to catastrophic failure.
In terms of topographic analysis, the initial surface finish,
whether polished or textured, may also influence the path
leading to different mild wear–scuffing related failures. For
instance, depending on the types of virgin surface finish and
how the surface is progressively worn for the duration of
performance, the newly changed surface may accommodate
lubricant differently, which may either help retard or accel-
erate the scuffing process. Although the 1D line roughness
characterization has been useful to date, the resulting param-
eters do not contain information on detailed spatial variation,
areal and volumetric aspects of lubricant retention capabil-
ities. However, the roughness characterization of an area

0043-1648/03/$ – see front matter © 2003 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

doi:10.1016/S0043-1648(03)00224-2
 A.Y. Suh et al. / Wear 255 (2003) 556–568 557

Nomenclature y sampling interval in y-direction

z(x, y) 2D surface roughness as a function of
Fr force of friction calculated from the
x and y orthogonal coordinates
absolute of the resultant of Fx and Fy
Fx , F y ,
Greek letters
Fz forces in the three orthogonal directions
θ texture direction (0 < θ < 179◦ )
in the high pressure tribometer
τx phase shift in x (areal autocorrelation
h surface height normalized with respect to Sq
function), τx = i x
h0.05 surface height at 5% bearing area
τy phase shift in y (areal autocorrelation
normalized with respect to Sq
function), τj = j y
h0.8 surface height at 80% bearing area
ωx surface frequency in x-direction
normalized with respect to Sq
(areal power spectrum density)
Lx sampling length in x-direction,
ωy surface frequency in y-direction
Lx = (N–1) x
(areal power spectrum density)
Ly sampling length in y-direction,
Ly = (M–1) y
m maximum value of the autocorrelation
lengths in the x-direction of the surface (two dimensional (2D)), can account for the
M size of sampling matrix in y-direction mapping of the geometric features over an area and provide
(number of rows) insight into the physical and functional behavior of surface.
n maximum value of the autocorrelation To gain more insight into the scuffing process, a series
lengths in the y-direction of controlled experimental and analytical studies were con-
N size of sampling matrix in x-direction ducted on the evolution of the contact interface as it pro-
(number of columns) gresses from virgin to run-in, to mildly-worn, to worn, and
R radius of spherical summits ultimately to the scuffed state. The fundamental investigation
Sa arithmetic mean deviation of the surface of the tribological failure mechanisms was carried out on
Sbi surface bearing index or the ratio between Al390-T6 discs and 52100 steel pins as the exemplary con-
the Sq and the surface height at 5% of tacting surfaces (representative of the contact surface pairs
bearing area usually found in automotive air conditioning swash-plate
Sci core fluid retention index compressors) that eventually succumbed to scuffing [10,11].
Sdr developed interfacial area ratio One result from this work is that the most critical changes
Sds density of summits of the surface in material, chemical, and micro-structural properties occur
(based on eight nearest neighbor in the first 50–100 nm below the surface [11].
summit definition) The objective of this paper is to examine and quantify
Sku kurtosis of topography height changes in roughness occurring at surfaces during mild wear
distribution of the surface that ultimately lead to scuffing damage. Surface roughness is
Sq root-mean-square deviation of the surface a geometrical property of the surface and several standards
S q root-mean-square slope of the surface have been proposed to quantify it [12–15]. The surface finish
Ssc arithmetic mean summit curvature of or texturing chosen during the surface manufacturing pro-
the surface cess and the types of wear conditions that a surface has with-
Ssk skewness of topography height distribution stood over time are all visibly indicated in the topography
of the surface and roughness of the surface. The underlying assumption is
Std texture direction (−90 ≤ Std < 90◦ ) that surface topography characteristics can be useful precur-
Str texture aspect ratio (between 0 and 1; sors for predicting other changes that may occur in internal
0 = anisotropic, 1 = isotropic) sub-layers as well, features like hardness, elastic–plastic de-
Svi valley fluid retention index formation, chemical composition, and micro-structure [16].
Sz 10-point heights of the surface To quantify the changes on the roughness at various stages
Tscuff time to full-scuff prior to scuffing, pre-established 2D areal surface rough-
V(h0.05 ) void volume at the surface heights at ness parameters, namely the Birmingham-14 are used in this
5% bearing area study [16]. The Birmingham-14 parameters are a set of 14
V(h0.8 ) void volume at the surface heights at distinguishing roughness parameters for characterizing areal
80% bearing area surface topography, which quantify the geometric and func-
x x-coordinate of a 2D surface z(x, y) tional properties of a surface. By evaluating the amplitude,
x sampling interval in x-direction spatial, hybrid, and functional properties of actual engineer-
y y-coordinate of a 2D surface z(x, y) ing rough surfaces, the Birmingham-14, in principle, can
provide comprehensive parameters needed to characterize
558 A.Y. Suh et al. / Wear 255 (2003) 556–568
the 2D surface. The functional roughness parameters were
found to capture most accurately certain prominent charac-
teristics in the worn topography of the disc surfaces. This
paper is based on the experimental findings of surface rough-
ness characterization, which will aid in the understanding of
the wear conditions and the resulting evolution of surface
topography leading up to scuffing.
2. Background
2.1. Controlled tribological scuffing experiments
The materials used to simulate the compressor surfaces
are Al390-T6 discs (cast aluminum with 16.0–18.0% sili-
con content) and 52100 steel pins under a starved lubricated
condition. With a pin-on-disc geometry, a versatile high
pressure tribometer (HPT) is used to simulate the plate–pin
(usually referred to as plate–shoe) contacts in an automotive
air conditioning swash-plate compressor [10,11]. The HPT
has a capability to measure the forces in the three orthogonal
directions (Fx , Fy , and Fz ). From these forces, the force of
friction (Fr ) and the coefficient of friction can be calculated.
The HPT is also capable of testing with ambient pressures
up to 250 psig and temperatures from −12 to 120 ◦ C. The
maximum applied load for the HPT is 1000 lbs [11]. To en-
able mild-wear contact between the material pair, the lower
sample (steel pin) is stationary and in contact with the up-
per rotating sample (Al390-T6 disc) in the test chamber at
the linear sliding velocity of 2.4 m/s. In order to simulate
typical air conditioning compressor environments, the ex-
periments were performed in a refrigerant atmosphere under
a 50 psi ambient pressure at 121 ◦ C near the contact inter-
face. To simulate a starved lubricated condition, a mixture of
R410A refrigerant combined with a polyolester (POE) lubri-
cant was sprayed on the disc surface at a rate of 40 mg/min.
For more details on the HPT and scuffing experiments refer
to [6–8,17].
The test protocol leading to scuffing between the steel
pins and aluminum discs employs a method of incremen-
