Wear 271 (2011) 494–508

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journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/wear

Recent trends in surface metrology

T.G. Mathia a,∗ , P. Pawlus b , M. Wieczorowski c
a
Laboratoire de Tribologie et Dynamique des Systèmes CNRS-UMR 5513, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, 36 Av Guy de Collongue, Ecully, France
b
Rzeszow University of Technology, Poland
c
Poznan University of Technology, Poland

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper describes future trends in surface metrology. Measurement techniques are briefly mentioned.
Received 23 April 2010 A special attention was paid to tactile and optical methods. Selected problems of surface topography
Received in revised form 31 May 2010 characterization are described. The effects of sampling and filtering on surface topography representation
Accepted 2 June 2010
are analysed. Structured surfaces are becoming both technologically and economically critical. Therefore
Available online 11 June 2010
their description is a problem of a great practical importance. Multi-process textures are very important
from functional point of view. Various methods of their description are compared. Surface texturing as
Keywords:
a means for enhancing tribological properties of frictional pairs started to be extremely popular from
Surface topography
Measurement
for about last 10 years. The effects of surface texturing on improving tribological properties of sliding
Analysis assemblies are analysed. The other influences of surface topography are mentioned in this paper.
Applications © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction 2. Metrology

The last half century of geometrical aspects of surfaces metrol-
ogy was extremely rich in events related to equipments design
as well as data treatments dealing with parameters and standard-
ized rules. Therefore it is difficult, pretentious and also dangerous
to tempt the reliable prediction a fortiori to be counterpart of
the 12th International Conference on Metrology and Properties
of Engineering Surfaces. Specific contributions of British, German,
United States of America, Russian, French and Polish schools caused
considerable progress of techniques of measurement, methods of
characterization with development of European Union and Inter-
national standards.
Standardization processes will be probably increased in terms of
methods of measurements and data treatments for specific appli-
cations due to the externalization, diversification of products and
under contractor’s strategies. Particular attention is paid to cre-
ative process of new sensors for explicit applications in terms of
better or less known transfer functions due to materials natures
and range of topographical features. The scanning systems of dif-
ferent device designs and assemblies will be analyzed in context of
precision and reliability taking into account especially the contri-
butions of tribology. The new applications of surface metrology in
traceability of surfaces, bionics, criminology and medicine will be
analyzed.
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 478433383.
E-mail address: Thomas.Mathia@ec-lyon.fr (T.G. Mathia).
2.1. Measurement techniques
Despite a great development of optical and other techniques a
tactile profilometer is still the most common roughness measuring
device in mechanical industry. Yet, since Abbott and Firestone’s [1]
construction from 1933 it has gone a long way. First of all mod-
ern software allows computing of approximately 300 parameters
of roughness profile and dozens of topography parameters. Rough-
ness can be measured on 200 mm length and 100 mm width with
the deviation of guide equal to the fraction of micrometers, and fur-
ther software support of accuracy can be applied. In this case the
slide is measured by a laser interferometer and its errors are col-
lected in the microprocessor’s system and used for the correction of
indication. Besides the measuring instruments often offer simulta-
neously measurement of roughness and outline with greater range
– even above 2 mm with 0.6 nm resolution. The interesting element
of this device is a probe – magneticically fixed, which prevents
damage (break), because during any impact or overload of the part,
the diamond needle is separated from the body on a three points
magnetic holder.
Additionally the probe is equipped with an AM transmitter and
a receiver, which are used for communication with a central pro-
cessing unit, and a simple memory chip. All of these assemblies of
construction are together called an intelligent probe. In the mem-
ory the parameters of the probe are stored and sent to the controller
after connecting to the holder. The memory contains also the data
which are used to protect the probe during so called soft lowering. It
limits the speed of the free falling of the measurement arm. Thanks

