1.

ABSTRACT
The aim of this experiment is to examine the surface roughness of four different materials which are
aluminium, brass, copper and steel. The experiment is done using an apparatus named Surtest SJ210
Mitutoyo containing the software named ‘Surftest v1.01’ that measures the surface roughness. Then,
the values obtained will be compared with the theoretical values that are obtained from calculation by
using equations. Finally, the difference will be discussed.

2. INTRODUCTION
Surface roughness often shortened to roughness, is a component of surface texture. It is quantified by
the deviations in the direction of the normal vector of a real surface from its ideal form. The deviation
indicates that if they are large, the surface is rough; if they are small, the surface is smooth.
Roughness is usually considered to be the high-frequency, short-wavelength component of a
measured surface in surface metrology. However, to make sure the surface is fit for a purpose in
practice, it is often necessary to know both the amplitude and frequency.
One of the role of roughness is that it can determine how a real object will interact with its
environment. In tribology, rough surfaces usually wear more quickly and have higher friction
coefficients than smooth surfaces. The performance of a mechanical component is commonly affected
by the surface roughness, since irregularities on the surface may form nucleation sites for cracks or
corrosion. Roughness can also cause adhesion. Generally speaking, rather than scale specific
descriptors, cross-scale descriptors such as surface fractality provide more meaningful predictions of
mechanical interactions at surfaces including contact stiffness and static friction.
In manufacturing, a high roughness value is often undesirable. But, it can be very expensive and
difficult to control. Decreasing the roughness of a surface usually increases its manufacturing cost
because of the need to do finishing process that also takes a very long time to finish just one piece.
For example, it is difficult and expensive to control surface roughness of fused deposition modelling
(FDM) manufactured parts. This often results in a trade-off between the manufacturing cost of a
component and its performance in application.
Roughness can be measured by manual comparison against a "surface roughness comparator" (a
sample of known surface roughness), but more generally a surface profile measurement is made with
a profilometer. These can be of the contact variety (typically a diamond stylus) or optical (e.g.: a
white light interferometer or laser scanning confocal microscope).
However, controlled roughness can often be important to a product. For example, a gloss surface can
be too shiny to the eye and too slippery to the finger (a touchpad is a good example) so a controlled
roughness is required. This is a case where both amplitude and frequency are very important.

Theory and Measurement and surface roughness parameter

Surface roughness means the work left by the action of a production process used on a material such
as turning operation process on the part of surface texture or surface finish of the material. Surface
roughness consists of relatively dosed-spaced or fine surface irregularities usually in the form of feed
marks left by the cutting tool on the machined surface. Surface finish of a machine part is a significant
design specification that is known to have a considerable effect such as wear resistance and fatigue
strength. The quality of surface is a factor of importance in the evaluation of machine tool
productivity. It is very important to be able to specify the degree of surface roughness desired in
engineering design & production.

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There are many measurements and parameters to surface roughness:

1. Reference Line or Mean Line

It is a mathematically calculated mean line, which is fitted into the profile so that the sum of the areas
enclosed by the profile above this line equals the sum of that below. (Refer Figure 1)

Figure 1: Reference Line or Mean Line

2. Maximum Roughness Depth(Rt / Ry)

It is the distance between the highest and the lowest points of the profile within the evaluation length,
lm.
Rp : Distance between the mean line and the highest profile peak.
Rm : Distance between the mean line and the lowest profile valley; refer Fig 1

3. Measuring Length or Evaluation Length (lm)

The horizontal limitation for the assessment of surface parameters is the measuring or evaluation
length.

4. Tracing Length or Transverse Length (lt)

It is the distance traversed by the tracing system during a measurement. It equals sum of the pre and
overtravel & the evaluation length: -
Tracing length (lt) = pretravel (ll) + evaluation length (lm) + overtravel (ln).
The pretravel and overtravel are required by the electric filter to attenuate mechanical and electrical
transients. A pretravel or overtravel also corresponds to a cut-off length.

5. Mean Peak to Valley Height (Rz)

It is the average of the single peak to valley heights of n number of adjoin sampling lengths, le.

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 Figure 2: Mean Peak to Valley Height (Rz)

Mathematically, we write
Rz = (Z1+Z2+Z3+………….Zn)/n
Besides the definition given above, there is another one used by the Japanese namely, Rz (JIS) which
is also known as the ISO 10 point height parameter in ISO 4287/1-1984, is measured on the roughness
profile only and is numerically the average height difference between the five highest peaks and the
five lowest valleys within the sampling length.