tal loading. By increasing the normal load in increments of
89 N at an interval of every 15 s, scuffing occurs after ap-
proximately 6 min and 15 s, denoted as Tscuff , at a maximum
mean contact pressure of 20 MPa. This result is based on the
repeatable scuffing results after executing a number of ex-
periments. A typical scuffing experiment is shown in Fig. 1,
where Fig. 1(a) shows the applied normal load; Fig. 1(b) the
friction coefficient; and Fig. 1(c) the electrical contact resis-
tance. Scuffing of the sample is signaled by both a sudden in-
crease in friction coefficient, and a sudden drop in electrical
contact resistance, which implies that direct metal-to-metal
contact occurs without a protective lubricant film. Keeping
the same test protocol conditions and parameters, additional
tests at three other intermediate conditions were performed
on the samples in which the test protocols were halted at
1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 times of the total scuffing time Tscuff [11].
Fig. 1. Typical scuffing experiment data obtained from HPT: (a) applied
normal load; (b) friction coefficient; and (c) electrical contact resistance.
As the hardness of the steel pin is much higher than that
of the disc (i.e. macro hardness of the Al390-T6 discs is 72
HRB while that of the 52100 steel pins is 62 HRC), wear
due to sliding contact at the interface is most visible on the
aluminum disc itself [6]. Thus, in this work, the detailed
roughness analysis was performed on the Al390-T6 discs.
Furthermore, detailed roughness measurements on the steel
pins did not show any significant changes with tribological
testing leading to scuffing. Fig. 2 shows the primary wear
track within the overall wear track of a scuffed sample exam-
ined by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Though the
width of a wear scar can be approximately 2 mm, the width
of the primary wear track (the region of material transfer)
is <1 mm. Also, notice that the initial surfaces possess ma-
chining marks that are approximately perpendicular to the
sliding direction, as depicted in Fig. 2(b).
2.2. Surface topography measurements
In general, engineering contact-related problems cannot
be simplified into line-profile geometries due to the complex-
ity in their contact conditions and given environments. The
surface is best represented as an “area with height deviation
rather than a line with height deviation” [18]. Therefore, a
surface profiler system that can acquire the 2D (usually re-
ferred as 3D) height description of the disc topography over
an area is necessary. Also, in this study, the apparent contact
area dimensions between the Al390-T6 disc and the steel
pin area is on the order of several mm. Therefore, an optical
surface profiler is used as the imaging instrument due to its
built-in capability to detect large range of vertical (surface
height) variation and to accommodate a large imaging area.
The advantages of using an optical profiler to measure
surface topography are its quick data accumulation response
and that it is a non-contacting method. However, because
this instrument relies on imaging techniques, as opposed
to contact scanning techniques, it may lack accuracy in
comparison to other alternative roughness measurement
 A.Y. Suh et al. / Wear 255 (2003) 556–568
Fig. 2. The SEM surface images of Al390-T6 disc sample showing primary wear track magnification: (a) 20×; and (b) 50×.
instruments, such as contact profilometers [12]. The ver-
tical scales of optical profile systems are based on the
reflective coefficients over the sample surface; depending
on the reflectivity of the region, the vertical and lateral res-
olution may also suffer due to optical noise (i.e. artifacts)
originating from wave interference. Despite these potential
drawbacks, in this work the optical profiler has proven to
be a sufficiently accurate method when the roughness data
are correlated with data previously obtained using a line
contact profilometer [11]. The details on the sampling con-
ditions of the obtained optical data are given in Table 1.
Refer to Fig. 3 for the coordinate orientation of the data.
Fig. 3 displays typical roughness images of the virgin,
(3/4)Tscuff , and Tscuff samples in both top and isometric
views. As seen in all the images, both the virgin and worn
samples seem to be highly anisotropic with traces of the
original texture from machining. Notice how the roughness
image of the fully-scuffed region (Fig. 3(c)) displays mild
wear tracks due to scuffing damage. For all the samples, the
sliding direction is in the direction perpendicular to the ma-
chining marks, as indicated by arrows.
According to the roughness images obtained in this study,
all the virgin discs have a predominant directionality in their
topography due to the original machining process. These
discs were prepared from the identical blanks and machined
using the same methods as the actual discs in swash-plate
automotive air-conditioning compressors. Although the ma-
chining textures on the discs after (1/4)Tscuff and (1/2)Tscuff
have become less dominant, no significant visual change
other than small decrease in the CLA and rms values are
Table 1
Sampling conditions of the optical profiler
x-direction y-direction
Number of sampling points 368 240
Image aspect ratio 1 1.167
Image size/length (mm) 1.1964 0.9093
Sampling interval (␮m) 3.260 3.804
559
observed, designated as Ra and Rq in Fig. 3. When compar-
ing a virgin part to mildly-worn part at (3/4)Tscuff as shown
in Fig. 3(a) and (b), the surface is smoothened out signif-
icantly from the previous stages. Because the disc at this
stage is near scuffing in which destroyed protective surface
films can no longer “protect” the surfaces from damage, the
induced surface damage is expected to be much greater than
just change in vertical distribution of the asperities. Other
topographic changes, however, cannot be inferred from vi-
sual analyses based on simple roughness profiling.
When the sample is scuffed, different regions on the
disc exhibit different topographical features, as expected.
Fig. 3(c) shows one of the most severely scuffed regions,
referred asprimary wear scar, which was also shown in the
SEM image of Fig. 2(b). In this region, faint scuffing tracks
in the sliding direction (perpendicular to the machining
marks) are visible. At Tscuff , the scuffing is presented as
material transfer in small, defined regions between the steel
pin and aluminum disc sample along the “wear track,” in
which the surface is extremely smooth. In essence, the disc
sample has already failed at this stage, thus comprehensive
analysis at this stage will probably not provide any insight
into the surface changes leading up to scuffing. However,
Fig. 3(c) shows the importance of 2D (versus 1D profiling)
roughness analysis since measuring in different areas will
give different results.
From observation of the optical images of the discs at
various wear stages, the lack of gross visual topographical
changes seems to reinforce the hypothesis that mild progres-
sive wear may accompany other geometric and functional
topographical changes that become apparent only upon de-
tailed surface characterization.
3. Areal roughness characterization using the
Birmingham-14 parameters
As a standard procedure prior to areal roughness analy-
sis, all the topographical images are filtered under exactly
560 A.Y. Suh et al. / Wear 255 (2003) 556–568