0043-1648/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.wear.2010.06.001
 T.G. Mathia et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 494–508
Fig. 1. Probe with bidirectional pressure force [2].
to this, the probe does not strike at the end of a rapid fall, which
could cause damage. Immediately after the probe is in contact with
the lower measuring surface, the function of soft dropping is auto-
matically turned off and the device continues the measurement.
Next possible solution is the application of the measurement probe
with bidirectional pressure force – up and down. It allows to mea-
sure, using the same probe, the roughness on the upper and lower
surface of a hole, and in conjunction with an incremental linear
encoder in a measuring column allows measurement of small inside
diameters in a vertical axis. It is especially useful in the automobile
industry, in the production of pumps and injectors, where with-
out fears for probe damage CNC procedures to measure roughness,
waviness and outline in small holes could be used (Fig. 1).
As a result from the analysis presented above, the principle of
contact measurement and the methods of its making have not been
changed for years. However development of microelectronics and
computer techniques creates opportunities to increase the range
and the resolution of devices and to introduce facilities for opera-
tors to reduce their chances to make mistakes. It seems likely that
it will be the trend in development of stylus surface measurement
in the next years.
Measurements based on a stylus profilometer in 3D surface
topography of the surface are time consuming, which is a signif-
icant limitation. A possibility of overcoming this inconvenience is
spiral sampling [3] (see Fig. 2).
Irrespective of the contact devices, constructions based on opti-
cal phenomena are being developed. Therefore the optical methods
have been described in-depth in the scientific literature, e. g. in
Bennett’s [5,6] Tiziani’s [7], Leonhardt’s [8] and others articles.
New solutions have introduced CCD lines and arrays to detect the
light signal, used i.e. in light scattering methods. These techniques
Fig. 2. Application of spiral sampling [4].
495
Fig. 3. Principle of a vertical scanning interferometry [11].
can be used successfully in roughness measurements in preven-
tive inspection, and their vertical measuring range reaches one
micrometer.
Modern interferometers, used in roughness measurements,
are systems which are applying white light. In contradiction to
monochromatic light it distinguishes discontinuity of the surface
for example deep valleys or high steps. The most popular interfero-
metric measurement techniques are phase-shifting interferometry
PSI, vertical scanning interferometry VSI and enhanced vertical
scanning interferometry EVSI. PSI uses a monochrome light source
and generally is applied to analysis of a very smooth surface,
because this method is characterized by sub-nanometer resolu-
tion. On the other hand it suffers from phase-ambiguity problems,
which limits PSI usability to a surface discontinuity not higher
than /4, where  is the wavelength of the light used. Besides, the
monochrome light source limits using PSI to ranges where contin-
uous fringes can be obtained. In order to overcome this difficulty a
new technique called Multiple Wavelength Interferometry (MWI)
has been developed which has extended high-difference limitation
successfully. In this method two wavelengths are selected, which
allow the user to increase the dynamic range and at the same time
to keep the resolution constant. Further increasing of the dynamic
range is possible when white light is applied (VSI).
Then the continuity of fringes is not so crucial also, more impor-
tant is finding a focus. The principle of vertical scanning is presented
in Fig. 3. Unfortunately, the resolution of VSI is in the nanometers
range, not in fractions of nanometers. The advantages of PSI and VSI
are combined in the EVSI technique, also called white light inter-
ferometery with phase-shifting [9]. First of all every pixel is found
in the optimal position of the objective for which this point of the
surface is in the focus of the optical system, so in this position the
distribution of intensity of the interference signal has a maximum.
Secondly, to analyse the intensity around the point of focus a PSI
technique is used, which allows to obtain better resolution than in
VSI [10].
Interferometers and microscopes are combined in interferomet-
ric microscopy. Through that connection very good resolution and
significant vertical range can be obtained. The interferometer is
responsible for scanning on a nano scale, and the microscopy head
is displaced on a micro-scale giving a vertical range even above
1 mm.
Descriptions of the operation of initial construction of scientific
interferometric microscopes can be found in Wyant’s et al. [12] and
Forman’s [13] articles.
496 T.G. Mathia et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 494–508
Fig. 4. Working principle of a white light interferometer [18].
Nowadays the interferometric microscope in English-language
papers is treated as an optical profilometer which operates like
a white light interferometer with a microscopy objective which
increases the vertical range. Calling this device a profilometer might
be misleading since during the measurement process the fragment
of a surface is collected as opposed to acquiring individual profiles
in a profilometer. During the operation of this kind of measure-
ment system a lower beamsplitter is used to create a correlogram
of each point of the surface, which next is collected by a CCD array
(Fig. 4). By moving the objective within the vertical range, it can be
found where the interference has maximum value. By monitoring
of the position of the objective at the maximum interference value
a topographic surface map is created.
Analysis of a larger area is possible by applying stitching scans,
thanks to this option the philosophy of this measurement may be
compared to a multiprofilometer. The accuracy of stitching scans
in the VSI causes a major error when this method is applied which
can be compared to the difficulties in accuracy of the connection
of profiles in a multiprofilometer. Errors occurring during stitching
can deform the proper image of the measured surface as a whole
[14].
Another disadvantage of interferometric microscopes is dif-
ficulty in measurement of roughness of thick (to hundreds of
nanometres) transparent and semitransparent layers. In this case
light is reflected from the top of the surface and substrate simulta-
neously and causes ambiguity of the signal [15]. Scanning of a large
vertical range is based on the movement of the microscope head
and precise analysis with the assistance of an interferometer [16].
In order to make vertical movement more precise a system with a
reference signal is used [17].
Three interferometric objectives: Michelson, Mirau and Linnik
described above are used in the interferometric microscopes. The
Mirau objective is applied when at magnification about 50× the
distance of operation is too small to separate the cube from the
Michelson interferometer. Magnification above 100× requires an
even smaller distance of operation, which can be ensured by Linnik
construction. A beam splitter is located before the objective, and
each split beam passes through a separate objective.
Another optical device used for roughness analysis is the scan-
ning confocal microscope, which is one of the hybrid microscopes.
Definition of a “hybrid microscope” or an “optical scanning micro-
scope” applies to a device, which has the possibility to scan the
surface and in consequence it can collect data like a profilome-
ter. Descriptions of the foundation and operation of confocal
microscopy can be found among others in Wilson’s [19] articles.
The beginning of confocal microscopy in measurements of rough-
ness has been described in [20], and further research was carried
Fig. 5. The optical system of the scanning confocal microscope [24].
out among others by Perrin et al. [21], Tiziani and Uhde [22], and
Molesini [23].
The principle of the operation of the confocal microscope is
shown in Fig. 5. Light emitted from the source after passing through
the optical path is focused on the analyzed surface. The reflected
beam reaches to a diaphragm which transmits only focused light
and to a photodetector. A vertical scanning system is moving the
lens, which allows to analyze different height areas of roughness.
That ability to distinguish height improves significantly the con-
trast and the lateral resolution in comparison with the classic
optical microscope. Scanning confocal microscopes took advantage
of the differentiation of depth and generating of surface image and
reception of reflected beam is done by the same optical system. Like
in the scanning method, the optical system generates a spot on a
surface, and a reflected light beam is recorded by a point detector.
In the construction of a diaphragm of a modern confocal micro-
scope a Nipkow disk with a series of spiral splitting small holes is
used. In connection with a suitably prepared light beam (after pass-
ing through another Nipkow disk with microlenses) it allows a scan
of the surface topography effectively.
Construction with the confocal head connected to the traditional
profilometers instead of the contact head has become more popular
in recent years. The light illuminating the surface is usually white
light. The beam incident on the surface is split into its spectrum
by the passive optical system. Only one chosen frequency which
depends on the height of every point is focused on it and gives
a sharp image of this point on a photodetector. The photodetec-
tor is a precise spectrophotometer which allows to identify that
wavelength which gives the information about the height of the
roughness of the measurement. The scheme of this construction is
presented in Fig. 6.
Like many other optical techniques the confocal system also has
disadvantages. Some roughness causes a short lasting interruption
in collecting the signal by the photodetector, which in turn pro-
duces sharp peaks and valleys which are not real. It results from
the limitation that the illuminating beam can only resolve a slope
with a maximum angle of about 90◦ , so points where penetration is
not possible can be found. The corrupt part of this image can be cor-
rected using filtration and interpolation which applies an algorithm
for determining position with an ambiguous signal.
Other scanning microscopes are applied to analyze smaller
roughness. Among them are two families of devices: scanning elec-
tron microscopes (SEM) and scanning probe microscopes (SPM) can
be distinguished. Scanning electron microscopes are used rarely in
the investigation of roughness whereas SPMs are becoming more
and more popular.
The scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and the atomic force
microscope (AFM) are the two most often used of the scan-
ning probe microscopes. The fundamental application difference
 T.G. Mathia et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 494–508
Fig. 6. Confocal white light sensor for a profilometer [25].
between these two kinds of microscopes is that STM can be used
only for conductive materials but AFM can be used also for non-
conducting materials.
The atomic force microscope (AFM) is the most often applied
form of the scanning probe microscope. This kind of microscope
was first constructed by Binning et al. [26] as a combination of a
STM and a profilometer. The principle of AFM operation is based
on surface scanning using an elastic cantilever with a sharp tip. The
tip is pressed down to the surface with a small constant force. The
tip has height from a small part of a micrometer up to 2 ␮m and
tip radius from 2 to 60 nm. Interaction of the tip and the surface
is monitored by the reflection of the laser beam from the top of a
cantilever on the photodiode detector.
First successful investigation using a self constructed STM was
presented by Binning et al. [27]. The STM is based on the concept of
quantum tunneling, when the conductive tip is brought very near
to the sample surface (below 1 nm) and applied bias electrons from
the sample can tunnel through the vacuum between sample and
tip. This electron flow is termed a tunneling current. The value of
the intensity of this current decreases exponentially depending on
