Experiment 2

Roughness measurement

Nguyễn Hoàng Sơn

I. Abstract
Surface roughness is an important factor in the industry and technological
issuses. This experiment will show you how to measure the roughness of
a surface.
Firstly, we will have knowledge about the roughness of a object and its
role in the research as well as in real life.
Secondly, we discuss some parameters of the roughness and the way use
the equipment which help us excatly determine the roughness of a surface.
Finally, summarizing the result and making conclusion.
II. Introduction
a.Problems:
Determine roughness of surfaces of a specimen using The Surftest SJ-400.

b.Background information
Roughness plays an important role in determining 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. Roughness is often a good predictor of the performance
of a mechanical component, since irregularities on the surface may form
nucleation sites for cracks or corrosion.
A roughness value can either be calculated on a profile (line) or on a
surface (area). The profile roughness parameter (Ra, Rq,...) are more
common. The area roughness parameters (Sa, Sq,...) give more significant
values.
Each of the roughness parameters are calculated using a formula for
describing the surface. Standard references that describe each in detail are
surfaces and their measurement.
 III. Analysis
Propose theory and physical assumption
a. Roughness: It is quantified by the deviations in the direction
of the normal vector of a real surface from its ideal form. If
these deviations are large, the surface is rough; if they are
small, the surface is smooth. In surface metrology, roughness
is typically considered to be the high-frequency, short-
wavelength component of a measured surface. (Wikipedia)

b. Roughness parameters
i. Ra: Roughness average of the R-curve
 𝑙
1
𝑅𝑎 = ∫ |𝑧|𝑑𝑥
𝑙
0

or
𝑛
1
𝑅𝑎 = ∑|𝑦𝑖 |
𝑛
𝑖=1

Where:
Ra: arithmetical average deviation
z: the ordinate of the curve profile from the centerline
l: the length over which the average is taken
n: number of sample points
y: height of peak
We have Ra is descriped as Arithmetical mean deviation of the assessed
profile and widely used one-dimensional roughness parameter.
 ii. Rz
Rz (ISO/ JIS): ten point height of irregularities of the P-curve

Rz is defined as the average height difference between the five highest

peaks and the five lowest valleys within the evaluation length.
(𝑃1 + 𝑃2 + 𝑃3 + 𝑃4 + 𝑃5 ) − (𝑉1 + 𝑉2 + 𝑉3 + 𝑉4 + 𝑉5 )
𝑅𝑧 =
5
Rz (DIN): Average distance between the highest peak and
lowest valley in each sampling length
 𝑍1 + 𝑍2 + 𝑍3 + 𝑍4 + 𝑍5
𝑅𝑧 =
5
iii. Ry (MAX) Maximum height of the profile

Ry (max) is the maximum height of the profile and is the distance

between the line of peaks and the line of valleys of the profile within the
evaluation length.
iv. Rt: Maximum height of the profile

Rt is the maximum peak-to-valley height of the profile within the

evaluation length.
v. Rq (Rrms)
 𝑛
1
𝑅𝑞 = √ ∑ 𝑦𝑖2
𝑛
𝑖=1

IV. Experimental program

The aim is measuring roughness of a surface of the specimen using a
Surftest SJ-400.
a. Equipment: surftest SJ-400
The SJ-400 Series can evaluate 36 kinds of roughness parameters
conforming to the lastest ISO, DIN and ANSI standards, as well as to JIS
standards(1994/1982).
+/ Standard model and some samples
Measuring area

Specification:
Detector:
Measuring range: 800 µm
Resolution: 0.000125 µm (on 8µm range)
Drive unit:
Straightness / traverse length
SJ-401: 0.3 µm / .98” (25mm)
SJ-402: 0.5 µm / 1.96”(50mm)
Measure the roughness of the specimen, display on a LCD and then print
out the result.

Processing:
When measuring, the stylus move across a surface to detect variations in
height as a function of distance, then the vertical movement of the stylus
is captured and converts to electric signal, which will be analyzed to get
the parameter of the roughness of the specimen.
There are some factors affecting to the result of the measurement:
i. Size of the stylus

Size of stylus greatly affects the result, the smaller the stylus, the higher
accuracy the result . Because the surface have some very small
defoemations or cracks which a big stylus can not exactly determine.
ii. Plastic deformation
When the stylus moves across the surface of a plastic specimen, the
surface under the gravitation of the stylus can be deformed. If the stylus is
too heavy, the surface will be easily deformed.
iii. Problem of speed
If the stylus move with a high speed, the stylus can lose contact with the
surface that adds up some error in the measurement.
 b. Procedure
i. Set up:
Turn on the Surftest SJ-400.
Calibrate the equipment: use the standard roundness sample

ii. Experiment
Determine the roundness of other specimen
Measuring area

V. Result and discussion

a. The result of the sample

Ra = 2.98 µ𝑚
Rz = 9.43 µ𝑚
Rq = 3.31 µ𝑚
b. The result of the specimen
𝑅𝑎 = 1.02 µ𝑚 , 𝑅𝑧 = 4.77 µ𝑚 , 𝑅𝑞 = 1.25 µ𝑚
 VI. Conclusion
For a specimen, we can not notice the roughness of surfaces with normal
visual or hand, but the difference of the deformation is very important in
determining how a real object will interact with its environment and in
research. With machine-aided measurement (e.g SJ-400), we can
determine very small deformation of any speciments.
VII. Appendix
http://www.wikipedia.org/
SJ400 manual, Mitutoyo America Corporation