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ACCRETECH E Book Tactile Vs Contactless ENG

The document discusses tactile vs contactless surface measurement methods. Tactile metrology uses touch probes to precisely trace material surfaces and is the traditional standard method. It can achieve high accuracies in the micrometer range. Contactless optical metrology is increasingly used as it can provide faster results but may have limitations with high precision needs. The document aims to help readers understand the strengths and limitations of each method for different applications.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
21 views24 pages

ACCRETECH E Book Tactile Vs Contactless ENG

The document discusses tactile vs contactless surface measurement methods. Tactile metrology uses touch probes to precisely trace material surfaces and is the traditional standard method. It can achieve high accuracies in the micrometer range. Contactless optical metrology is increasingly used as it can provide faster results but may have limitations with high precision needs. The document aims to help readers understand the strengths and limitations of each method for different applications.

Uploaded by

patrikcnc
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 24

SURFACE

MEASUREMENTS
– TACTILE OR
CONTACTLESS?

E-BOOK
ACCRETECH E-BOOK

SURFACE MEASUREMENTS –
TACTILE OR CONTACTLESS?

Should surfaces be measured in a tactile or contactless manner?


This is a question that is asked by many people responsible for
quality assurance and production. It is a fact that especially at, or in,
the production line, more and more optical measurements and in-
spections are being conducted, as non-contact technologies work
much faster in many cases. Has tactile metrology thus become obso-
lete? Are tactile surface measuring instruments being discontinued?
Or do non-contact technologies reach their limits when high pre-
cision is required? And what about the traceability of measurement
results in optical processes? Do standards already exist in this regard?

In this whitepaper, we compare tactile and non-contact metrology,


explain different sensor concepts and point out their strengths, limits
and weaknesses.

PAGE 2
ACCRETECH E-BOOK

CONTENTS

INCREASING CHALLENGES
IN SURFACE METROLOGY 4

TACTILE METROLOGY 5

Norms and standards 5

Roughness measurement as per the standard 9

When it has to be precise –


tactile measurement in the laboratory or in production 10

CONTACTLESS METROLOGY 12

Different procedures 13

Fair data sheet helps to compare optical measuring


instruments and processes 18

Norms and standards 19

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES AT A GLANCE 21

CONCLUSION 23

PAGE 3
ACCRETECH E-BOOK

INCREASING CHALLENGES
IN SURFACE METROLOGY
The requirements for surface metrology are growing: More and more needs to be
measured, and be measured more often. To prevent the measuring room from
becoming a bottleneck, measuring instruments are increasingly being sought at
the production line or incorporated within it. In addition, there are further challenges
coming from product optimisation, and completely new applications.

Two examples from the automotive industry demonstrate this:


• In the case of the internal combustion engine, manufacturers and their suppliers
are constantly striving to achieve greater efficiency in the drive train. In order to
improve the efficiency, continuous improvement of the surface quality is aimed
for. This reduces, for example, the friction of the crankshaft as the central compo-
nent of the combustion engine through coating and surface structuring. This
requires increasingly accurate measuring instruments.
• With electric vehicles, on the other hand, there are completely different require-
ments for the surface quality: Here, customers perceive high-frequency
noises and vibrations when driving much more clearly and unpleasantly than in
a car with a combustion engine. One source of this noise can be caused by ripples
on the toothed surface of gearwheels used to distribute power in electric cars.

In these and other cases, production managers and quality managers are increas-
ingly pressing for the use of appropriate production metrology, e.g. for process-
accompanying surface roughness measurements on or in the production line, in
order to be able to react quickly in case of deviations from the tolerance specifica-
tions – even before a large number of rejects occur.

The fact is: today, surfaces are usually measured tactilely in the traditional way.
However, in view of new measuring tasks, there is a growing demand for optical
metrology, as it often provides faster measurement results. But is this really the case?
Is tactile surface metrology already obsolete? With this whitepaper, we assist you
in finding your way through the jungle that exists between tactile and optical
metrology.