6. Maximum Roughness Depth (Rmax)

It is the largest single peak to valley height (zi) within n number of adjoining sample length. In the Fig
2 above, z3 corresponds to Rmax.

7. Arithmetical Mean Roughness or Centre Line Average, Ra (C.L.A.British) or

Arithmetical Average.(A.A.American)
Ra is obtained by measuring the mean deviation of the peaks from the center line of a trace, the center
line being established as the line above and below which there is an equal area between the center line
and the surface trace. There is little difference between the CLA & RMS (Root mean square) values
for a given surface. Ra is universally recognized, and most used, international parameter of roughness.
Mathematically, by definition, Ra is given by

Ra = 1/lr  z(x)  dx

Since the function, z(x) cannot be determined by means of experiment, we can do an approximation
using the formula given below: -

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 Figure 3: Arithmetical Mean Roughness

Ra = (y1+y2+y3+………..+y10)/10

8. Root Mean Square Roughness (RMS or Rq)

Rq is the RMS parameter corresponding to Ra
Rq = [(y12+y22+y32+…+yn2)/n] ½

Amplitude parameters characterize the surface based on the vertical deviations of the roughness
profile from the mean line. Many of them are closely related to the parameters found in statistics for
characterizing population samples. For example, Ra is the arithmetic average value of filtered
roughness profile determined from deviations about the centre line within the evaluation length and
Rt is the range of the collected roughness data points.
The arithmetic average roughness, Ra, is the most widely used one-dimensional roughness parameter.

Figure 4: Formula for calculation the parameter.

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 3. OBJECTIVES
- To measure the surface roughness of mild steel, aluminium, brass and copper.
- To compare the theoretical calculation with the experimental result of the roughness of respective
material.

4. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND PROCEDURE

• Surtest SJ210 Mitutoyo
• Mild steel (CNC turning)
• Mild steel (EDM wire cut)
• Brass
• Stainless steel (disc grinding)
• Height Gauge

Procedure
1. On the table of the surface roughness measuring machines, the aluminium was placed.
2. For metal surface measurement, the software ‘surftest ver1.01’ was used.
3. A graph which shows the profile of the surface roughness is the output of the measurement
which be the theoretical result.
4. For the graph, the surface parameter values of 𝑅𝑎, 𝑅𝑦, 𝑅𝑞, 𝑅𝑧, 𝑅𝑐, 𝑅𝑝, 𝑅𝑣, 𝐾𝑢 and 𝑆𝑘 which
be the experimental values.
5. All the data obtained from the theoretical and experiment were recorded and calculated, then
compared between those two.
6. The steps 1 to 4 are repeated with brass, copper and mild steel material.

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 5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Aluminium

Graph 1: Surface Roughness for Aluminium

Ra Rq Rsk Rku
mm µm µm2 µm3 µm4
0 0.634887 0.403081 -0.25591 0.162474
0.5 0.100662 0.010133 0.00102 0.000103
1.0 0.492794 0.242846 -0.11967 0.058974
1.5 1.504348 2.263063 3.404434 5.121454
2.0 0.563329 0.31734 -0.17877 0.100705
2.5 0.508888 0.258967 0.131785 0.067064
3.0 1.443541 2.083811 3.008066 4.342267
3.5 0.517776 0.268091 0.138811 0.071873
4.0 1.374667 1.889709 2.597721 3.571001
Total 7.140891 7.737041 8.727487 13.49591
Table 1: Calculation for Ra, Rq, Rku, Rsk

Ra= 7.140891/9= 0.793

Rt= Rp+ Rm= (2.027814-) + (3.65772+0.418)
= 1.235 + 4.451
= 5.686

Rq= (7.73704/9)1/2= 0.927

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 Z/range max min Difference
z1 (0.0-0.8) 1.813096 -2.88172 4.694815
z2 (0.8-1.6) 1.979955 -2.59621 4.576165
z3 (1.6-2.4) 1.846557 -2.88678 4.733334
z4 (2.4-3.2) 2.027814 -3.65772 5.685532
z5(3.2-4.0) 1.374667 -1.02013 2.394796
Total 22.08464
Table 2: Calculation for Rz

