Recent advances in the measurement and analysis of surface microgeometry – T. R. Thomas.

Abstract

Recent advances are described in the measurement and definition of surface microgeometry, with special emphasis on the role of the stylus instrument. Statistical descriptions of surfaces are discussed and it is shown that the geometry of surface profiles can be specified completely by two parameters, the r.m.s. roughness and the correlation length. Hardware and software for computer analysis of surface profiles are discussed. Applications of these new techniques in a number of fields, including plastic and elastic contact, contact resistance, tribology and bioengineering, are described with examples.