Fig. 3. 2D surface roughness images of Al390-T6 discs: (a) virgin; (b) (3/4)Tscuff ; and (c) scuffed.

the same filtering conditions. Specifically, low-pass filtering
with cutoff wavelength of 8.5 ␮m is applied to remove the
high frequency noise. Due to the inherent method of opti-
cal measurements, there is no need for high-pass filtering to
remove low frequency components (waviness). By keeping
the same filtering conditions in all the topographical data, it
enables fair and consistent “roughness” comparison, avoid-
ing the issues and complexities associated with filtering and
its effect on roughness parameters [19].
In order to characterize the geometric properties of a sur-
face at various stages prior to scuffing, pre-established 2D
surface roughness parameters may be used as the indicator
for quantifying the physical changes occurring at the surface.
With the filtered roughness data, all parameters specified in
the 2D Birmingham-14 [16] are used to describe the distin-
guishing aspects of the surface roughness of the Al390-T6
discs undergoing mild progressive wear. Specifically, the to-
pographic evolution during wear leading to scuffing can be
described through the characterization of amplitude, spatial,
and hybrid properties of the disc surfaces. More importantly,
the evolution of functional properties, i.e. bearing, sealing,
lubrication retention capabilities at each tribological stage
 A.Y. Suh et al. / Wear 255 (2003) 556–568 561

that lead to scuffing, can be characterized in reference to

how the changes in surface topography influence its intended
functional performance potential.
An important part of the 2D roughness characterization
is the distinction of summits and valleys within the digi-
tized sampling area. In this work, the “eight nearest neighbor
summit–valley” definition is adopted throughout the digital
calculation of summits and valleys, owing to its common
usage and its statistically superior behavior compared to the
“four nearest neighbor” definition [20]. The results are tab-
ulated and categorized in the following sections by different
roughness properties.

