1

Measurement of Surface Finish by G.Srikanth Introduction A great advancement in the present machine age has been possible due to the increased knowledge and constant improvement to the surface textures. The need of producing smother and harder functioning of machine parts, load carrying capacity, tool life, fatigue life, bearing corrosion, and wear qualities of any component of any component of machine have direct bearing with its surface texture. Therefore, these effects made the control of surface texture very important. Failure due to fatigue always starts to occur at sharp cornets where stress concentration occurs. The root of any surface irregularity axis as sharp corner and such part fails earlier. It has been also shown that the surface irregularity at the non working surfaces of that surface must be given very good finish. !ood bearing properties in any part are obtained when the surface has large number of irregularities, i.e. a large number of hills and valleys. If the surface is perfectly smooth then sei"ure would occur due to difficulty of maintaining the lubricating oil film. The hills in irregular surface reduce the metal to the surface areas in contact and the load per unit area. Thus it is seen that different requirements demand different types of surfaces. Therefore, it became essential to# measure the surface texture quantitatively and methods were devised for this purpose. Also the greater demands of high surface finish resulted in refined processes like grinding, honing and lapping. It may be appreciated that it is requirements demand different types of surfaces. Therefore, it became essential to measure the surface texture quantitatively and methods were devised for this purpose. Also the greater demands of high surface finish resulted in refined processes like grinding, honing and lapping. It may be appreciated that it is not possible to produce perfectly smooth surface. The manufacture surface always departs from the absolute perfection to some extent. The imperfections on the surface are in the form of succession of minute irregularities on surface is influenced by the machining process employed. For instance, a surface machined by a single point tool, will have roughness which is uniformly spaced and directional. In the case of finishing process, the texture is irregular and non directional. $omplete roughness is the resultant of irregularities of various kinds. If the hills and valleys on a surface are very close, i.e. the wavelength is very small, then surface appears as valleys on a surface are far apart, it is due to imperfection in the machine tool and is referred to as primary texture. If the hills and valleys on a surface are far apart, it is due to imperfection in the machine tool and is referred to as secondary texture or waviness.

It would be appreciated that the imperfection to be found on any surface takes the form of peaks and valleys of different height and wavelength. This distinction between primary and secondary texture is due to difference in wavelength. It is however impossible to specify any particular wavelength which could be treated as the dividing line between the primary and secondary texture. This depends on the requirements and class of the work desired. A surface actually is quite complex and consists of many different wavelengths caused due to feed of the tool, cutting action , vibrations , imperfections in machine tools, etc. Surface Roughness: %n any finished surface, imperfections are bound to be there and these take the form of a succession of hills and valleys which vary both in height and in spacing and result in a kind of texture which in appearance or feel is often characteristic of the machining process and its accompanying defects. The several kinds of departures are there on the surface and these are due to various causes. &oughness or texture in the form of a succession of minute irregularities is produced directly by the finishing process employed e.g. while using a single point tool, the roughness on the surface tends to be both uniformly spaced and directional # whereas surfaces produced by straight and cylindrical grinding tend to have irregularly spaced but directional roughness and in the case of boring or lapping process the surface by the tool is not the only cause of roughness in case of machining operations, but the more openly spaced component or roughness are also produced from faults in the machining operation . In practice the complete roughness commonly represents a combination of irregularities of various kinds and magnitudes arising from several different causes and the individual effects of the separate contributing factors can't always be readily distinguished. Thus for the complete study of the surface roughness, it is essential that the measurement and analysis of all the component elements and an assessment of the all that is essential is that a practical method of assessment be followed, the result of which can be readily compared with a specified requirement of quality, preferably on the numerical basis. It is done surface roughness poses a problem in three dimensional geometry, but for simplification purposes, it is of plane sections taken through the surface. The direction of measurement is usually perpendicular to constitute surface roughness is best studied in a cross section normal to the surface using a stylus instrument which plots a graph in which the minute irregularities of the surface are magnified to () times or even greater, whereas the length over which observations are made is magnified only by () to *)) time. Thus, the above graph does not give a real representation of the surface nature, but a distorted view, but it gives very useful information. From this curve the height of the irregularities +total or average value,, separation of the crests +separation, can be easily noted. -hen the irregularities are comparatively uniform in shape and si"e, then the distance between the successive peaks is described as pitch or dominant spacing. It may be appreciated here that the surface roughness is concerned both with the si"e and the shape of the irregularities e.g. in certain profile the height of departure from the nominal profile may be same but the spacing of the irregularities may be wider or closer, or the space of the irregularities may be of various