the distance between tip and sample. Constant value of the tun-
neling current is maintained by feedback which controls distance
between sample and tip. The STM registers change of the value of
the tunneling current with a constant distance or a change of the
distance with the constant current.
Besides STM and AFM there are a lot of different types of scan-
ning probe microscopes, which can be classified in four types:
optical, thermal, electric and force. Some of them are not separate
types of microscope, but only modifications allowed to use different
physical forces.
The scanning microscope in recent years has been generally
accepted. It is a tested and approved technique on the nano scale,
which allowed to obtain very good vertical resolution. Serious
problems appear only in the case of very rough surfaces and the
necessity to use a larger vertical range. Microscope application can
cause a little difficulty in the interpretation of results of measure-
ment, especially when samples have inclusions or impurities on the
surface, which characteristics are variable or can have an influence
on response of instrument.
2.2. Limitation of existing techniques
Division of the optical methods is sometimes slightly artificial.
Instruments which are the combination of several techniques have
been created more frequently recently. It allows to broaden the
497
measurement range significantly while keeping very high resolu-
tion. An example of this solution is the interferometric microscope.
General treatment of optical methods is very cautious while on the
other hand the classic profilometric methods are used confidently.
This situation is not incidental and results from many factors, e.g.
application of the optical methods is sometimes questionable due
to the fact that for the estimation of the surface the whole mathe-
matical models of the surface based on some assumption are used
instead of using the surface itself. Moreover results obtained from
the optical methods depend sometimes on physical properties of
the surface. In metals for example reflectivity is significant in con-
trast to some other materials where it is much lower – sometimes
it is so low that a large amount of the incident light penetrates the
material.
In the case of the layered surface, multiple reflections on dif-
ferent layers may occur. Diversity of the penetrations influences
the optical length path and changes test results. The presence on
the surface of elements which randomly disturb the light path, for
example small radius of curvature, microcracking or microholes
might be another reason for the abnormality. Further the optical
methods cannot always be compared with stylus methods, which
sometimes makes comparison of test result impossible. On the basis
of a number of comparative analyses some practical limitations for
stylus and optical methods have been developed, as presented in
Stedman’s [28] and Stedman’s and Lindsey’s [29] works.
Optical methods like stylus methods require the isolation of
devices from the external environment. Both thermal effects and
vibrations change influence on reliability of the result. Very careful
cleaning of the sample surface is necessary from the point of view
of industrial application.
3. Characterisation
3.1. The effects of sampling and filtering on surface topography
representation
The process of analogue-to-digital conversion, called digitiza-
tion amounts to the representation of the continuous analogue
signal by discrete data. In the frequency domain the values of sig-
nal are recorded at equal intervals in the plane of the surface. This
process is called sampling. If the sampling interval is too small,
the data are highly correlated and a large number of data points
are required to represent surface topography. If it is too large, the
resulting data are highly uncorrelated resulting in the loss of surface
spatial information (aliasing). In 3D stylus measurement the sam-
pling interval should be as large as possible, because measurement
time (comparatively long) depends on it. An assessment of surface
topography by parameters is useful when long wavelength compo-
nents are removed from the measured surface data. The unwanted
elements of the surface geometry are commonly referred to the
waviness, due to imperfections in the manufacturing process. A
necessary preliminary to numerical assessment of surface profiles
is to extract the frequency components representative of the rough-
ness and to eliminate those that would be irrelevant. A Gaussian
filtering technique has been adopted for the filtration of surface
topography. The Gaussian filtering technique solved the problems
of phase distortion but edge problems still exist in Gausssian fil-
tration (marginal – running-in and running-out lengths, where
roughness and waviness parameters cannot be calculated). The per-
formance of the Gaussian filtering technique is affected by certain
conditions, especially for surfaces having freak signals (outliers)
such as grooves, scratches and scores. Multi-process textures are
an example of such surfaces. The problem is that control of such
surface texture requires a complementary response from surface
metrologists. Without adequate measurement technique the con-
trol and hence any attempt to maintain quality is lost.
498 T.G. Mathia et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 494–508
3.1.1. Sampling interval selection
Because long wavelengths exist on the surface after con-
tact/wear, Whitehouse and Archard [30] proposed a sampling
interval equal to distance at which the autocorrelation function
decays to 0.1 value (correlation length). Several methods [31,32]
for determining optimal sampling interval were suggested based
on the principle that a tolerance between a parameter calculated
from a sampled profile and the true value for the real surface did
not exceed an acceptable limit. The main disadvantage of the above
techniques is that spatial distortion due to discrete sampling is
ignored. Wu [33] presented a method of obtaining the minimum
sampling interval for a random profile of normal ordinate distribu-
tion. The proposed sampling interval depends on radius of the tip,
correlation length and Rq parameter value.
Lin et al. [34] took into consideration the aliasing effect during
3D topography measurement by a stylus instrument. This method
was based on areal spectral analysis. The Nyquist folding frequency
(half of the sampling rate) was set at the position where the
cumulative spectral power reached 95% of the total power. At the
beginning, the sampling interval should be small, similar to the sty-
lus tip size. Then sampling interval should be chosen with regard to
the criterion presented above. The disadvantage of this method is
that 95% cumulative power always exists. The other problem is that
a large area should be mapped with a very small sampling interval
before spectral analysis. Mainsah in his PhD work improved this
method. He measured initially a profile, not a surface to determine
the sampling interval so the preprocessing time was reduced. The
chosen sampling interval was obtained by selecting the sampling
interval at which 80% of the cumulative spectra falls within 1/8 to
1/3 of the Nyquist frequency [35]. The paper [35] is a continua-
tion of Ref. [34] and Mainsah’s PhD dissertation. This approach was
based on a profile spectral analysis. Its idea is that the major spectral
power is represented by 80% of the cumulative power fij . It should
be located below the Nyquist frequency fc . At first, a profile should
be measured across the lay direction, using a very small sampling
interval (smaller than radius of tip size). Then using different incre-
ments of sampling interval and corresponding data points from the
original profile, the cumulative power of the subsections was cal-
culated. The possibility was selected, for which the absolute value
of the ratio (fij − fa )/fc is the smallest, where fa = fc /8.
Pawlus and Chetwynd [36] also initially analysed profiles, not
3D surfaces. They proposed a maximum sampling interval based on
the shape of the cumulative spectrum graph. When the assessment
length is sufficiently large, it is possible to obtain additional infor-
mation about waviness content. The sampling interval was chosen
equal to 1/(2fk ), where fk is the minimum frequency for which the
vertical distance between the curve and the straight line describ-
ing (fitted to) its upper (almost linear) part does not exceed some
fraction of the total power.
A specific investigation of determining a proper measurement
area for cylinder liners, based on parameter variation, concluded
that, while rougher cylinders required bigger evaluation areas, for
smoother cylinders smaller areas were correct. It was proposed that
initial measurements use the area giving the smallest parameter
variation and then a smaller area might be studied using a smaller
sampling interval [37].
Thomas and Rosen [38] proposed a tribologically appropriate
sampling interval. The method took plastic deformation into con-
sideration. A relationship was derived between the ratio of the
critical wavelength to the topothesy, the fractal dimension and the
material property ratio.
From investigations of simulated and real surfaces it was found
that for a sufficiently small size of stylus tip 80% of cumulative
spectra should be smaller than 1/3 of the Nyquist frequency fc (max-
imum sampling interval) for random surfaces. Minimum sampling
interval depends on characteristics of the instrument, but bearing
Fig. 7. Cumulative spectra for a cylinder surface along the axial directions with sam-
pling intervals of 5 ␮m (top left), 10 ␮m (top right), 20 ␮m (lower left) and 40 ␮m
(lower right) [39].
into mind flexible characteristics the proposal of Mainsah (fij ≥ 1/8
of fc ) is sensible. So the proposal given in Mainsah’ dissertation is
good [39]. It is also possible to select a sampling interval based on
the autocorrelation function. A minimum sampling interval should
be chosen by this way such that correlation between the measur-
ing points ought to be smaller than 0.85 (it roughly corresponds to
fij = 1/8 of fc ). However the maximum sampling interval should be
selected in such a way that the parameter determining the shape of
the autocorrelation function in its initial fragment should be pos-
sible to determine [39]. If the sampling interval is too large, the
shape of the cumulative spectra will tend toward a straight line
with no obvious “knee” (see Fig. 7). So the analysis of the cumu-
lative spectrum graph can be helpful in diagnosis if the sampling
interval was selected properly [38,39]. Paper [40] was focused on
the evaluation of a general methodology for sampling in relation to
the variation of the surface topography. A global and local sampling
strategy proposed can be used to optimize the measurement time
and confidence in measured surface topography parameters.
3.1.2. Filtering of surface topography
In order to overcome the problems with Gaussian filtering a
regression filter that works without running-in and running-out
lengths was developed [41]. Its algorithm is based on the inter-
nationally standardised Gaussian filter. Spline filters also work
without marginal lengths. Non-periodic spline filters are useful
in the case of filtering non-periodic profiles, like roughness. The
spline filters discussed in ISO are based on natural cubic splines
[42]. The behaviour of the proposed spline filter should be similar
to that of a Gaussian filter. Numada et al. [43] proposed a high-
order profile spline filter. Short calculation time is its advantage.
An areal spline filtering technique was proposed in paper [44]. Dif-
ferences between parameters obtained using a regression filter and
the ISO 11562 filter were studied [45]. It was found that deviations
of roughness parameters were comparatively small (smaller than
3%). The differences in the profile mean lines occur in the marginal
areas. So the differences could be higher when the assessment
length consisted of a small number of cut-offs. The changes of the
waviness parameters caused by various analysed filtration meth-
ods were bigger than those of roughness parameters. The spline
filters are the alternative. However errors in roughness parameters
computations after using a spline filter were bigger and compu-
tation time higher than after using a Gaussian regression filter.
 T.G. Mathia et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 494–508 499