Rz= 22.08464/5= 4.416928

Z/range max min Difference

z1 (0.0-0.5) 1.813096 -2.88172 4.694815
z2 (0.5-1.0) 0.852875 -2.59667 3.449541
z3 (1.0-1.5) 1.80313 -2.59621 4.39934
z4 (1.5-2.0) 1.979955 -2.54844 4.528396
z5(2.0-2.5) 1.846557 -2.88678 4.733334
z6 (2.5-3.0) 1.789172 -2.84936 4.638529
z7 (3.0-3.5) 2.027814 -3.65772 5.685532
z8 (3.5-4.0) 1.374667 -1.02013 2.394796
Total 34.52428
Table 3: Calculation for Rc

Rc= 34.52428/8= 4.316

Rv= |min y(x)|= 3.658
1
Rku= (∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑌𝑖 4 )= ((1/8(0.9274)) (13.49591))
𝑁𝑅𝑞 4

= 2.285
1
Rsk= (∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑌𝑖 3 )= ((1/8(0.9273)) (8.727487))
𝑁𝑅𝑞 3

=1.369

Parameter Theoretical Value Experimental Value Percentage Error

(%)
Highest 2.027814
Lowest -3.65772
mean line, Ra 0.793 0.794 µm 0.13
Rp 1.610 1.808 µm 46.42
Rv 3.658 2.609 µm 28.68
Ry (Rt) =Rp-Rm 5.686 5.686 µm 0.00
Rq 0.927 0.986 µm 6.36
Rz 4.416928 4.417 µm 0.00
Rc 4.316 2.534 µm 41.29
Rsk 1.369 0.260 81.01
Rku 2.285 2.765 21.01
Table 4: All recorded parameter, theoretical, experimental and percentage error for steel

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Brass

Evaluation Profile
3.0
[µm]

2.0

1.0

0.0

-1.0

-2.0

-3.0

-4.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
[mm]

Graph 2: Surface Roughness for Brass

Ra Rq Rsk Rku
mm µm µm2 µm3 µm4
0 0.168469 0.028382 0.004781 0.000806
0.5 0.081565 0.006653 0.000543 4.43E-05
1.0 0.372562 0.138802 0.051712 0.019266
1.5 0.767119 0.588471 -0.45143 0.346298
2.0 0.361448 0.130645 -0.04722 0.017068
2.5 0.175903 0.030942 0.005443 0.000957
3.0 0.380737 0.144961 -0.05519 0.021014
3.5 0.200028 0.040011 -0.008 0.001601
4.0 0.208622 0.043523 0.00908 0.001894
Total 2.716452 1.152389 -0.49028 0.408948
Table 5: Calculation for Ra, Rq, Rku, Rsk

Ra= 2.716452/9= 0.302

Rt= Rp+ Rm= (2.609818-0.302) + (3.5849+0.302)
= 2.308 + 3.887
= 6.195

Rq= (1.152389/9)1/2= 0.358

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 Z/range max min Difference
z1 (0.0-0.8) 0.604441 -0.68549 1.289929
z2 (0.8-1.6) 0.817022 -1.0941 1.911125
z3 (1.6-2.4) 1.859716 -1.23815 3.097866
z4 (2.4-3.2) 2.609818 -1.28797 3.897786
z5(3.2-4.0) 2.39743 -3.5849 5.98233
Total 16.17904
Table 6: Calculation for Rz

Rz= 16.17904/5= 3.236

Z/range max min Difference

z1 (0.0-0.5) 0.604441 -0.68549 1.289929
z2 (0.5-1.0) 0.524325 -0.53232 1.056647
z3 (1.0-1.5) 0.817022 -0.86626 1.683281
z4 (1.5-2.0) 1.028814 -1.23815 2.266964
z5(2.0-2.5) 1.859716 -0.94757 2.807287
z6 (2.5-3.0) 2.609818 -1.28797 3.897786
z7 (3.0-3.5) 2.39743 -0.93977 3.3372
z8 (3.5-4.0) 1.062115 -3.5849 4.647015
Total 20.98611
Table 7: Calculation for Rc

Rc= 20.98611/8= 2.623

Rv= |min y(x)|= 3.585
1
Rku= (∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑌𝑖 4 )= ((1/8(0.3584)) (0.408948))
𝑁𝑅𝑞 4

= 3.112
1
Rsk= (∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑌𝑖 3 )= ((1/8(0.3583)) (-0.49028))
𝑁𝑅𝑞 3

= -1.336

Parameter Theoretical Value Experimental Value Percentage Error

(%)
Highest 2.609818
Lowest -3.5849
mean line, Ra 0.301828 0.584 µm 93.49
Rp 2.308 1.658 µm 28.16
Rv 3.585 1.578 µm 55.98
Ry (Rt) =Rp-Rm 6.195 6.195 µm 0.00
Rq 0.358 0.584 µm 63.13
Rz 3.236 3.236 µm 0.00
Rc 2.623 1.895 µm 27.75
Rsk -1.336 -0.117 91.24
Rku 3.112 3.988 28.15
Table 8: All recorded parameter, theoretical, experimental and percentage error for brass