PAGE 4
ACCRETECH E-BOOK

TACTILE METROLOGY
Tactile metrology is a widely used standard measuring method for determining the
shape, position and dimensions of components. This also includes surface metrology.
Touch-activated styli trace the material surface. The accuracies of such systems are
very high, achieving values in the micrometer range and sometimes, depending on
the version, even lower. The measurement values determined in this way allow very
detailed conclusions to be drawn about the quality of the machining processes of
the analysed workpiece.
The tracing systems are moved on appropriate measuring instruments either relative
to the workpieces – in which case the machine moves – or the workpieces relative
to the tracing systems – in which case the workpiece moves. In both cases: Tactile
metrology requires a stable material surface that does not deform during probing.

Norms and standards


• Mean roughness values Ra, Rq
The arithmetic mean roughness value Ra is probably the most frequently used
roughness parameter worldwide. It is the arithmetic mean value of the amounts
of all profile values of the roughness profile. It is easy to measure and easy to
reproduce for repeat measurements, but provides virtually no information about
the characteristics of individual profile features. It is therefore only suitable for
assessing the function of workpiece surfaces in combination with other surface
parameters.

• Single roughness depth Rzi


The individual roughness depth Zi is the distance between two parallels which
touch the highest and the lowest point along the centre line within the individual
measured length.

• Mean roughness depth Rz


The mean roughness depth Rz is generally used in technical drawings. It is an
arithmetic mean value of five individual roughness depths: The sum of the Rzi
values is divided by the number of measured individual measured lengths Ir. As
for Rmax, Rz is a measure for the expression of the surface roughness perpendi-
PAGE 5
ACCRETECH E-BOOK

cular to the test surface. However, Rz depends less than Rmax on individual
profile characteristics: Rz values scatter less than Rmax values during repeat
measurements.

• Maximum roughness depth Rmax


The maximum roughness depth Rmax is the largest individual roughness depth
within the total measured length. Rmax is a measure of the surface roughness
perpendicular to the test surface. Of all the vertical parameters used in practice
to assess roughness, it depends most strongly on individual profile characte-
ristics (characteristic = profile tip or profile valley or outlier). The parameter Rmax
is referred to in ISO standards only in the general standard ISO 4288 and is called
Rz1max. However, the German Association of the Automotive Industry VDA also
rejects the use of Rz1max and continues to recommend the designation Rmax.

Ra = 1.6 µm
Rmax= 9.4 µm
Rz = 4.4 µm
Honed surface

Ra = 1.7 µm
Rmax = 9.4 µm
Rz = 8.7 µm

Lathed surface

Ra = 1.3 µm
Rmax= 9.6 µm
Rz = 6.5 µm
Eroded surface

Fig: Surface profiles


Source: Surface measurement guide, ACCRETECH Europe GmbH

Today, tactile measuring systems are generally used to determine these roughness
parameters: These are primarily surface measuring instruments which operate
according to the profile method. But also profile measuring instruments already
offer the possibility to measure surfaces today.

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ACCRETECH E-BOOK

Stylus instruments are preferably used for roughness and contour measurement
and provide nanometer resolutions with the largest possible measuring range.

6
5

Fig: How a stylus instrument works


A carrier (1) holds a small tip (2) which is pulled horizontally (3) over the object surface (5).
While the tip follows the profile, the boom moves vertically (4).
The vertical position is recorded as a light green profile (6).
Graphic: Dr Schorsch/Wikipedia; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tastschnittverfahren

These instruments scan the surfaces with conical diamond scanning elements,
spherically rounded at the tip, with opening angles of 60 or 90° with rounding
radii of 2 µm, 5 µm or 10 µm. This is historically the first measuring method for the
quantitative assessment of the roughness of technical surfaces and is described in
detail in the relevant standards such as DIN EN ISO 3274 or 4760. Typical of stylus
instruments are the small scanning elements with defined radii of curvature in the
micrometer range. This results in a predictable transmission behaviour. High-end
stylus instruments are also characterised by their high flexibility: They measure
point-like, offer a large height measuring range with probe lengths > 100 mm and
provide a nanometre resolution in the x-z measuring plane.