3.1. Areal amplitude parameters

The amplitude roughness parameters of the Al390-T6

discs at various tribological stages are summarized in
Table 2. The definition and method of calculation for each
parameter are explained in [21,22], and are also summa-
rized in the Appendix A. V and W stand for virgin (original
untested) and mildly-worn (tribologically tested) states,
respectively.
The CLA (Sa ) and rms (Sq ) parameters are the simplest
and most widely used amplitude parameters. As summa-
rized in Table 2, the results of these simple amplitude de-
scriptors are similar in their wear trends as well as virgin to
mildly-worn states within each disc. Fig. 4(a) helps visual-
ize the wear trends of the rms values, such that the surface
is mildly worn-out progressively with longer tribological
testing. Three important observations can be made from the
CLA and rms values with tribological testing. First and fore-
most, there exists a large sample-to-sample variability of
up to 76% difference between their virgin states. Next, re-
duction in the CLA and rms values persist with progressive
tribological testing, with the largest decrease of 50–60% ap-
pearing at (3/4)Tscuff stage. Finally, no severe wear occurs
due to the presence of boundary and mixed lubrication. De-

Table 2
Amplitude parameters as samples undergo tribological scuffing testing
Amplitude property (1/4)Tscuff (1/2)Tscuff (3/4)Tscuff Tscuff

CLA (␮m) Sa V 0.211 0.357 0.448 0.239

W 0.110 0.334 0.260 0.136
Rms (␮m)a Sq V 0.263 0.454 0.566 0.306
W 0.151 0.406 0.354 0.189
Ten-point height Sz V 2.552 3.514 3.668 3.669
Fig. 4. Amplitude parameter variation with different levels of tribologi-
(␮m)b
cal testing: (a) root-mean-square (Sq ); (b) 10-point height (Sz ); and (c)
W 1.694 2.811 3.078 1.810
skewness (Ssk ).
Skewnessc Ssk V −0.19 −0.16 −0.30 −0.35
W −0.61 −0.43 −1.74 −1.07 spite the clear reduction in the CLA and rms values with
Kurtosis Sku V 3.03 3.09 2.96 3.98 tribological testing, these parameters do not behave in a sys-
W 5.15 2.70 5.77 5.62 tematic way in which they can be used as precursors to
a See Fig. 4(a). scuffing.
b See Fig. 4(b). After averaging the 10 extreme peaks and valleys using
c See Fig. 4(c).
the “eight-nearest summit–valley” definition, the 10-point
562 A.Y. Suh et al. / Wear 255 (2003) 556–568
height variation (Sz ) of the surface is plotted in Fig. 4(b).
Interestingly, the disc-to-disc variation in the virgin discs is
smaller in the Sz analysis compared to the amplitude pa-
rameter (Sq ). Within a sample, the mildly-worn Sz is al-
ways smaller than the virgin Sz as with CLA and rms. How-
ever, the amount of the drop between the virgin Sz and the
mildly-worn Sz in each stage is nearly identical for all the
wear stages. Due to its insensitive disc-to-disc variation in
the virgin states, 10-point height variation can be a more ap-
propriate amplitude parameter for determining the surface
wear evolution, resulting in more steady, progressive wear
behavior.
Referring to Table 2 and Fig. 4(c), the skewness value
(Ssk ) at each tribological stage behaves relatively well. Not
only is disc-to-disc variation in the initial virgin states neg-
ligible, but the skewness value also progressively decrease
from −0.25 at the virgin stages to −1.7 at (3/4)Tscuff . The
skewness decreases between virgin and mildly-worn states
for all the samples. The highly negative skewness values in
the mildly-worn states support the theory that mildly-worn
asperities result in the surface being more negatively
skewed by revealing more pits and valleys than peaks. The
most change is observed when moving from (1/2)Tscuff to
(3/4)Tscuff . At this worn stage just before full scuffing, con-
dition of the surface seems to be characterized by losing the
spikiness of the top asperities by significant amounts. Not
only does the skewness show a clear trend with progressive
tribological testing but the lack of sample-to-sample vari-
ability in the virgin state seems to indicate a potential for
its use as precursor to scuffing.
The kurtosis (Sku ) values for all the virgin states are near
Gaussian, varying between 3 and 4. After the progressive
tribological testing, the kurtosis values seem to increase up
to around 5 at all stages except (1/2)Tscuff . Unlike in the
skewness analysis, no conclusive trend can be deduced from
the kurtosis analysis other than its generally increasing ten-
dency towards being centrally distributed (Sku > 3).
In the amplitude roughness analysis of Al390-T6 discs,
the CLA and rms parameters that are used extensively to
quantify surface roughness and changes do not show any
systematic trends that can be used as precursors to scuffing.
On the other hand, the skewness seems to present clearly
a well-behaved progressive trend with tribological testing,
suggesting its use as a precursor to scuffing.
Table 3
Spatial parameters as samples undergo tribological scuffing testing
Spatial property (1/4)Tscuff
Density of summits (mm−2 ) Sds V 5.089 × 103
W 5.657 × 103
Texture aspect ratio (0–1) Str V 0.28
W 0.12
Texture direction (◦ ) Std V −88.32
W −85.01
3.2. Areal spatial parameters
In addition to the amplitude parameters examined in the
previous section, spatial parameters are then utilized to char-
acterize roughness information in the planar directions. Spa-
tial parameters include the density of summits (Sds ), measure
of isotropy–anisotropy of the surface (Str ), and directionality
of surface texture (Std ). The areal autocorrelation function
(AACF), areal power spectrum density (APSD), and angu-
lar spectrum of the APSD are used to obtain the anisotropy
of the surfaces and direction of the lay [16,23,24], also sum-
marized as Eqs. (A.1), (A.3) and (A.4), respectively, in the
Appendix A. Eqs. (A.2) and (A.5) in the Appendix A sum-
marize the mathematical definitions for calculating Str and
Std , respectively, in continuous integral forms. Table 3 sum-
marizes the areal spatial parameters calculated in this study
for the samples undergoing tribological testing.
Using the “eight nearest neighbor summit–valley” defi-
nition, the density of summits (Sds ) is calculated for all the
disc samples. As shown in Table 3, despite minor variation
from disc-to-disc in their initial virgin states, it is clear
that the density of summits in the mildly-worn states is
always higher than the virgin states, albeit not by much.
Most change occurs at (3/4)Tscuff , which explains that as
the surface smoothens out, it reveals more minor asperities
in the lower zones. The increase in the number of summits
in the “valley” in turn causes the total density of summits.
Other than a general increase from virgin to mildly-worn
states, no conclusive trend can be seen from the Sds
analysis.
A useful spatial parameter is the texture aspect ratio (Str ),
sometimes referred to as the isotropy index, which describes
the degree of isotropy of the surface roughness. The texture
aspect ratio is based on the calculation of the areal autocor-
relation function (AACF) over the surface of interest. For
strongly anisotropic surfaces exhibiting a lay direction, the
Str for a surface is typically <0.3. Indeed, this seems to be the
case in Table 3 for all of the virgin and mildly-worn disc sam-
ples, mainly due to the highly directional originally present
machining marks. In a traditional wear test, the initial ma-
chining marks are obliterated significantly, thereby chang-
ing the surface from highly anisotropic to isotropic. In this
case, however, Str does not change much, indicating that the
“wear” does not significantly affect the original machining
(1/2)Tscuff (3/4)Tscuff Tscuff
4.777 × 103 4.690 × 103 5.587 × 103
4.969 × 103 5.769 × 103 5.157 × 103
0.094 0.28 0.036
0.041 0.28 0.070
−89.16 88.32 −88.05
83.15 89.37 −89.27
 A.Y. Suh et al. / Wear 255 (2003) 556–568 563