Therefore the Gaussian regression filter was recommended. The

tendency found during profile investigations was confirmed dur-
ing Gaussian regression filtering of 3D surface topography. Changes
of surface were bigger for larger initial surface wavelengths. No
dependencies were found between measuring areas and values of
parameter errors. However changes of surface parameters were not
big: SRa to 6%, slope to 1% [46].
Although the fine marks of multi-process texture fall well
within the accepted bandwidth for the sample length (cut-off) the
scratches do not. They are too wide. For these surfaces, the dis-
tortion after Gaussian filtering can be also big. One possibility to
overcome this problem is the increase of cut-off from 0.8 to 2.5 mm.
Other methods are to establish other filter kinds. From the above
presented reasons, Rk filtering technique using two-step Gaussian
filtering is recommended by ISO (ISO 15656-1). However it cannot
restrict the influence of freak characteristics of the peak part of the
profile. In addition, the edge problems exist in it. Then, the Gaus-
sian robust profile filtering technique was established [41]. A filter
is called “robust” if the freak values do not lead to the distortion of
the filter mean line (waviness profile). With robust algorithms even
highly stratified surfaces can be filtered without the distortion of
functionally relevant surface features (laser spots, honing valleys or
EDM craters). It is important that the robust filters should behave
neutrally for surfaces of normal ordinate distribution. Robust Gaus-
sian filtering techniques proposed in Ref. [41] used a Tukey weight
function to perform the robust filtering. Several other typical robust
weight functions [46] were compared in Ref. [47]. A novel Gaus-
sian filtering algorithm was proposed and analysed with computer
simulation and a case study. A robust Gaussian filtering method
was proposed and used to characterize the 3D surface topog-
raphy of ultra-precision machined surfaces. Cubic B-splines and
M-estimation were used to make the method reliable and robust
[48]. Several typical robust weight functions were adopted [45].
The valley suppression Rk filter as well as envelope and closing fil- Fig. 8. Cylinder surface (a), unfiltered profile and waviness profiles after using
ters were also included. The results of filtration of deterministic Andrews (1.34) (b), Hampel (1.7, 3.4, and 8.5) (c), Rk (d) and Tukey (4.4) (e) filters
and random 2D profiles and 3D surface topographies of symmet- [45].
ric ordinate distributions were analysed and compared to those
obtained after using a Gaussian regression filter. In these cases closing filter and the opening filter. These filter kinds are based on
the waviness and roughness parameters using Gaussian robust and erosion and dilation. When spherical balls of radius r are used, the
non-robust filters should be identical. The computer generated 2D erosion is the locus of the centre of an ideal tactile sphere, with
profiles and 3D surface topographies having triangular scratches radius r, rolled over the surface. The sphere rolling underneath
and measured stratified surfaces were also subjected to filtration. the locus of the sphere of the dilation is a morphological opera-
It was found that the choice of the filter should be a compro- tion called erosion. Closing is the simplest morphological filter and
mise between the distortion of a profile of a symmetric ordinate consists of a dilation followed by an erosion (opening consists of
distribution and of a profile containing a freak. The surface topog- an erosion followed by an dilation). They were described in Refs.
raphy distortion and computation time were compared. Based on [53–57]. Closing filters are suitable for the analysis of stratified
the comparison results, some digital filters were recommended. surfaces [55].
The Tukey method (4.4) showed good performance for stratified An interesting attempt to use the wavelet transform to sepa-
and Gaussian surface topography. The other proposed functions are rate features of different scales relevant to manufacturing process
Hampel (1, 1.5, and 3) and Andrews (1.5) [45]. Fig. 8 presents the and functions was presented in paper [58]. The main advantages of
view of a plateau-honed cylinder surface and one profile from this the wavelet transform over other existing signal processing tech-
surface unfiltered and filtered using different functions (waviness niques are its space-frequency localization and multi-scale view of
profile). The paper [49] presents a new approach for the separa- the components of a signal. In addition, it is a powerful tool in the
tion of surface topography deviations by fitting a reference surface characterisation of the local morphology by pinpointing the local
that remains robust against deep grooves. The proposed least motif using the modulus and the phase of the wavelet transform
square method was compared with robust Gaussian regression so the roughness and waviness components can be quantified [59].
filtering. Filtering by wavelet transform of three-dimensional surface can be
The envelope method is another possibility. When an upper found in Refs. [60–64].
envelope is used, the surface properties depend on the peak sur-
face part. When a circle is used its radius of 25 mm corresponds 3.2. Standardisation
to a cut-off of 0.8 mm. Whitehouse and Torrance [50,51] found
that this method is good for the analysis of multi-process texture. In current topographic analysis of the surface more 3D parame-
The filtering procedure of 3D surface topography is time consum- ters are used for the evaluation of the surface. The initial suggestion
ing. The authors of Ref. [52] presented the possibility of decreasing to limit description to 14 or 17 definitions has been superseded a
computation time. Morphological filters were developed for scien- long time ago, we can gain an impression that “parameters fever”
tific usage. There are two basic types of envelope filters namely the [65] has reached this area too. As well as the parameters which are
500 T.G. Mathia et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 494–508

treated in standards, special parameters, which are used for specific

applications also occur. Some examples will be given later.