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ACCRETECH E-BOOK

Form measuring instruments are characterised by a measurement based on the


rotary movement with the resulting high measurement precision. Precise alignment
makes the measurement highly accurate. The measuring instruments scan rotation-
ally symmetrical geometric elements such as flat, cylindrical or conical surfaces,
record sub-micrometer tolerances and map complex measuring sequences. They
are also used to measure highly accurate shape elements on conventional compo-
nents such as roundness, cylinder shape and many other parameters of shape toler-
ance ISO1101.

Surfaces can also be tactilely measured on coordinate measuring machines.


However, the structural design and the air bearings of the measuring system cause
high vibrations, so that normally only a curve system with limited accuracy and
a restricted measuring range can be used. Coordinate measuring machines are
primarily suitable for length and position tolerances. With such machines, the basic
inaccuracies are a few µm+L.

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ACCRETECH E-BOOK

Roughness measurement as per the standard

The two standards DIN EN ISO 4287 and 4288 can also be used to easily determine
an ideal profile filter and the appropriate radius of the stylus tip – and thereby carry
out roughness measurements in accordance with the standards.

Aperiodic profile Measuring condition


Periodic profile or RSm
Ra, Rq, Rsk, Rku or R∆q Rz, Rv, Rp, Rc or Rt Wave-
Evaluation
length
length:
Ra (µm) Rz (µm) RSm (mm) limit:
ln (mm) =
lr = λc
Above > Below Above > Below Above > Below 5 × lr
(mm)

0.006 0.02 0.025 0.1 0.013 0.04 0.08 0.4

0.02 0.1 0.1 0.5 0.04 0.13 0.25 1.25

0.1 2 0.5 10 0.13 0.4 0.8 4

2 10 10 50 0.4 1.3 2.5 12.5

10 80 50 200 1.3 4 8 40

Fig: Determination of the wavelength limit (as per DIN EN ISO 4288)
Source: Surface measurement guide, ACCRETECH Europe GmbH

An example should shed light on the rule texts and tables: Suppose you have a
workpiece with a non-periodic profile. This needs to be checked according to your
technical drawing for an Rz value of 5 μm. For Rz values of between 0.5 μm and 10
μm, DIN EN ISO 4288 specifies an individual measured length and a filter (λc) of 0.8
mm and a total measured length of 4 mm.
The λc value is also the basis for selecting a suitable button. For a λc value of 0.8 mm,
tips with a radius of 2 μm – or 5 μm for Rz values of more than 3 μm are recom-
mended. Accordingly, in this example select a probe tip with 5 μm radius. However,
a measurement with a smaller probe tip is always permissible – only it must not be
larger.

If no roughness value can be taken from the design drawings, the standard recom-
mends a test measurement with λc = 0.8 mm, as most industrial values are in this
range. If the result is positive, you must also check the next lower value. Because
according to DIN EN ISO 4288, the smallest possible λc value must always be used.
In addition, influences such as the noise floor can be eliminated via the λs filter.
PAGE 9
ACCRETECH E-BOOK

With the λc filter, the overall profile is divided into a waviness and roughness profile.
For probe tips with a radius of 2 µm a probing force of 0.75 mN is specified, for probe
tips of 5 µm and larger a probing force of 4 mN can be applied.

When it has to be precise –


tactile measurement in the laboratory or in production
The smaller the tolerances are and the more accurate the measurement result has
to be, the more laboratory testing is recommended. Maximum precision is only
guaranteed under controlled conditions. Air conditioning ensures stable conditions
in test laboratories.