Fig. 5. Texture direction defined by the areal power spectrum density.

marks of the top surface, which was highly anisotropic be-
fore the tribological scuffing testing.
In order to determine the texture direction of the surface,
first the areal power spectrum density (APSD) analysis, im-
mediately followed by the angular spectrum analysis, must
be performed [16]. The lay directions are found to be the an-
gle at which the maximum peak occurs in the angular spec-
trum matrix, as illustrated in Fig. 5. Due to the pronounced
directionality in the Al390-T6 discs, each disc, whether vir-
gin or worn, has a distinctive maximum peak in its respec-
tive angular spectrum plot (i.e. anisotropic).
From the spatial parameter characterization of the
Al390-T6, it is found that the Sds does not yield a signifi-
cant trend with tribological scuffing testing. Similarly, not
much change is observed in Str and Std either, though they
are unique 2D spatial parameters not found in 1D analysis.
From a practical point of view, knowledge of the degree of
anisotropy and its direction are very important, especially
in cases where there is no severe wear to completely alter
the surface roughness and lay direction.
3.3. Areal hybrid parameters
ing on the relative influence of either the amplitude or
the spacing or both, hybrid parameters will represent the
combined aspects of roughness. Table 4 summarizes the hy-
brid parameters, extracted from the virgin and mildly-worn
samples.
The hybrid slope S q is the scalar magnitude of the
continuous surface slope at any point. Between virgin and
mildly-worn states of each tribological testing stage, the
S q value of the mildly-worn state is always smaller as
summarized in Table 4. The reason for this reduction may
be that the top asperities are being polished with tribological
testing. Despite the large virgin sample variability, the dif-
ference between worn S q and virgin S q seems to increase
for more severely worn stages, especially at (3/4)Tscuff .
This indicates that the S q decreases steadily as the surface
approaches scuffing. This result seems to agree with the
previously regarded observation on the reduction of asper-
ity heights, in which the slope of a summit is expected to
reduce when the top asperity is worn off. However, because
the sample-to-sample variability is relatively large in the
S q , wear evolution through different stages of tribological
testing is difficult to substantiate.

Hybrid parameters explain relative characteristics be- Table 4

tween amplitude and spatial properties. For instance, what Hybrid parameters as samples undergo tribological scuffing testing
is simply considered as the summit radius R or curvature
Hybrid property (1/4)Tscuff (1/2)Tscuff (3/4)Tscuff Tscuff
by 1D line profile definition can be expanded into the true
2D perspective radius or curvature Ssc (Eq. (A.6) in the Rms slope S q V 0.078 0.14 0.16 0.12
W 0.058 0.12 0.10 0.065
Appendix A). The parameter Sdr (Eq. (A.7)), or developed
interfacial area ratio, is a unique 2D hybrid parameter that Mean summit 1/Ssc V 35.21 20.92 20.24 24.27
is indicative of the total surface area over a given sam- radius (␮m) W 50.16 25.04 42.35 54.44
pling area. The rms of summit curvature S q (Eq. (A.8)) Developed area Sdr V 0.30 1.00 1.19 0.67
is the magnitude of the surface slope similar to the rms ratio (%)a W 0.17 0.75 0.49 0.21
of height variation in amplitude property [22]. Depend- a See Fig. 6.
564 A.Y. Suh et al. / Wear 255 (2003) 556–568