3.3. Description of structured surfaces

Surfaces with a dominant deterministic feature pattern are con-

sidered to have a defined structure and are termed “structured
surfaces” [66]. All structured surfaces are specifically designed to
meet specific functional requirements, for example minimizing
friction, wear or tendency to seizure. Traditional concepts in sur-
face metrology, such as roughness, waviness etc. are not useful for
the description of such surfaces. Their characteristics are statisti-
cal (mean, maximum, and range) and derived from the individual
values (feature depth/height, width, length, and volume area) or
relationship between features (distance between them, pit-area
ratio). To identify features on a surface, an automatic method is
required to segment the surface into regions of interest followed
by techniques to identify the geometric primitives and analyse their
Fig. 9. Parameters of textured surface: C, the distance between two adjacent holes;
departure from the nominal as a function of their spatial arrange- D, the distance between two adjacent rows of holes.
ment. It is useful to classify structured surfaces into two classes
based on their geometric form Refs. [67,68].
the ISO 13565-2 standard is commonly used in European industry
3.3.1. Structured steps for plateau-honed cylinder surface topography characterization.
These surfaces include steps edges and facets. Fresnel lenses are Parameters, like the reduced peak heights Rpk, the reduced valleys
examples. The analysis of these surfaces is based on the detection depth Rvk, the core roughness depth Rk, and material ratios deter-
of edges using edge detection filters such as Sobel filters. mined by the straight line separating the core roughness from the
material side (Mr1) and free from material side (Mr2) can be calcu-
3.3.2. Structured patterns
These surfaces are made from repeated patterns over the
texture. Textured surfaces with dimples created to improve tribo-
logical properties of sliding pairs are examples. Characterisation of
them entails analysis and identification of the departure from the
nominal geometry of the basic repeat unit and analysis of the dis-
tribution and spacing of the repeat unit. The approach used to these
surfaces is analyzing the surface autocorrelation function and then
applying pattern analysis (segmentation) to the autocorrelation
function. The segments around the origin of the autocorrelation
function provide information on the average basic repeat unit and
the relationship of the origin segment with its neighbouring ele-
ments of the tessellation pattern [67].
For example the hard drive industry uses a special area (a series
of laser ablated holes) on the hard disc to park the hard drive head.
Segmentation is used to define the extent of each hole; then the dis-
tance between two adjacent holes C and the distance between two
adjacent rows of holes D and holes density are easily calculated (see
Fig. 9). Then the mean distances as well as the maximum, minimum
and average depth, diameter of the holes and pit-area ratio were
computed. The diameter is calculated as the best fit least square
circle fitted to the segmentation boundary of the holes. Till now
parameters characterising textured surfaces were calculated man-
ually; the segmentation technique with feature analysis offers the
possibility of fast automatic calculation.