Recommended for optimal measuring conditions:


• Ambient temperature: 20 °C (± 2 °C)
• Workpiece temperature: 20 °C (± 2 °C)
• Relative humidity: 40% to 60%
• Avoid vibrations and oscillations
• Avoid draughts

Nevertheless, precise tactile surface measurements can also be carried out during
production. One example is the SURFCOM C5 surface roughness measuring instru-
ment from ACCRETECH: The big challenge when trying to measure minimal rough-
ness values during production is the noise floor of the measuring instruments. In
addition, there is often much greater ambient noise compared to the measurement
room. The noise floor and ambient noise may even exceed the roughness value,
distorting the measurement results. For the SURFCOM C5, ACCRETECH has suc-
ceeded in reducing the noise floor so that highly accurate measurements can be
achieved in production environments – uncompromised and without interference.
An active damping table with high torsional rigidity reduces the influence of ambi-
ent vibrations. The natural frequency spectrum of the measuring machine has been
designed so that it counteracts the excitation spectrum. In other words, the ambient
PAGE 10
ACCRETECH E-BOOK

and machine vibrations cancel each other out. In addition, the amount of electrical
noise has been minimised. The instrument therefore enables high-precision
measurements of all known surface parameters directly at the production line.
For example, a car manufacturer currently using the SURFCOM C5 can measure
an Rpk value for the reduced peak height of repeatedly/reliably <70 nm.

PAGE 11
ACCRETECH E-BOOK

CONTACTLESS
METROLOGY
In order to achieve a higher level of information about surfaces, in some cases a
three-dimensional recording of the surface using contactless measuring instru-
ments is useful – especially if the structures on machine-processed surfaces are
no longer arranged in a straight line but are distributed stochastically, i.e. randomly.
A 2D cut is then not sufficient in this regard. Optical 3D measuring methods are
used in such cases. They usually facilitate a direct visual representation of the
surface. This is particularly advantageous for inhomogeneous surfaces – for example,
if there are particles or particle-like structures on them at irregular intervals. These
are not correctly represented in the profile section during 2D recording. This means
that the surface parameters calculated from it cannot be reproduced, which prevents
any meaningful evaluation of the surface.
Contactless methods also enable short measuring times for smaller measuring
fields. With larger measuring fields, on the other hand, they are slower than tactile
methods, since in this case several individual images need to be combined into one
large image using what is referred to as the stitching function.
Contactless methods also work without mechanical wear on the measuring system
or the workpiece. They are therefore also suitable for soft or elastic materials that
can be deformed or damaged by tactile processes, as well as for surfaces with differ-
ent characteristics. A free line of sight to the measuring point is required for all
contactless measuring systems. Undercuts cannot be detected, for example. This
means: only what the sensor sees can be measured.

PAGE 12
ACCRETECH E-BOOK

Different procedures

Various contactless methods are available for two-dimensional measurement of


surface parameters. The most important ones are:

• Scattered light method,


• White-light interferometry,
• Focus variation,
• Strip projection and
• Confocal microscopy.

With regard to surface metrology, processes are sometimes combined with each
other. An example of such a multi-sensor concept is the combination of confocal
microscopy and white-light interferometry.

White-light interferometry, confocal microscopy and focus variation are micro-


scope-like structures that typically have the following specifications: Fields of
view in the range of between 0.2 × 0.2 mm and 2 × 2 mm. The lateral resolution is
between ~0.1 and 1 µm. Magnifications from 10x to 100x are possible. The axial
resolution is between > 0.1 and 10 nm, depending on the method and the lens used.

PAGE 13
ACCRETECH E-BOOK

White-light interferometry
White-light interferometry is the most accurate of the contactless methods.
ACCRETECH's modular system SURFCOM NEX, for example, offers a white light
sensor for optical surface measurement with a resolution of 10 nm and a measure-
ment precision of 0.1 µm. The optical 3D contour and roughness measuring instru-
ment OPT-SCOPE operates in the nano measuring range. It has a resolution of
0.01 nm and an accuracy of (0.08 ±/2H/100) µm.z