The mean summit curvature (Ssc ) and summit radius (R)

are inversely related according to the spectral moment rough-
ness characterization [25]. Within an individual sample, mild
wear increases the summit radius or decreases its curvature.
The difference between the virgin and mildly-worn summit
radii from sample-to-sample also increases progressively as
the surface approaches scuffing. This seems to indicate that
the summit radius and rms slope of the surface (S q ) are
in a cause-and-effect relationship; the larger the summit ra-
dius, the larger the rms slope, and vice versa. Overall, the
disc-to-disc variation in the virgin summit radii is compa-
rably small (within 20%) except in the initial virgin state
of (1/4)Tscuff (70%). As with the previous S q analysis, no
clear trend between each state of tribological testing is ob-
served in the Ssc analysis.
The trend in the developed area ratio Sdr can further en-
hance the understanding of the tribological testing effects on
roughness. Sdr stands for the unique areal measure of how
much the true area of the surface exceeds that of the nominal
reference surface or sampling area [16]. The general trend
of the Sdr shown in Fig. 6 is that as the surface goes from
virgin to mildly-worn states, Sdr decreases, indicating that
the total real surface area decreases after tribological testing.
This is due to the diminishing true surface area above the
mean plane with mild wear. As with the other hybrid param-
eters, no clear trend is observed with Sdr , with the existence
of large sample-to-sample variability.
Observing clear trends in hybrid parameters between pro-
gressive tribological testing stages is complicated by the fact
that a hybrid property is influenced by both amplitude and
spatial properties of the surface. Although hybrid parame-
ters may not be used as precursors to scuffing, values before
and after tribological testing exhibit consistent patterns de-
spite sample-to-sample variability.
3.4. Areal functional parameters
The geometrical properties, i.e. amplitude, spatial, and
hybrid of a given areal surface topography change with
wear, friction, and lubrication states, which in turn affect
performance and reliability of the component. The geo-
metric roughness, influences not only the “mechanical and
physical” properties of contacting interfaces, but also the
functional properties in actual tribological applications as
Fig. 6. Hybrid parameter variation with different levels of tribological
testing—developed area ratio (Sdr ).
the surfaces go through wear–scuffing under various con-
ditions [21]. In order to better understand the actual per-
formance of 2D surfaces and their lifecycle under various
processes, investigations on area and volume properties of
the surface features are further required. In the 1930’s, Ab-
bott and Firestone [26] introduced the “bearing area curve,”
which is defined by percentage length obtained intersect-
ing a line at different heights with the 1D profile. It is still
widely used today for characterizing in fluid retention prop-
erties, mechanical resistance and load carrying capacity [14].
One drawback in using the bearing area curve is that it is a
“qualitative” measure. To alleviate this disadvantage, func-
tional parameters defined in the Birmingham-14 are used as
the “quantitative” measures directly derived from the bear-
ing area curve analyzed over 2D surface as opposed to con-
ventional 1D Abbott–Firestone bearing area curve. Table 5
summarizes the functional parameters of the Al390-T6 disc
samples in simple index form. Surface bearing area ratio
curves from which the functional parameters are derived,
are provided in Fig. 6 for (1/4)Tscuff and (3/4)Tscuff cases.
Truncation plane marks at 5 and 80% of the bearing area are
also included in Fig. 6 to categorize the bearing area curve
into three functional zones, namely, material volume in peak
zone (0–5%), void volume in core zone (5–80%), and void
volume in valley zone (80–100%) [16].

Table 5
Functional parameters as samples undergo tribological scuffing testing
Functional propertya (1/4)Tscuff (1/2)Tscuff (3/4)Tscuff Tscuff Gaussian reference

