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TraceBoss software now supports the Zeiss/ACCRETECH Surfcom TOUCH 50! Now you can see your data full screen, with the parameters that count, whether your gage is skidded or skidless! 

TraceBoss software interfaces instantly with most portable surface roughness gages to let you see your data full screen, with the parameters that count. Its simple interface is designed for fast production measurements, to help you see, save, and understand your surfaces like never before.

This week we made a big addition to the our Surface Library of 3D surface texture datasets! The new Microfinish Comparator series includes high resolution, 3D data of the 22 surface texture samples on a GAR S-22 microfinish comparator gage. These textures represent various machining operations and surface roughness amplitudes. These samples make it easy to compare and explore these common surfaces in great detail.

Sometimes in surface texture analysis we need to measure difficult shapes, such as those resulting from a local process or local damage. Large features or distorted underlying geometry can further complicated the process. In this case study, we show the step-by-step process in OmniSurf3D for taming a challenging surface analysis task.

How good is my surface roughness gage? In this Notepad Series video we look at why repeatability is not a good judge of a stylus instrument's condition or capability. In fact, good repeatability may indicate a bad instrument!

Digital Metrology regularly works with metrology instrument providers and their end users to solve tough problems. This recent project is a great example. Digital Metrology developed the NozzleView software to better understand the geometry within fuel injector spray holes. These geometries are critical to fuel injector performance, but until recently they have been very difficult to measure and analyze. The NozzleView software lets users to analyze and explore the shape of each spray hole throughout its length, and to visually interact with the data to gain a better view, and better understanding, of the surface geometries.

The surface heights of many machined surfaces form a normal distribution with a common bell shape. But often we want a surface that is skewed toward the peaks or valleys. The Rsk parameter is widely used to report the direction and degree of skewness...but Rsk has some very serious issues baked into the math which can lead to incorrect conclusions. 

In this video we examine the Rsk parameter, how it is calculated, and how the calculation can lead to instability. We also provide some alternative parameters that are more stable for production measurement.

There’s information about your performance and machining processes hiding in your surface texture. But you need to be able to see it to improve it. We sat down with Brad, the larger-than-life personality who fuels QMP, to talk about how he and QMP mine surface texture for every ounce of performance from their engines.

How much of a surface do you need to measure in order to accurately describe its roughness? For typical surfaces, the standards suggest an evaluation length 5 times longer than the roughness cutoff. But if you are measuring a narrow feature or part, the entire surface may be smaller than that 5X length.

In this video we show you how to determine the "evaluation length" for measuring roughness on a typical surfaces, and we introduce options for measuring texture on smaller surfaces. We also point out some pitfalls that can lead to incorrect evaluation of roughness and waviness.

Digital Metrology's new Surface Library is a collection of data to help users explore, understand, and explain surface texture. The Library is intended for surface texture professionals, researchers, teachers, students, and anyone curious about surface texture. Over the years we have generated and collected thousands of surface datasets. Some datasets highlight common objects, some help show how a particular kind of analysis affects data. And some are...just fun.