Mirror

Camera

Example

Fig: Interferometer schematic


Source: Wikipedia.org,
“Schematischer Aufbau eines
Weißlichtinterferometers”,
Copyright Polytec GmbH, 2008;
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/
White light source Datei:Interferometer_Schema.jpg

White-light interferometry uses the interference effects that occur when the light
reflected from the target is superimposed on the light scattered back by a high-preci-
sion reference mirror. The method is based on the principle of the Michelson interfe-
rometer, whereby the optical structure contains a light source with a coherence length
in the micrometer range. At a beam splitter, the collimated light beam is split into
measuring and reference beam. The measuring beam hits the measured object, while
the reference beam hits a mirror. The light reflected by the mirror and the measured
object is superimposed at the beam splitter and projected onto a camera.
If the optical path for an object point in the measuring arm matches the path in the
reference arm, constructive interference occurs for all wavelengths in the spectrum
of the light source. The camera pixel of the respective object point then has the maxi-
mum intensity. For object points that do not meet this condition, the assigned camera
pixel has a low intensity. The camera therefore registers all pixels of the same height.
PAGE 14
ACCRETECH E-BOOK

Scattered light method


With regard to scattered light measurement, the surface is illuminated by a measuring
spot. The light reflected and scattered by the microstructure angles is detected by
a photosensitive detector. The further the reflected light is scattered, the higher the
surface roughness. By shifting the centre of gravity of the entire scattering angle
distribution curve, shape measurements (shape, roundness and waviness) are con-
ducted simultaneously. The scattered light method can be used for pure quality
assurance and offers additional potential for data-based process analysis and
control. As the scattered light method records and processes microstructure angles
instead of height information, a description of the functional behaviour (e.g. with
regard to friction, adhesive behaviour, gloss or stick-slip effects) can be made on
many surfaces during component development using the detected measurement
data. In addition, the simultaneous measurement of shape and waviness allows the
causes of noise to be detected and assigned to the production process.

Focus variation
Focus variation is one of the less precise methods. The main component of the
measuring systems based on this method is a precision optic which contains
several lens systems and can be equipped with different lenses in order to measure
objects with variable resolution. Using a semi-transparent mirror, modulated light
from a white light source is directed into the optical path of the measuring system
and focused on the component via the lens. When the light hits the surface, it is
reflected in different directions depending on the characteristics of the sample.
With diffuse surfaces, reflection takes place uniformly in all directions, with specular
topographies mainly in one direction only. All reflected light rays that hit the lens
are bundled by the optics and hit a light-sensitive sensor. Due to the low depth of
field of the system, only small areas of the object are always in focus. To enable a
3D measurement and the generation of a colour image with continuous depth of
field, it is necessary to move the sensor head vertically along the optical axis in such
a way that the sharpness range varies over the topography of the sample surface.
With regard to depth evaluation, a measure of sharpness is first calculated for each
object point detected by the sensor. Then the variation of the sharpness dimensions
is analysed to calculate the z-position of the object points.
PAGE 15
ACCRETECH E-BOOK

Strip light projection

Object point

Strip projector
Matrix camera

Strip number
Image point

V
ζ
U

Triangulation base

Fig: Principle of a strip projection sensor; source: Wikipedia.org, “Streifenlichtprojektion”,


Dr. Schorsch, 2010; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streifenprojektion

The basic principle of strip light projection is triangulation. In contrast to the laser
profile measurement, which is also based on this principle, the entire surface of the
workpiece is captured at once in the strip light projection. A strip pattern – typically
at an angle of 30° – is projected onto the surface and recorded by a measuring cam-
era looking perpendicular to the surface. A special feature is the use of grey tone
gradients on the strip flanks. The exact lateral strip positions (phases) for all points
on the surface are determined from at least three strip patterns with a sinusoidal
intensity curve projected in very rapid succession. The grey value generation is digital,
using high-resolution micro mirror displays. This increases the triangulation and
thus the height resolution by up to two orders of magnitude, with extremely low
temperature drift and considerable long-term stability. The measuring fields can
be scaled from less than 1 mm to more than 1 m in the case of strip projection, with
the resolution scaling accordingly. The strip projection is therefore suitable for both
large and small measurement objects, for overview shots due to the high measure-
ment speed as well as for precise measurements due to high resolution and accuracy.
Strip light projection is only conditionally suitable for high-resolution roughness
measurements in the sub-micrometer range. Another disadvantage in this regard
is the limited measuring range, which is due to the low depth of field and the high
sensitivity with varying surface characteristics.
PAGE 16
ACCRETECH E-BOOK