3.4. Characterization of multi-process surfaces

Most engineering surfaces have height distributions which

are approximately Gaussian. However multi-process texture is
more important from a functional point of view. A plateau-honed
cylinder surface is the typical example. It consists of smooth
wear-resistant and load-bearing plateaux with intersecting deep
valleys working as oil reservoirs and debris traps. The roughness
of multi-process surfaces is difficult to characterise. Sets of spe-
cial parameters, embodied in two ISO standards, were developed
to describe the material ratio curve. Fig. 10a presents parameters
described in the ISO 13565-2 standard. Fig. 10b shows param-
eters from the ISO 13565-3 standard. The method described in Fig. 10. Parameters included in ISO 13565-2 (a) and ISO 13565-3 (b) standards.
 T.G. Mathia et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 494–508
Fig. 11. Dependencies between height parameters: (a) Rvk and Rvq and (b) Rpq and Rk [78].
lated [69]. This method attempts to approximate this curve by three
straight lines (Fig. 10a). The straight line is fitted to the central 40%
of the material ratio curve. The distance between the intercepts
of this line with the height axes is defined as the Rk parameter.
This arbitrary construction is in general use in Europe and seems
to produce satisfactory results. The parameter Rk is a measure
of roughness height after a running-in process, but the parame-
ters Rvk and Mr2 are measures of capacity of oil accumulation in
the honing valleys. Decreasing Rk, oil consumption decreases, but
increasing Rvk the seizure resistance increases. The honing process
could be controlled by Rk parameters according to Nielsen [70].
In Zipin’s opinion [71], this approach can be misleading since the
material ratio curve of normally distributed random surface profiles
exhibits a variation of slope. In addition some parameters found
in this standard are non-synonymous [72]. It is always difficult to
achieve all the parameters from ISO 13565-2 standard within a cer-
tain range and the operator’s experience is relied upon. In practice,
Mr2 is considered as an important parameter among the bearing
area parameters and is assigned a higher weighting of 50%, while
Rk, Rvk, Rpk and Mr1 are assigned 30%, 15%, 4% and 1% respec-
tively [73]. The work described in Reference [74] is an investigation
carried out to identify the significant honing parameters and their
values for different honing operations. It was found that honing
pressure played an important role in controlling the liner finish.
The Ra parameter is important in all stages of the honing process,
while it can be replaced by Rk in finish honing and plateau honing
operations. The Mr2 parameter is to be controlled in the finish and
plateau honing operations. Data mining approach was used in the
investigation to select significant honing parameters and their lev-
els considering two important bearing area parameters Rk and Mr2
together to achieve the required surface topography [75].
The ISO committee incorporated another alternative way of
characterising a two-process surface [76,50] with a sounder the-
oretical basis. Honing is a process which is known to produce a
Gaussian distribution of surface heights. A process of coarse honing
followed by fine honing will superimpose one Gaussian distribu-
tion on another. If the resulting cumulative distribution is plotted
on a normal probability scale, it is shown as two straight lines of
different slopes. The Rpq parameter is the slope of a linear regres-
sion performed through the plateau region, but Rvq is similarly
defined for the valley region. The intersection point on the normal
probability graph of abscissa Rmq defines the separation of plateau
and base textures (see Fig. 10b). Since this approach independently
characterises the components of the multi-process texture, pro-
cess control can be much more specific. This method can be used to
study the running-in process. It is conceptually simpler and more
elegant than the method described previously (ISO 13565-2), but
there is difficulty in computing the parameters Rpq, Rvq and Rmq.
Connections among parameters contained in ISO 13565-2 and
ISO 13565-3 standards and plateau honing machining parameters
have been analysed [72,77]. Malburg and Grant [72] found that
parameters contained in ISO 13565-3 (Rq family) were more highly
501
correlated with honing variables (Rpq with grit size of plateau hon-
ing stone, Rvq with grit size of coarse honing stones, Rmq with
plateau honing time) than parameters from ISO 13565-2 stan-
dard (Rk family). The authors of Ref. [77] found that increasing
plateau honing time decreased plateau roughness, while increas-
ing pressure during coarse honing increased valley roughness, but
these changes could not be correlated with roughness parame-
ters. In slide honing research the effect of honing parameters on
cylinder liner surface topography was studied [78]. Surface topog-
raphy parameters were response variables. It was found from the
experiment that the coarse honing pressure pv is an important
parameter of the honing process. It almost defines the final val-
ley depth. The plateau honing time t is the second substantial
machining parameter. The effect of plateau honing pressure on
cylinder liner profile roughness parameters is negligible. The Rk
and Rvk parameters depend on both applied machining parame-
ters; they are proportional to pv , but inversely proportional to t.
Increasing plateau honing time decreases plateau roughness Rpq,
but increasing coarse honing pressure decreases valley roughness
Rvq. Increasing plateau honing time and decreasing coarse honing
pressure causes increases of Rmr2 and Rmq. The presented results
[77,78] suggest that the optimum parameter set has not been yet
found.
The statistical connections among parameters from the two
analysed standards were analysed using linear correlation coeffi-
cients [78–81]. However it is hardly possible to find what parameter
set is the best. For example, it was found that within the Rk fam-
ily, the independent pairs of parameters were Rpk and Rvk, Rk and
Rmr1, Rk and Rmr2 [78]. The Rk parameter was correlated with
Rpk ( = 0.72), but correlation between Rmr1 and Rmr2 was the
greatest ( = 0.97). Within the Rq family, the absolute values of cor-
relation coefficients were smaller than 0.5. Between the parameter
families, Rmr1 and Rmr2 were highly correlated with Rmq, and the
respective peak and valley parameters are also highly correlated
(see Fig. 11).
Other parameters from the Abbott curve exist in the CNOMO
standard. These are: the parameter Cr: running-in criterion calcu-
lated between the material ratios 1 and 33%, Cf: operating criterion
calculated between the material ratios 15 and 75% and Cl: lubri-
cation criterion calculated between the material ratios 45 and 99%
[80].
Image-processing technique has also been used to characterise
plateau-honed surfaces [81–83] but it is not used in industry to
control the honing process.
4. Applications
4.1. The effect of surface texturing on improving tribological
properties of sliding assemblies
Surface texturing as a means for enhancing tribological prop-
erties of frictional pairs is well known for many years. However it
502 T.G. Mathia et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 494–508
Fig. 12. Schematic presentation of various variants of cylinder structures; from left to right: one-process honing, plateau honing, helical honing, laser honing, oil pockets
[99].
started to be extremely popular for about the last ten years. Since
then a growth of the number of publication has been observed.
They deal with a variety of aspects of surface texturing from the-
oretical predictions to experimental research. Various techniques
were employed including machining, ion beam texturing, etch-
ing techniques and laser texturing. The dimples (also known as
micropits, holes, oil pockets or cavities) can serve either as a
micro-hydrodynamic bearing in cases of full or mixed lubrication,
a micro-reservoir for lubricant in cases of starved lubrication con-
ditions or a micro-trap for wear debris in either lubricated or dry
sliding [84,85]. The most familiar and earliest commercial applica-
tion of surface texturing is that of cylinder liner honing. At first, the
recommended cylinder surface after honing was very smooth since
it showed high wear resistance during running-in. Considerable
progress in engine construction caused a great scuffing inclination
of the smooth cylinder surface. Only rough surfaces have a higher
load-carrying capacity [86]. Running-in wear studies, conducted by
the authors of Ref. [87] on a compression ignition engine showed
that the linear wear of the cylinder increased with increase in its
initial surface roughness height. Rough surfaces wear rapidly with-
out seizure during running-in to promote quick performance, so an
initial surface finish of the cylinder of 0.8 ␮m Ra was recommended.
Scientists made efforts to find an optimum geometrical cylinder
structure. A plateau-honed cylinder surface ensures simultane-
ously the sliding properties of a smooth surface and a great ability
to maintain oil on a porous surface. It was found that plateau sur-
faces ensured shortening of the running-in and lower wear in this
period. Campbell [88] compared two honed surfaces. They were
characterised by the same roughness height and various shapes
of the ordinate distribution. Analysis indicated that to achieve a
30% material ratio in the running engine twice the volume of metal
would be worn from a typical (one-process) surface than from a
plateau surface. Pawlus [89] analysed the effect of surface topogra-
phy of honed cylinders on their wear resistance during running-in.
He found that the values of the local linear wear of cylinders hav-
ing the same roughness height were proportional to the emptiness
coefficient Rp/Rt. An increase in the initial roughness height also
caused an increase in cylinder wear intensity. Jeng [90] found that
plateaued surfaces more quickly obtained constant wear intensity
than Gaussian surfaces of the same height standard deviation, so
wear of plateaued surfaces during steady-state should be smaller.
These results were confirmed by the investigation of Grabon et al.
[91].
In order to reduce engine oil consumption and running-in wear
a high percentage contact area of cylinder liner is needed. It can
be done by reducing the base honing valleys depth (slide honing).
The main objectives in developing this technique were: productiv-
ity comparable with that of conventional honing or plateau honing,
a high degree of reliability of the process itself and in mass produc-
tion conditions, long tool life, minimum deformation in the honed
surfaces, i.e. minimal dislocations in the boundary layer and the cre-
ation of a uniform and consistent surface over the whole cylinder
bore [92]. The increased presence of cold work material on cylinder
liners due to the introduction of diamond honing is undesirable.
However in the engine tests, the diamond honed liners showed
good performance [93]. The relative basic honing fluting with con-
ventional surfaces (honing angle about 45◦ ) was considered to be
sensible for many decades. However, it was found that the reduc-
tion of wear and scuffing tendency can be achieved by altering
the geometry of basic honing valleys. The honing grooves were
arranged in the direction of the piston in an elongated spiral (heli-
cal honing–honing angle about 140◦ ) [94]. Various endurance tests
on 6-cylinder production engines of up to 3000 running hours have
proved the advantages of helical honing. The wear in the reversal
zone was reduced by approximately 40% as compared to the pre-
vious production plateau honing process [95]. The other proposal
is the creation of cylinder surface structures by a modified honing
process followed by laser texturing. This represents a very promis-
ing approach for reducing both wear and friction losses without
an increase of the oil consumption. It was found that volumet-
ric wear of the laser-textured surface was reduced in comparison
to the standard plateau-honed surface [96]. Laser texturing on a
cylinder surface was used in order to minimise risk of seizure [97].
Another possibility is the creation of a deterministic cylinder struc-
ture by laser honing. It ensures 2–3 times smaller oil consumption
and smaller wear of piston rings and cylinder during test of 330 h
duration in comparison to plateau honing [98].
Fig. 12 presents schemes of different cylinder liner surfaces.
Fig. 13 shows the effect of surface texturing on volumetric wear
of cylinder from internal combustion engine.
The other possibility is the laser texturing of piston rings. Exper-
imental tests, which were performed on a laboratory reciprocating
test rig showed that a friction reduction of up to 25% can be obtained
by partial texturing of cylindrical face rings in comparison to un-
textured rings of barrel shape [100]. It was found that partial laser
texturing piston rings produced up to 4% lower fuel consumption
in an internal combustion engine, while no traceable change in the
exhaust gas composition or smoke level was observed [101].
The applications of texturing include also: piston pin, disk
brakes, thrust bearings, journal bearings, mechanical face seals, gas
Fig. 13. The effect of kind of machining on volumetric wear (after [96]).
 T.G. Mathia et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 494–508 503

seals, hard disk sliders, magnetic tapes, machine tools guideways

and other elements. One can find recent publications presenting
profitable effects of surface texturing on seizure resistance in Refs.
[102–104] transition between fluid and mixed lubrication in Refs.
[105–107] and wear resistance in Refs. [108–110].
The case of texturing usually requires multi-scale analysis,
therefore frequently different techniques should be used [111].

