SURFACE ROUGHNESS

BASIC DEFINITIONS

PARAMETERS OF ROUGHNESS

MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
DEFINITIONS:

Surface quality: Surface quality is determined by the geometric, natural, chemical and
crystallographic characteristics of a machined surface.

Nominal surface: The theoretic or ideal form of a surface as it is defined, in form and
dimensions, by the respective or manufacturing drawing

Effective or machined surface: The surface obtained by one of the known cutting
(milling, turning etc.) or forming (rolling, extrusion Etc) processes.

Deviations: Deviation is the difference from nominal surface. These deviations are
classified in five classes depending on their form and cause of generation.

First class deviations: These are also called errors of form. Actually, these are
deviations from flatness, perpendicularity, parallelism, cylindricity, etc. Their appearance
is due to serious deformations of machine tools (e.g. slides), cutting tools or work pieces.
Also, a wrong holding either of the tool or the work piece may lead to this type of
deviations.

Second class deviations: They have form of waviness due to eccentricity of the tool
(milling machine), the work piece (lathe) or due to vibrations during the machining
process.

Third class deviations: These are flutes generated during the machining process due to
the form of the cutting tools and the cutting conditions.

Fourth-class deviations: These are micro-geometric deviations due to the wear of the
cutting tool.

Fifth and upper class deviations: These are also deviations of micro-geometric form
and are due to changes of crystals taking place in the superficial layer of the surface.

Definition of roughness: The irregularities in the surface texture, which are inherent in
the production process but excluding waviness and errors of form. Irregularities are the
peaks and valleys of a machined surface.
F

Fig. 1: The five classes of deviations

Why it is important the appreciation of surface roughness?

Surface roughness affects:

• The conditions of fit between mating components

• The corrosion resistance
• The flow of fluids along pipelines
• The general appearance of a product

Parameters of roughness

The following two terms are used in the definitions of parameters:

a. Sampling length is the length of profile selected for the purpose of making an
individual measurement of surface roughness.
b. Center or mean line is the line, which divides a sampling length of surface L, so
that the sum of areas above this line to be equal with the sum of areas below
(Fig.2). This may be expressed by:

Area (A+C+E+G+I) = Area (B+D+F+H+J+K)

 Fig.2: Definition of center or mean line

1. Parameter Ra – Roughness Average

Ra is the universally recognized parameter of roughness. It is the arithmetical mean of the

departures of the profile from the mean line (Figure 3):

Ra = (h1 + h2 + h3 + K + hL )
L

Fig.3: Definition of parameter Ra

2. Parameter Rv – Maximum depth

Rv is the maximum distance between valley and mean line in the limits of a sampling
length L.

3. Parameter Rp – Maximum height

Rp is the maximum distance between peak and mean line in the limits of a sampling
length L.

4. Parameter Rt – Total height

Rt is the maximum distance between valley and peak in the limits of a sampling length L.
 5. Parameter Rz

The Rz value is known as the ISO 10-point height parameter. It is measures over a single
sampling length and is itself an average of positive and negative peak values. It is useful
parameter when only a short length of the surface is available for assessment. Figure 4
shows how Rz values are determined graphically. The five highest peaks and the five
deepest valleys are conveniently measured from an arbitrary datum line A … B drawn
parallel to the centre line AB for a chosen length L, so that:

Fig.4: Definition of parameter Rz

Roughness symbols according to standard DIN 3141

(Reversed triangles)

Fig.5: Roughness symbols according to DIN 3141

α. Surface not obtained by cutting or deformation process (e.g. casting)

β. The same as in (α) but of better quality

γ. Surface obtained by cutting or deformation processes. The quality increases with the
number of triangles.
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS

A variety of instruments are available for measuring surface roughness. The majority of
these devices employ a diamond stylus, which is moved at a constant rate across the
surface, perpendicular to the lay pattern. The rise and fall of the stylus is detected
electronically, amplified and recorded on a strip chart, or processed electronically to
produce readings for a meter (see figure 6).

Fig.6: Electronic equipment for measuring surface roughness