Confocal microscopy
Light source (laser/white light)

Pinhole

Receiver
pinhole

Beam splitter Photo detector

Piezo adjustment

Microscope lens

Test specimen

Fig: Confocal microscopy schematic


Source: Fraunhofer IPT

Confocal microscopy is particularly suitable for demanding topographic analyses


on material surfaces. A confocal microscope is very similar to a traditional micro-
scope setup with coaxial incident light illumination. However, there is an additional
diaphragm in the beam path that filters out light that does not originate from the
focal plane of the microscope lens. The resulting image is therefore dark except for
a bright slice of the plane that was just in focus. If this is combined with an axial
traversing movement and images are recorded at defined intervals, a brightness
curve can be recorded for each pixel from the resulting image stack and the height
of the surface point extracted from this curve. As a rule, the measurement is con-
ducted over a large area by scanning devices integrated in the microscope. A confo-
cal microscope scans a sample sequentially point by point and line by line to create
an image. The pixel information is merged into one image. As a result, optical sec-
tions of the sample are depicted with high contrast and high resolution in x, y and z
direction.

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ACCRETECH E-BOOK

Fair data sheet helps to compare


optical measuring instruments and processes

Each individual process has specific advantages and disadvantages, which is why
the optimum methods need to be selected for each application. In such situations, a
comparison of data sheets can help to identify the most suitable instrument.
However, it usually raises more questions than it answers. Different terms for simi-
lar characteristics and similar terms for different characteristics further confuse the
reader. The user is left at a loss if unrealistic procedures are used in practice to gloss
over specification values. One example of this is the specification of the vertical
resolution of a measuring instrument, which is often best represented by averaging
over many individual measurements. A direct comparison of the measuring instru-
ments is also made difficult for the user by the use of different terms: For example,
one manufacturer with “field of view” means the same as another with “lateral
measuring range”.
This is where the “Fair Data Sheet” initiative comes into play. This was launched
in 2015 by various manufacturers, user companies, the University of Kaiserslautern
and the Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). It helps users to achieve a
more objective comparability of instruments and technologies by providing guide-
lines for uniform instrument and process specifications.

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ACCRETECH E-BOOK

Norms and standards

DIN ISO 25178 is the first international standard that considers measurement and
specification of 3D surface textures by defining 3D texture parameters and the
operators for determination thereof. As a result, the standard facilitates a multitude
of new evaluations to better describe functions of the surface, which was not suffi-
ciently possible with 2D parameters. Planar parameters to describe surface roughness
are described in ISO 25178, part 2. The following 3D parameters are standardised:

• Height (Sa, Sq, Ssk, Sku, Sz …)


• Functional support surface proportion (Smr, Sdc …)
• Functional volume (Vmp, Vmc, Vvv …)
• Hybrid and space (Sal, Std, Sdr …)
• Function (Spd, S10z, Sda)

Many parameters are a direct transfer of traditional 2D parameters. Nevertheless,


it is difficult to compare the parameters: For example, the Sz value in ISO 25178
corresponds more to the Rt-value in ISO 4287 and not – as you might assume –
the Rz value.