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Copper

Evaluation Profile
1.2
[µm]

1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-1.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
[mm]

Graph 3: Surface Roughness for Copper

Ra Rq Rsk Rku
mm µm µm2 µm3 µm4
0 0.028599 0.000818 2.34E-05 6.69E-07
0.5 0.165614 0.027428 0.004542 0.000752
1.0 0.044575 0.001987 8.86E-05 3.95E-06
1.5 0.073499 0.005402 -0.0004 2.92E-05
2.0 0.127203 0.016181 -0.00206 0.000262
2.5 0.125786 0.015822 -0.00199 0.00025
3.0 0.058603 0.003434 0.000201 1.18E-05
3.5 0.440654 0.194176 -0.08556 0.037704
4.0 0.124806 0.015577 -0.00194 0.000243
Total 1.189339 0.280824 -0.0871 0.039257
Table 9: Calculation for Ra, Rq, Rku, Rsk

Ra= 1.189339/9= 0.132

Rt= Rp+ Rm= (0.972341-0.132) + (0.83602+0.132)
= 0.840 + 0.968
= 1.808

Rq= (0.280824/9)1/2= 0.177

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 Z/range max min Difference
z1 (0.0-0.8) 0.410341 -0.67984 1.090186
z2 (0.8-1.6) 0.526843 -0.39915 0.925993
z3 (1.6-2.4) 0.889252 -0.30765 1.196899
z4 (2.4-3.2) 0.315667 -0.65729 0.972953
z5(3.2-4.0) 0.972341 -0.83602 1.808364
Total 5.994394
Table 10: Calculation for Rz

Rz= 5.994394/5= 1.199

Z/range max min Difference

z1 (0.0-0.5) 0.410341 -0.31801 0.728349
z2 (0.5-1.0) 0.182217 -0.67984 0.862062
z3 (1.0-1.5) 0.526843 -0.30868 0.835523
z4 (1.5-2.0) 0.671974 -0.23766 0.909639
z5(2.0-2.5) 0.889252 -0.65729 1.546538
z6 (2.5-3.0) 0.315667 -0.19523 0.510901
z7 (3.0-3.5) 0.37806 -0.83602 1.214082
z8 (3.5-4.0) 0.972341 -0.49558 1.467923
Total 8.075015
Table 11: Calculation for Rc

Rc= 8.075015/8= 1.009

Rv= |min y(x)|= 0.836
1
Rku= 𝑁𝑅 4 (∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑌𝑖 4 )= ((1/8(0.1774)) (0.039257))
𝑞

= 5.00
1
Rsk= 𝑁𝑅 3 (∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑌𝑖 3 )= ((1/8(0.3583)) (-0.0871))
𝑞

= -1.963

Parameter Theoretical Value Experimental Value Percentage Error

(%)
Highest 0.972341
Lowest -0.83602
mean line, Ra 0.132149 0.157 µm 18.81
Rp 0.840 0.623 µm 25.83
Rv 0.836 0.576 µm 31.10
Ry (Rt) =Rp-Rm 1.808 1.808 µm 0.00
Rq 0.177 0.202 µm 14.12
Rz 1.199 1.199 µm 0.00
Rc 1.009 0.857 µm 15.06
Rsk -1.963 0.391 119.92
Rku 5.00 4.585 8.30
Table 12: All recorded parameter, theoretical, experimental and percentage error for copper

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Steel

Evaluation Profile
10.0
[µm]

5.0

0.0

-5.0

-10.0

-15.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
[mm]

Graph 4: Surface Roughness for Steel

Ra Rq Rsk Rku
mm µm µm2 µm3 µm4
0 3.361027 11.2965 -37.9678 127.611
0.5 4.630055 21.43741 99.25638 459.5625
1.0 4.52131 20.44224 -92.4257 417.8853
1.5 0.866719 0.751201 0.65108 0.564304
2.0 1.625118 2.641009 4.29195 6.974926
2.5 1.238382 1.53359 -1.89917 2.351898
3.0 1.054875 1.112761 1.173824 1.238238
3.5 4.707405 22.15966 -104.315 491.0506
4.0 1.55391 2.414636 3.752127 5.830468
Total 23.5588 83.78902 -127.482 1513.069
Table 13: Calculation for Ra, Rq, Rku, Rsk