forms. Thus reali"ing that both si"e and shape +i.e. height of irregularities, their spacing and form, are important for specifying surface roughness, it is not considered possible to express the complete roughness characteristics by means of any single number. The normal practice is, therefore to specify roughness characteristics by means of and the manufacturing process which serves to produce the type of roughness.

Methods of Measuring Surface Finish There are two methods used for measuring the finish of machined part.

i, ii,
i)

/urface Inspection by $omparison 0ethods. 1irect Instrument 0easurements. Surface Inspection by Comparison Methods

In comparative methods, the surface texture is assessed by observation of the surface. 2ut these methods are not reliable as they can be misleading if comparison is not mad with surfaces produced by same techniques. The various methods available under comparison methods are. ouch Inspection:

The main limitation of this method is that the degree of surface roughness can't be assessed. Also the minute flaws can't be detected. This method can simple tell which surface is rougher. In this method, the finger tip is moved along the surface at a speed of about (3 mm per second and the irregularities as small as ).)4 mm can be easily detected. A modification of it is possible by using a table tennis ball, which is rubbed over the surface and vibrations from the ball transmitted to hand and surface roughness 5udged thereby. !isua" Inspection: 6isual inspection by asked eye is always likely to be misleading particularly when surfaces and results vary from person to person. 0ore accurate inspection can be done by using illuminated magnifiers. Scratch Inspection: In this method a softer material like lead or plastic is rubbed over the surface to be inspected. 2y doing so it carries the impression of the scratches on the surfaces which can be easily visuali"ed. Microscopic Inspection: This is probably the best method for examining the surface finish but suffers due to limitation that only a small portion of the surface can be inspected at a time. Thus several readings are required to get an average value. In this method, a master finished surface is polished under the microscope and compared with the surface under inspection. In another method a straight edge is placed on the surface to be inspected and a beam of light pro5ected at about 7) to the work. Thus the shadows cast into the surface scratches are magnified and the surface irregularities can be studied.

Surface #hotographs: In this method magnified photographs of the surface are taken with different types of illumination. In case we use vertical illumination, then defects like irregularities and scratches appear as dark spots and flat portion of the surface appears as bright area. In case of oblique illumination, reverse is the case. 8hotographs with different illumination are compared and the results assessed. Micro Interferometer: In this method, an optical flat is placed on the surface to be inspected and illuminated by monochromatic source of light. Interference bands are studied through a microscope. 1efects, i.e. scratches in the surface appear as interference bands are studied through a microscope the bright bands. The depth of the defect is measured in terms of the fraction of the interference band. $a""ace Surface %ynamometer: This is a sort of friction meter and consists of a pendulum in which the testing shoes are clamped to a bearing surface and a predetermined spring pressure can be applied. In this method