4.2. Other applications

The topography of a surface is commonly used to analyze sur-

faces after different types of machining [112,113]. It is treated as a
representation of the manufacturing process, so it represents what
was occurring with the tested sample. Topography of the sample
could be used for typical or unconventional machining, to optimize
the machining and the tools parameters. 3D surface topography
has found an application in the surface analysis after less conven-
tional machining, however this classification is flexible, because it
can happen that something that was treated as unconventional is
nowadays thought to be traditional. Nevertheless, the examples
presented below have not been in common use. At first the exam-
ples could be coupling standard methods of machining modified by
additional conditions e.g. diamond turning combined with ultra-
sonic [114] or elliptic vibrations [115], which are used to obtain Fig. 14. Image of surface with tendency to corrosion (a), without tendency to cor-
a mirror surface, or abrasive machining with positive influence of rosion (b) [124].
cavitation [116].
Topographic analysis of the surface is also used in plastic form-
ing, mainly in the automotive industry. With use of this method Topography of the surface was used and is still used in other
the metal sheet of a car body is tested at different stages of pro- disciplines of science, absolutely unrelated to engineering. Exam-
duction (after rolling, stamping [117]) and as a complete object ples can be taken from biology, medicine and chemistry. In zoology
(analysis of the influence of the roughness and waviness of the the surface of animal tongues has been analyzed, in order to under-
surface on quality of the paint coat and appearance of the final stand the mechanism of food transport at an initial phase. Results
element) [118]. Application of topographic analysis of the surface of this kind of testing e.g. tongue of Talpa europea [125], mouse
in the production of the metal sheet of the car body has become [126] and eagle [127] have been published. An image of a fragment
more meaningful recently. New methods of the production of the of the tongue of an eagle obtained by SEM is presented in Fig. 15.
rolls, or more precisely the modifications of their surfaces have been Unusually interesting tests have been realized in the food indus-
invented. They are used in rolling elements, which are covered by try, by the investigation of the connection between topography of
coats, paints, lacquers in a further operation of the processing. It chocolate and its visual aspects [128]. Additionally the dependence
allows to improve their frictional properties and thus to improve of roughness on temperature of chocolate fracture has been tested.
adhesion of the covering element to the substrate through giving Research applications of surface topography in medicine and
coating elements abilities to keep the coat stable. bioengineering can be without hesitation admitted as being a real
Roughness of the surface is connected with the result of testing triumph of the end of the last millennium and the beginning of the
materials. It influences impact resistance (in the investigations of new one. A review of applications from bioengineering has been
Lee and Mills for injected polyester [119]) and roughness of the described in Ref. [129]. In the case of the tooth: from one side there
surface changes under the influence of sample deformations [120]. is an analysis of the roughness of surface, and from second a lot of
The next property of the materials, which is connected with
morphologic surface analysis is hardness. Hasche et al used an AFM
to measure the geometry of a microindenter [121]. The result of
hardness measurements (especially on micro-scale) was compared
with the topographic evaluation of the indentation produced by
the indenter which was measured by stylus profilometer [122,123].
The results draw conclusions that the second method gave a better
picture of the materials properties. Such analysis makes possible
visualization and precise quantitative evaluation. A topographic
picture of indentations does not always enables the visualization
of cavities in their lower parts, therefore inversion of data is com-
monly used.
Topographic analysis of the surface is used to test its corrosion
resistance. Fig. 14a shows the picture of the topography of a sur-
face, on which deep valleys occur. Because of them the surface has
a tendency to corrosion. Fig. 14b shows a surface with a nearly nor-
mal distribution of roughness where this problem does not occur.
Structures with deep valleys, with traces of machining and without
the possibility of precise wash out have a tendency to corrosion. In
this case, red fields are up to 7 mm above mean plane, while blue
ones are 3 mm below. Fig. 15. Section of eagle tongue [127].
504 T.G. Mathia et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 494–508

places are devoted on researches of roughness of materials which

are used in dental work.
An oral cavity is continuously polluted by different microbes.
Most of these microorganisms can survive inside, only if they
succeed in adhering to the surface and nesting (or living) in its
roughness. This is the reason why roughness of the surface is so
significant. Quirynen et al. [130] showed that increase of the rough-
ness to about Ra = 2 ␮m, cause significant intensification of bacteria
colonization. In this regard value Ra below 0.2 ␮m is considered to
be satisfactory. Therefore studies of patients at different ages – from
children up to aged people – are taken and comparative analyses
are performed.
These researches have been done in order to define proceed-
ing changes on the tooth surface as result of caries. An interesting
observation is that caries does not start when a tooth is rough but
when it is smooth. When caries appears, it should be eliminated and Fig. 16. Knee prosthesis [137].
a filling should be put in. At this time the morphology of the tooth
surface is tested after drilling. Moreover the influence of chemi-
comechanical eliminating of the caries is studied on the topography
prosthesis is equally important. Charlton and Blunt described the
of the surface of the ceramic dental materials. A noteworthy discov-
surface topography of the polished element which is used as a knee
ery is that, the hygiene of the oral cavity does not influence teeth
implant [136]. Hilerio and Mathia concentrated on a similar subject
roughness. Slop and Arends [131] showed that using toothpaste or
area [137]. A view of a knee prosthesis is shown on Fig. 16.
even a dental floss does not change the value of Ra and this param-
Analysis of human skin surface is a very popular usage of the
eter could be even increased by using a toothpick frequently. If
topography analysis in medicine especially in dermatology. Rough
caries could not be cured by conventional therapy, other less pleas-
skin and wrinkles are easily visible negative elements of appear-
ant techniques should be applied, namely dental extraction. If the
ance so roughness measurements of skin are absolutely essential
patient wishes it then the implant is replaced.
in the cosmetic industry. Such analysis is made to verify the effi-
Bones and implants surface analysis are another important
ciency of particular creams used to improve the skin conditions
medicine application, since roughness of the implants surface has
[138]. Here – as in mechanical engineering – researches on those
a notable influence on the force of the connection and the reac-
parameters that allow effective and fast qualitative and quantita-
tion of tissues in the joint area between bone and implant, and
tive analysis of the specific qualities are taken up [139]. Topography
even on behavior of germs in bone tissue. Methods of the rough-
of the human skin surface is measured by optical or stylus methods
ness analysis of the implant vary from stylus profilometer through
from replicas [140]. An interesting method of skin topography anal-
optical methods to scanning microscopy. Especially the influence
ysis in vivo is Fast Optical in vivo Topometry of Human Skin (FOITS),
of the surface topography on the adhesion of human bone cells to
it is developed on the basis of a similar method from the automo-
artificial elements (implants, manufacturing usually from titanium
tive industry [141]. This is a non-contact method of obtaining data
[132]) is investigated. Analysis concerns both the bones of the jaw
about the topography of skin. The system includes a projector and
(dental implants) described above as well as the bones of limbs (hip
a video camera angularly fixed in a triangular system. Comparative
prostheses). In stomatology specially the influence of the rough-
test of FOITS and laser profilometry showed agreement [142]. Mea-
ness of implant on the binding force is examined [133]. Moreover
surement is most often made at different stages, before application
attempts are made to define the optimal roughness of the implant
of the cosmetically active substance, in the course of using it and
surface in order to obtain the best tensile strength of the whole
after finish in order to show the influence of the treatment on the
set and general operation of bite elements. Implants are used not
smooth surface. Comparative tests of women in different regions of
only in stomatology but also widely in surgery. Also in this case the
the world are carried out in order to discover regional and genetic
influence of roughness on the correct operation of the implants and
aspects of the visible symptoms of advanced age [143].
their connection with bones was tested [134].
The possibility of manufacturing the objects with predeter-
mined roughness is especially significant, since an important
connection between topography and calcium deposition exists.
Similarly like the implants in stomatology, hip joint endoprosthe-
sis plays an important role in surgery. Hip joint replacement, that is
surgical intervention, is connected with placing foreign matter into
the environment of the human body. It is based on the assumption
that the implant will meet biomechanical requirements for a long
time and at the same time it will stay biologically neutral. Proper
functioning of the hip joint implant includes three independent
issues: fixation of the acetabulum in pelvis bone, reliable working
of the joint of the head and the acetabular cup, and placing the
stem in the femur. The Endoprosthesis problem is important since
the human population is ageing, so an increasing number of peo-
ple require this kind of operation. At the end of the 90 s of the last
century about 250 thousand of this kind of operation was carried
out just in the countries of old European Union. It should not sur-
prise anybody that many articles on this topic have been published.
Blunt and Thomas analyzed roughness of the endoprosthesis ele-
ments of hip joint in order to estimate its wear [135]. The knee Fig. 17. Image of asphalt pavement acquired by an optical scanner [4].
 T.G. Mathia et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 494–508 505

