How can you control textured plastic surfaces? Samples on texture cards are a quick way to specify aesthetic surfaces, but they may not give enough information to control more functional surfaces. In this post we look at how surface texture software can help you visualize and explore textured surfaces, as well as providing parameters that might lead to better ways to specify and control them. You can even try it for yourself using the sample 3D data in our Surface Library!
There’s a lot of science involved in pickleball equipment! We visited this topic a few months ago (digitalmetrology.com/pickleball-paddles/), and the topic continues to gain…traction. First, here’s an interesting surface from a paddle I purchased a few weeks ago: Specifically, this is a JOOLA Perseus MOD TA-15 paddle. Here it’s being measured under the Zygo ZeGage: … Read more
Have you ever used an optical microscope to look at dimensional features? It’s a fairly common task to look at lateral features such as circumferences on relatively flat components like plates, panels, and even circuit boards. Many measuring microscopes (or “optical dimensional microscopes”) also incorporate some method of optically measuring heights—and thus many systems report … Read more
Here’s a common challenge: your vendors and/or customers are using different equipment to verify part quality…and their results conflict. How can you determine which system is “correct?” Here’s another common issue: you have a new measurement requirement, but you’re not sure which instrument can do the job best. Vendors give you specs, and even demos, … Read more
In surface texture, Average Roughness (Ra) is still the most widely used parameter, even though it has serious limitations. But what other tools are there that can tell us more about our surfaces? We’ll be exploring that topic in a series of posts, so watch this spot for updates every week! Looking for more info? … Read more
You have a worn component…but worn by how much? Or, perhaps you have several parts that have worn differently, and you need to know why. The new Wear Analysis tool in OmniSurf3D lets you see the wear and describe it numerically, in just a few clicks. It can even handle your most complex underlying geometries. … Read more