Surface bearing index Sbi V 0.640 0.624 0.649 0.652 0.608

W 0.703 0.715 1.104 0.724
Core fluid retention index Sci V 1.46 1.492 1.422 1.422 1.56
W 1.285 1.286 0.681 1.214
Valley fluid retention index Svi V 0.119 0.130 0.140 0.133 0.11
W 0.166 0.126 0.238 0.186
a See Fig. 8.
 A.Y. Suh et al. / Wear 255 (2003) 556–568
Fig. 7. Bearing area ratio curves: (a) virgin and (1/4)Tscuff states; and (b)
virgin and (3/4)Tscuff states.
When virgin and mildly-worn states are overlaid together
in the bearing area ratio curves, a definite wear trend can
be observed. Although the difference between virgin and
mildly-worn parts is hardly recognizable at (1/2)Tscuff stage
as shown in Fig. 7(a), a dramatic difference is observed
at (3/4)Tscuff stage as delineated in Fig. 7(b). This may be
due to increasingly detrimental plastic deformation in the
asperities as the contact surface approaches the fully-scuffed
stage.
Rather than analyzing the functional characteristics of the
discs in terms of absolute physical quantities presented in
the bearing area ratio curve, which is not only qualitative
but also can get easily complicated, a simpler and better
method is to use a series of simple indexes. As summa-
rized in Table 5, three functional indexes derived from the
bearing area curves describe the functional evolution of the
Al390-T6 discs with wear. The mathematical formulae for
these indices are given in the Appendix A and are, surface
bearing index (Sbi ), core fluid retention index (Sci ), and val-
ley fluid retention index (Svi ), all of which are derived from
565
Fig. 8. Functional parameter variation with different levels of tribological
testing: (a) bearing index (Sbi ); and (b) core fluid retention index (Sci ).
the horizontal intersections at 5 and 80% levels in the bear-
ing area curve.
By definition, Sbi is the ratio of the Sq over the surface
height at 5% bearing area, or h0.05 , given by Eq. (A.9) in
the Appendix A. Although the bearing area ratio curve for
each tribological stage does not show much physical differ-
ence, marked differences are shown when analyzed in terms
of Sbi . One novel advantage in performing this analysis is
that the Sbi values for virgin parts are nearly constant and
close to Gaussian (≈0.608) as seen in Fig. 8(a). Invariabil-
ity in the virgin states immediately eliminates the issues
concerning with the disc-to-disc variation. As for individ-
ual tribological stages, mildly-worn Sbi values are always
higher than virgin Sbi values. An increase in Sbi is expected
when undergoing tribological testing, as it was reported that
as the surface is worn out, the Sbi value grows from Gaus-
sian ≈0.608 [16]. As for the global trend, the Sbi increases
as well. Ignoring the fully-scuffed stage, the mildly-worn
Sbi graph steadily increases up to 1.104, about 1.7 times
larger than that of the virgin state. Generally, the higher the
Sbi , the better the bearing property of the surface. If only
the Sbi is considered ignoring other roughness properties,
566 A.Y. Suh et al. / Wear 255 (2003) 556–568
chemical and micro-structural properties, the bearing area
of the Al390-T6 disc increases as the surface undergoes
wear.
Sci is the ratio of the void volume at the core zone (defined
by 5–80% bearing area) over Sq , as seen in Eq. (A.10) of the
Appendix A. The void area trapped in this zone is integrated
and normalized with respect to the sampling area and Sq .
Similar to the Sbi trend, all virgin parts are approximately
constant and near Gaussian (≈1.56) as shown in Fig. 8(b).
Invariability in the virgin Sci trend, despite manufacturing
irregularities, makes this parameter not only unique but also
reliable. In general, as a surface experiences wear, the Sci
decreases. For all the Al390-T6 samples, mildly-worn Sci
values are smaller than virgin Sci values, indicating an exis-
tence of mild wear. The trend in the Sci is decreasing as the
surfaces progress toward the scuffed state. The decreasing
trend of the Sci implies the deterioration of the fluid retention
property in the core zone. This is a justifiable conclusion,
since reduction of the top asperities inevitably decreases the
void volume once formed by the existing asperities. There-
fore, at scuffing fluid can not be retained. By referring to
Fig. 8(b) that shows the Sci trends, it becomes clear that the
lubricant–refrigerant retention capability within the disc sur-
face degenerates as the surface approaches the scuffed state.
Similar to Sbi , Svi is the ratio of the void volume at the
valley zone (entrapped within 80–100% bearing area) over
Sq , and is given by Eq. (A.11) of the Appendix A. The void
volume at this zone is calculated by integrating the bear-
ing area within this range, whose result is normalized by
the sampling area and Sq . Unlike the previous indices, the
Svi is relatively constant for all cases. If a value is signifi-
cantly larger than 0.11, this indicates a flat top, a deviated
shape from a standard Gaussian distribution. For all tribo-
logical stages except at (1/2)Tscuff , mildly-worn Svi values
are larger, indicating its tendency towards a flatter surface
geometry. Overall, the trend in the Svi may be perceived as
increasing, the opposite of the Sci . A reasonable explanation
for this behavior is that as the surface approaches scuffing
the core void volume decreases while the valley void vol-
ume increases in turn to compensate for the loss. However,
the increase in the valley zone is usually not sufficient to
fully compensate for the loss of the core void volume.
Though strictly speaking, functional parameters are cal-
culated by geometrical aspects of roughness, the ramifica-
tions of their use are much more than simple references to
geometric properties of a surface. Given that tribological
wear leads to scuffing under boundary and mixed lubrica-
tion conditions, functional parameters imply how the sur-
face changes to exhibit different bearing and fluid retention
properties. The most prominent advantage of using func-
tional parameters in analyzing Al390-T6 discs is the lack of
sample-to-sample variability in their virgin states, thereby
enabling a sound comparison between tribological stages.
Furthermore, all functional parameters exhibit clear system-
atic progressive trends, indicating a potential use of these
parameters as precursors to scuffing.
4. Conclusions
The surface roughness characterization technique is an
important analytical method by which one can understand
the conditions of mild wear to scuffing. In this work the
study of the roughness evolution of Al390-T6 engineering
rough surfaces prior to scuffing involved the use of the
well-established areal surface topography characterization
tools, namely the Birmingham-14 parameters. Based on such
areal data, various geometric and functional properties of
the disc roughness were analyzed as the discs underwent
controlled tribological testing. The Birmingham-14 param-
eters in this study yielded numerically distinctive and statis-
tically sound parameters. Also, the roughness parameters at
the different tribological stages prior to scuffing can be sum-
marized simultaneously for practical comparison and trend
analyses.
One important conclusion from the analyses of amplitude
parameters is that the CLA and rms values, commonly used
in tribological tests, may not yield reliable and consistent
results, when determining parameters that can be used as
precursors to scuffing. The large sample-to-sample variabil-
ity seems to lessen in the skewness analysis, which shows a
clear evolutionary trend to scuffing. The analyses of spatial
parameters and hybrid parameters further support the hy-
pothesis that as virgin surfaces undergo controlled tribolog-
ical testing, the top asperities are smoothened or decrease
in height until the onset of scuffing. However, large sample
variability in their virgin states complicates the observation
of evolutionary trends towards scuffing.
A sound conclusion in the tribological progression of
roughness can be drawn from the functional parameters or
indices derived from the bearing area curve, namely the sur-
face bearing index and fluid retention index. Unlike the pre-
vious geometric parameters, the functional indices remain
fairly constant on the virgin surfaces, making the inherent
disc-to-disc variation minimal. As the surface approaches
scuffing, the effects of progressive wear are translated into
a decreased fluid retention capability and an increased bear-
ing index, which both indicate that lubricant can no longer
be retained sufficiently. The loss of lubricant retention capa-
bility means an increase of the real area of contact, leading
to eventual direct metal-to-metal contact without any films
at scuffing. It is shown that the functional parameters can
be used to correlate the topographical changes to the mean-
ingful physical changes occurring during progressive wear
leading to scuffing.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported in part by the National
Science Foundation and the 30 member companies of the
Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center, and Industry–
University Cooperative Research Center at the University
of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign. The tribological testing
 A.Y. Suh et al. / Wear 255 (2003) 556–568 567

