Surface roughness analysis

The surface of a material is a vulnerable zone where many interactions with its environment take place. It conditions, by its specific characteristics, the global performances of materials. It can impact the reliability and the solidity of a product in case of failures (corrosion, wear, adhesion, friction…).

Moreover, whatever its manufacturing process, the surface is not perfectly smooth. Indeed, this can depend on various factors such as: the machining method, the tools used, the materials. These materials have many irregularities that can be called defects.  All these surface defects constitute the roughness.

• Shape : Deviations over long periods or non-cyclic deviations
• Ripples: Surface structure with longer intervals of irregularities.
• Roughness : Irregularities with short intervals