Fig. 18. Comparison of bottom side of cross-country (a) and downhill (b) skies [152].

It is worth showing some more examples of surface measure- scattering, although acoustic sensors [153] or AFM are also used.
ment application. Let’s start with asphalt pavement analysis [144]. These methods allow for testing of paper for special applications,
In this case roughness conventionally includes wavelengths in the analysis of old prints and marks of physicochemical impurity or
range 0.1–100 m and amplitudes from 1 to 100 mm. Lower com- analysis connected with the deposition of a drop of ink from the
ponents are called texture macro and micro. Pavement roughness printer. Roughness of the paper has influence on the deposition of
has influence on the vehicles using it, therein on correctness of tire the ink component, which causes non-uniformity of colour print-
functioning, their friction and vibration [145]. Pavement conditions ing [154]. On paper with higher roughness uniformity and quality
affect also the distribution of stresses in the subsurface layer, and of printing is worse. Fig. 19 shows a surface of rough paper. Applica-
this is the result of e.g. roughness of the road-metal used [146]. Dif- tion of the topography parameters of the surface allows to ascertain
ferent techniques are used for asphalt roughness analysis. A review
was published in article [147] and it refers to highways. Therefore
– similarly to machine engineering – profilometers with different
accuracies depending on the requirements can be used and opti-
cal systems instead of stylus heads, for example autofocus laser
systems or sensors dependent on sonic wave reflection.
Another possibility is using an acoustic transducer or an image
analysis system [148], which can be for example an optical scanner.
An image of the surface topography of asphalt pavement obtained
with the help of this device is shown in Fig. 17. In this case, red
fields are up to 7 mm above mean plane, while blue ones are 3 mm
below.
Equally important as a road in asphaltic concrete are roads
of steel, i.e. rails. Papers [145,146,149,150] are devoted to their
roughness analysis. Especially important are places, where vio-
lent braking – contact of the brake block with the rail occurs. This
causes formation of roughness, which has an influence on the phe-
nomenon proceeding on the surface and on the subsurface layer of
the rail during its contact with the wheel band. Just as a result of
roughness local exceeding of boundaries conditions of mechanical
strength and cracking of the material can occur, which can have
an effect with very serious consequences including accident. It was
observed that roughness of the wheel band is one of the factors,
Fig. 19. Surface of rough paper [155].
which cause locomotive derailment during switching tracks, if the
value of the roughness parameters after switching does not meet
the requirements.
The next important branch in this context is cloth and material
manufacturing, where roughnesses are analyzed especially when
special requirements are placed on them, for example keeping
warm or ensuring the aesthetic properties of a car interior. In such
tests stylus profilometry does not find an application, whereas opti-
cal techniques are used for example a laser sensor [151]. In sports
popularity was gained by an analysis of the roughness of the under-
side of skis [152]. Fig. 18 presents the surface of the underside of
cross-country (a) and downhill (b) skis. In this second case as a
result of contact of skis with snow at high speed a lot of heat is pro-
duced and snow is melted, hence grooves should quickly remove
water in order that the speed of the downhill run does not decrease.
Surface topography analysis is often used in the paper industry.
Because of the delicacy of the investigated surface stylus mea-
surements are replaced by other techniques mainly based on light Fig. 20. Topography image of a banknote.
506 T.G. Mathia et al. / Wear 271 (2011) 494–508
Fig. 21. Profiles represents marks of the same gun on two different shots [158].
that surfaces with similar values of some parameters may have
totally different appearances and performances.
On banknote surfaces except overprint also three-dimensional
special marks are plotted, which make it difficult to counterfeit
banknotes and allow to evaluate their authenticity. An image of
the 50D banknote fragment is shown in Fig. 20.
The next application is analysis of the surface of shot fired from
the gun, which is used for gun identification [156]. In this branch
the American National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
has the lead e.g. It leads a program of model gun cartridge produc-
tion, where it is fired from each gun directly after manufacturing
and on which each gun leaves individual marks [157]. This car-
tridge is used for the identification of guns, because the marks of
the gun barrel are impressed on its surface. The marks are measured
as the roughness of each gun which is as adequate as identification
as finger prints are for people [158]. Marks from the same gun for
two different shots are shown in Fig. 21. Both profiles are compat-
ible with each other, so we can assume that the shots were fired
from the same gun. Saving this profile in the database allows fast
identification in future. For correct estimation of the profiles of the
identified shots the influence of the filtration of the waviness on
the result of the comparison of two shots [4] is also analyzed.
5. Summary
It seems likely that stylus methods of surface topography mea-
surement will be replaced by optical methods which make it
possible to measure surface stereometry in a short time. White light
interferometry and confocal microscopes are the most promising
techniques. However because of known susceptibility to measure-
ment errors the stylus technique will be in future treated as a
reference technique. The Ideal solution is a combination of tactile
and optical methods. Scanning probe microscopes and among them
especially atomic force microscopy (AFM) are the best techniques
to measure very smooth surfaces.
There are still problems in surface topography characterization.
Support is expressed for current standard proposals for a consoli-
dated 3D parameters set. Multi-process textures are becoming very
important from the tribological point of view. Various methods of
their description are included in ISO standards. It was concluded
that an optimum parameter set was not found yet. The problems
of sampling and filtering of multi-process structures, especially
those having wide valleys are not solved yet. Structured surfaces
are becoming both technologically and economically critical. They
should be described by special parameters, where a segmentation
method can be helpful.
The effects of surface texturing on improving tribological prop-
erties of sliding assemblies are very important. The oil pockets can
serve either as a micro-hydrodynamic bearing in cases of full or
mixed lubrication, a micro-reservoir for lubricant in cases of starved
lubrication conditions or a micro-trap for wear debris in either
lubricated or dry sliding.
Other effects of surface topography are mentioned in this paper.
Examples are only a selection of applications of the analysis of the
surface topography, which gains bigger and bigger popularity both
in mechanical engineering as well as in other branches which are
not connected with traditional engineering experience. Its increas-
ing availability and commonality favors searching further areas of
application and possibilities of interdisciplinary researches, often
very attractive for workers from distant branches of science.
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