Ra= 23.5588/9= 2.618

Rt= Rp+ Rm= (8.45796-2.618) + (10.3778+2.618)
= 5.840 + 12.996
= 18.836

Rq= (83.78902/9)1/2= 3.051

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 Z/range max min Difference
z1 (0.0-0.8) 6.563611 -8.06622 14.62983
z2 (0.8-1.6) 8.45796 -8.95212 17.41008
z3 (1.6-2.4) 6.740826 -10.3778 17.11865
z4 (2.4-3.2) 6.728102 -6.40039 13.12849
z5(3.2-4.0) 5.979652 -6.5549 12.53455
Total 74.82159
Table 14: Calculation for Rz

Rz= 74.82159/5= 14.964

Z/range max min Difference

z1 (0.0-0.5) 6.563611 -4.87142 11.43504
z2 (0.5-1.0) 5.252219 -8.06622 13.31844
z3 (1.0-1.5) 8.45796 -8.95212 17.41008
z4 (1.5-2.0) 4.622415 -6.2285 10.85091
z5(2.0-2.5) 6.740826 -10.3778 17.11865
z6 (2.5-3.0) 5.762073 -6.40039 12.16246
z7 (3.0-3.5) 5.979652 -4.79753 10.77718
z8 (3.5-4.0) 3.511439 -6.5549 10.06634
Total 103.1391
Table 15: Calculation for Rc

Rc= 103.1391/8= 12.892

Rv= |min y(x)|= 10.378
1
Rku= (∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑌𝑖 4 )= ((1/8(3.0514)) (1513.069))
𝑁𝑅𝑞 4

= 2.183
1
Rsk= (∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑌𝑖 3 )= ((1/8(3.0513)) (-127.482))
𝑁𝑅𝑞 3

= -0.561

Parameter Theoretical Value Experimental Value Percentage Error

(%)
Highest 8.45796
Lowest -10.3778
mean line, Ra 2.617645 2.533 µm 3.23
Rp 5.840 6.888 µm 17.95
Rv 10.378 8.070 µm 22.24
Ry (Rt) =Rp-Rm 18.836 18.836 µm 0.00
Rq 3.051 3.102 µm 1.67
Rz 14.964 14.959 µm 0.03
Rc 12.892 8.936 µm 30.69
Rsk -0.561 -0.170 69.70
Rku 2.183 2.670 22.31
Table 16: All recorded parameter, theoretical, experimental and percentage error for copper

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Discussion
Based on the table above, it clearly be seen that the percentage error is quite high especially for the
parameters of Rkµ and Rsk. These errors may due to human errors or the equipment itself. To
overcome these errors, some precautions can be taken in order to improve the result of the experiment
in the future
1. Repeat the experiment for several times to get the average value.

2. The machine Mitutoyo used to analyse the surface roughness of the various materials is very
sensitive. The surrounding factors may affect the roughness of the surface, and the readings
will be different from the real one. For example, the table or the apparatus may be
accidentally shaken by the students during the experiment. The material may have moved
during the analysation and the wrong reading may have been taken.

3. The material surface should be cleaned and the oxide film should be removed from surface
before the experiment started in order to obtain accurate readings. The reading may be
affected if the material surface is not cleaned properly.

From the result obtained we can observe that the surface roughness of the machined material is different
for each material. The surface roughness of brass is the smoothest followed by stainless steel, copper
and aluminium.

6. CONCLUSION
Based on the experiment conducted, the results of the experimental values were tabulated and compared
with the theoretical values given by the graph made by the apparatus. The result of the experiment
contains some errors that may be caused by the mistakes stated above. However, it is still acceptable
and it could be concluded that different materials have different surface roughness. The surface
roughness of brass is smoother than other materials. Brass has the smoothest surface roughness,
followed by copper, aluminium and stainless steel.

7. REFERENCES

I. https://www.olympus-ims.com/vi/knowledge/metrology/roughness/
II. D.J. Whitehouse, "Surface of reference line in the assessment of surface texture", Annals of the
CIRP, Vol. 21/2/1972, 267-273
III. S.T. Huang, K.C. Fan and J.H. Wu, "A new minimum zone method for evaluating flatness
errors", Precision Engineering, Vol. 15, No. l, 1993, 25-32.
IV. R.E. Reason, "Report on reference lines for roughness and roundness", CIRP Annalen, Band
XI, Heft 2, 95-104, 1961.
V. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_roughness

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