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Summary of Surface Finish Parameters

The document defines and describes several common parameters used to characterize surface finish: - Ra and Rq measure average roughness, with Rq approximating 1.1 times Ra. They are calculated by integrating the absolute values of the surface height deviations. - Rp, Rv, and Rt describe peak, valley, and total roughness, measuring the maximum height of peaks and depths of valleys within a sampling length. - Tp (also called bearing ratio) measures the percentage of flat surface that would remain if cutting a line at a defined depth, representing the surface area available to support a load. It is calculated by summing the length of all flat areas ("mesas") and dividing by the total sampling length.

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209 views

Summary of Surface Finish Parameters

The document defines and describes several common parameters used to characterize surface finish: - Ra and Rq measure average roughness, with Rq approximating 1.1 times Ra. They are calculated by integrating the absolute values of the surface height deviations. - Rp, Rv, and Rt describe peak, valley, and total roughness, measuring the maximum height of peaks and depths of valleys within a sampling length. - Tp (also called bearing ratio) measures the percentage of flat surface that would remain if cutting a line at a defined depth, representing the surface area available to support a load. It is calculated by summing the length of all flat areas ("mesas") and dividing by the total sampling length.

Uploaded by

Varun Kumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Summary of Surface Finish Parameters

Table 1. Primary surface finish parameters.

Parameter

Description

Ra,
CLA

Average roughness = area between


surface trace and average.

Digital formula

Analog formula

Measure by adding or integrating absolute


values of height, z. (See Figure 1)
Rq,
RMS

Root-Mean-Square roughness 1.1 x


Ra

Rp

Peak roughness = amplitude of the


highest peak within the scan length
See Figure 2.

Rv

Valley roughness = amplitude of the


deepest valley within the scan length.
See Figure 2.

Rt, Rz

Total roughness = distance in height


between the highest peak and lowest
valley in the scan length. See Figure 2.

tp,
Rmr

Bearing Ratio (Material Ratio, Bearing


Area) = percentage of flat surface created
by cutting a line at a defined depth, known
as the Profile section level, c.

Rt=Rp+Rv

tp(%) =

1 M
Li
L i =1

See Measurement of Material Ratio and


Figure 3.

Figure 1. Measurement of Average Roughness, Ra, and RMS Roughness, Rq.

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

1.20

1.40

1.60

1.80

2.00

0.00

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

0.90

1.00

0.00
0.5
1
1.5
2

Figure 2. Various surface profile parameters.

Note in Figure 2 that the Amplitude Distribution Function (ADF) is just the probability of
there being a surface point at a certain height. If one were to draw a line at a particular
height the ADF would be proportional to the number of times the surface profile crosses
the line. The Material Ratio Curve (also known as the Bearing Ratio Curve, Bearing
Area Curve, or the Abbott-Firestone Curve) is the integral of the ADF from above the
surface to the height of interest. This is the total percentage of material above a certain
height.

Measurement of Material Ratio


This measurement is also known as Bearing Ratio, and its symbol is tp. The Material
ratio is usually defined at X% at a slice depth c. Depth c is measured from a reference.
This reference can be defined as
T the highest peak
T a lower value that excludes outlying peaks (sometimes this is written as a
reference %, which is the tp at the height Cref)
T the mean, with c being defined as above or below the mean.
If you imagine slicing through the peaks on the surface at a particular depth, tp is the
ratio of the total length of the flat mesas you would produce to the sampling length.
This is illustrated in Figure 3.

L1

L2

L3

L4 L5

L6

L7

L8

L9

L10
C

Cref
mean

tp=19%

Figure 3. Measurement of Materials ratio, tp.

One can think of this in several ways:


1. If you grind to a depth c, tp is the percentage of the surface available to support a
perfectly flat load
2. Ratio of lengths: Add up all lengths with material beneath them in the
measurement length, L; divide the sum of these lengths by L to obtain the ratio.
3. Intersection of the line at height c with the Material Ratio Curve (see also Figure
2).

References
The following have additional information and more details:
1. Surface Metrology Guide, Precision Devices. Inc.
2. Surface Texture Parameters, Mahr
3. ASME B46.1 (1995) specification

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