Many of us have seen these pictures of surfaces that the average roughness parameter, Ra, cannot distinguish between: However, you may not have seen different surfaces with the same values for the entire Rk family of parameters. For these Rk parameters: … we could have these two different surfaces: While the differences between these … Read more
When analyzing surface texture, we often need to separate specific features from the overall texture in order to analyze them. Isolating features from a complex background, however, isn’t always easy. Analyzing a surface created by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) In laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), an additive manufacturing technique, components are built up layer-by-layer … Read more
What makes a stone feel good in your hand? What magnitude of surface roughness is required for it to feel that way? We recently collaborated with stone enthusiast and retired metrologist Bob Rother to find out. Rother wanted to combine his passion for “rock hounding” with his background in process engineering and precision measurement to … Read more
Engine cylinder bore surfaces are among the most “engineered” surfaces in the world. Millions and millions of hours (and dollars) have been spent on testing and optimizing these surfaces. And countless magazine and journal articles have been published on these surfaces. Despite these efforts, we find that there is no single, “one size fits all” … Read more
What can surface texture tell us about how biological communities evolve? Dr. Jessica Arbour and her team at Middle Tennessee State University studies differences in morphology (physical traits). Their goal is to better understand why some species “stay with one biological plan” while others explosively diversify into many new forms. Arbour has studied many different … Read more
Measuring texture along a linear path is a fairly straightforward process. A stylus-based measurement will do the trick. And, if we have areal (3D) measurement data, we can position a cursor on the path of interest and view it as a profile. But sometimes roughness matters along a curved path — perhaps along a ridge … Read more