The Chair of Measurement and Sensor Technology at the TU Kaiserslautern, for


example, who contributed to the standardisation of ISO 25178, points out that ampli-
tude parameters such as Sa, Sz or Sq are particularly suitable for monitoring a known
process in quality assurance. According to Felix Ströer, functional surfaces, on the
other hand, can only be evaluated on the basis of amplitude parameters to a very
limited extent. This means that surfaces with identical amplitude parameters can
exhibit completely different tribological functional behaviour. The sole evaluation
of Sa or Sz only justifies the use of planar surface metrology only to a very limited
extent, as large parts of the recorded information are not included in the parameter
calculation. This could be remedied by the choice of other standardised parameters:
spatial parameters such as Sal, Str and Std are based on the autocorrelation function
of a surface and are suitable for the description of stochastic properties and for the
recognition of directional structures in topographies.

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ACCRETECH E-BOOK

According to Ströer, the function-oriented parameters such as Sk, Spk or Svk, like
their 2D equivalents Rk, Rpk and Rvk, are derived from the (surface) material propor-
tion curve and are used to describe the proportion of ridges and grooves in a surface.
Structure-oriented parameters such as Sdv can be suitable for describing segmented
topographies and characterise the oil retention capacity of a sealing or lubrication
surface, for example.

ISO 25178 also describes the applicable metrology, calibration methods and physical
calibration standards as well as the requisite calibration software. In practice,
however, there is still little empirical knowledge on how such parameters can be used
– even among developers and designers.

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ACCRETECH E-BOOK

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES


AT A GLANCE

Tactile measuring systems

• Established measuring method


• Very precise method
• Standardised
• Insensitive to lighting conditions and critical surface
conditions (such as reflection by reflecting surfaces)
• Require no measuring distance
• Reasonably priced entry-level instruments

• Up to 50% slower compared to optical metrology


• Require more stable environmental conditions
• Increased measurement uncertainty for critical measuring
tasks (needle measurement, measurement in small bores)
due to the requisite probing force
• Risk of damage to the measurement object, especially
with soft materials, coatings and optical surfaces

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ACCRETECH E-BOOK

Optical measuring systems

• Work very quickly


• Applicable even in dynamic areas with high image
rates of 1000 Hz and above
• Can be integrated in the production line
• No risk of damage to the measurement object

• Not yet established among measurement technicians,


developers and designers
• Standardisation is relatively new
• Functional surfaces can only be evaluated with amplitude
parameters to a very limited extent
• Generate very large amounts of data that needs to be filtered,
evaluated, weighted and interpreted
• Only visible surfaces can be measured, undercuts are not
detectable
• Difficulties with steep or reflective flanks
• Reworking and preparatory work is often necessary
(gluing of reference marks, cleaning of the workpiece)
• High acquisition costs in most cases

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ACCRETECH E-BOOK

CONCLUSION: IT IS NOT A CASE OF


“EITHER OR”, BUT RATHER “BOTH”

The selection of a suitable process for surface metrology is not easy because in
many cases both tactile and optical processes can be used – and such processes can
provide comparable data by all means. Which approach is the better one depends
on individual circumstances and the further requirements of the target application.
In comparison to optical methods, tactile methods are much more established and
well-known. However, optical processes reveal their strengths in production.
Experts assume that tactile and optical processes will complement each other very
well in the years to come.
There is no ideal solution – and finding a solution is complex. Those responsible for
quality assurance and production must ask themselves a number of questions:

• Which technology is the right one for my task?


• What kind of sensors do I need for this specific task?
• Which technology provides measurement results with the requisite accuracy?
• Can the technology appropriate to the measurement task be used in a harsh
production environment involving vibrations, high temperatures or oil?
• Or does the technology require the stable environment of an air-conditioned
measuring room?
• Should the measuring instrument enable mobile measurements in production
in order to minimise logistical efforts and therefore costs?
• Do I need traceable measurement results?
• How do the end users – measurement technicians or production staff –
manage with a particular technology? Do they have the requisite expertise?

PAGE 23
ACCRETECH (EUROPE) GMBH

ACCRETECH SBS UK Ltd.


Unit 2, Leofric Court Progress Way
CV3 2NT Coventry
Phone +44 (0) 2476 651 774
[email protected]

www.accretech.eu

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