was performed by Mr. J.J. Patel in the Tribology Labora- A.2. Hybrid parameters
tory of the University of Illinois. The surface roughness
measurements were performed at Professor C. Liu’s Micro • Mean summit curvature, Ssc
Actuators, Sensors, and Systems Group at the University 
t
of Illinois. The scanning electron microscope images were 11 ∂z2 (x, y) ∂z2 (x, y) 
Ssc = − + 
taken at the Center for Microanalysis of Materials at the 2t ∂x2 ∂y2 for any summit
k=1
University of Illinois, which is supported by the US De-
(A.6a)
partment of Energy under Grant DEFG02-96-ER45439.
where t is number of summits and
1
Appendix A. Formulae for calculating the 2D R= (A.6b)
Ssc
roughness parameters
• Developed area ratio, Sdr
A.1. Spatial parameters
total interfacial area − sampling area
Sdr (%) = × 100
sampling area
• Areal autocorrelation function, r(τ x , τ y )
(A.7)
r(τx , τy ) = E[z(x, y) z(x + τx , y + τy )]

Ly
Lx or
1
= lim z(x, y) total interfacial area − (M − 1)(N − 1) x y
Lx ,Ly →∞ 4Lx Ly −Ly −Lx Sdr (%) =
(M − 1)(N − 1) x y
× z(x + τx , y + τy ) dx dy (A.1) × 100
• Texture aspect ratio, Str See [16,22] for calculating the “total interfacial area”.
   • Root-mean-square slope, S q
min τi 2 + τ j 2 
0 < Str = 

  ≤ 1,
Lx
Ly 
1 ∂z(x, y) 2
max τi 2 + τj 2  S q=
Lx Ly 0 0 ∂x
r(τi , τj )  1/2
where ≤ 0.2 (A.2) ∂z(x, y) 2
r(0, 0) + ∂x ∂y (A.8)
∂y
where i = 0, 1, ..., m < M; j = 0, 1, ..., n < N; τi =
i x; τj = j y
• Discrete Fourier transform, F(ωx , ωy ) A.3. Functional parameters

∞
∞
F(ωx , ωy ) = z(x, y) • Surface bearing index, Sbi
−∞ −∞
× exp[−j2π(ωx x + ωy y)] dx dy (A.3) Sq 1
Sbi = = (A.9)
(z)Stp =5% h0.05
• Areal power spectrum density, G(ωx , ωy ), and angular
spectrum Ga (θ) • Core fluid retention index, Sci
G(ωx , ωy ) = F(ωx , ωy ) F ∗ (ωx , ωy ) (A.4a) ((Vv (h0.05 )−Vv (h0.8 ))/((M−1)(N−1) x y))
Sci =
Sq

rr(θ) (A.10)
Ga (θ) = G(θ, r) dr
0 • Valley fluid retention index, Svi
2 −1/2
rr(θ) = 1
2 [( x cosθ) + ( y sinθ) ]
2
(Vv (h0.8 ))/((M − 1)(N − 1) x y)
◦ Svi = (A.11)
where 0 ≤ θ ≤ 179 . (A.4b) Sq
• Texture direction, Std
 π

 −θ, θ≤ References
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