the pendulum is lifted to its initial starting position and allowed to swing over the surface to be tested, It the surface is smooth, then there will be less friction and pendulum swings for a longer period. Thus time of swing is a direct measure of surface finish. Ref"ected "ight Intensity: In this method, beams of light of known quantity are pro5ected upon the surface. This light is reflected in several directions as beams of lesser intensity and the change in light intensity in different directions is measured by a photocell. The measured intensity changes are already calibrated by means of reading taken from surface of known roughness by some other suitable method. &ther Methods of Measuring Surface Roughness: aper Sectioning. In this method, a section is cut through the surface to be examined at a shallow angle , thus magnifying height variations by a factor of cot , and the section is examined by optical microscope. It is very accurate method but is a destructive method. G"oss measurement. There is a variation in the optical properties of different rough surfaces as 5udged sub5ectively by the human eye and various instruments have been developed to try and quantify is reflected at the specula angle. This angle is gradually decreased until the bars can no longer be distinguished. The roughness is inversely proportional to the cosine of angle of extinction. %iffraction techni'ues /peckle is produced when a rough surface is illuminated with spatially coherent light and observed with an optical system of fine aperture. 9ight is received at each point in the image from several different points on the ob5ect because of resolution limitations of the system. The path length of the light from each point on the surface depends on the height of the surface contour at that point. If this height varies significantly across the width of the point spread function, interference effects will appear as speckle. /urface roughness can be deduced from measurements of speckle pattern. ii, %irect Instrument Measurements These methods enable to determine a numerical value of the surface finish of any surface. :early all instruments used are stylus probe type of instruments. These operate on electrical principles. Further, threes electrical instruments can be of two kinds. In first type they operate on the carrier ; modulating principle. The movements of the stylus bree"ing the surface are caused to modulate a high frequency carrier current. The carrier modulated frequency type of instruments has the advantage that the signal fed to the recorder depends only upon the position of the stylus. -hile in the voltage generating type, when the oscillatory movement of the stylus stops, the output falls to "ero no matter where the stylus may be. /ome pneumatic instruments are also used for measuring surface finish Sty"us #robe Instruments:

This type of instrument generally consists of the following units. +i, A skid or shoe which is draw slowly over the surface either by hand or by motor drive. This skid when moved over the surface follows its general contours and provides a datum for the measurements. In case a skid is not used and only a probe is used then probe will trace the actual profile, but upward and downward movement of probe will be dependent upon the setting of the work under probe. 2ut since the roughness of the surface does not depend on the position of the work, it will be necessary to choose a datum from which the measurement is to be taken. A line touching the crest of the profile that is the envelope line which defines the macro geometrical form is generally chosen as datum line and this is obtained by using a skid of such a si"e which can span a large number of surface undulations. A lot of work has been done on shape of skid, and different types of skids are available for different purposes by which the true macro geometrical form may be obtained.

+ii, A stylus or probe which moves over the surface with the skid. The stylus for &a measurement on new instrument can have a radius of 4) microns < *) =. -hen in use, tip radius is allowed to vary ()=. The stylus should be cone shaped with a spherical tip. This records the micro geometrical form surface. !enerally it is desired that if the skid is moving up then the stylus must also be moving up. 2ut when the pitch between the skid and sty plus is comparable to that of half the wavelength of surface , then record will not be desirable one, e.g. in the skid and stylus position shown in Fig. skid is moving up, while stylus is giving downward indication. +iii,An amplifying device for magnifying the stylus movement and an indicator. +iv, A recording device to produce a trace or record of the surface profile. >sually the vertical movement is magnified more in comparison to hori"ontal movement, thus the record will not give the actual picture of surface roughness but a distorted trace obtained. +v, A means for analy"ing the trace is obtained. The analysis can be done separately or some automatic device may be incorporated in the instrument for analysis.

#rofi"ometer: This instrument is most commonly used in >./.A for direct. This is a dynamic instrument similar in principle to a gramophone pick up# a finely pointed stylus mounted in the pick up unit

is traversed across the surface either by hand or by motor drive. The instrument records the rectified output from the pick up which is amplified further and operates an indicating device. Thus this records the average height of the surface roughness. In this instrument, roughness together with waviness and flaws comprises the irregularities found on the surface. An indication is obtained only when the pick up is moving. This instrument is best suited for measuring surface finish of deep bores. $ith a neat sketch e(p"ain the )orking of * om"inson surface meter+ for measurement of surface roughness. he om"inson Surface Meter: This instrument was designed by 1r. Tomlinson. This instrument uses mechanical cum optical means for magnification +Fig.,. The diamond stylus on the surface finish recorder is held by spring pressure against the surface of a lapped steel cylinder. The stylus is also attached to the body of the instrument by a leaf spring and its height is ad5ustable to enable the diamond to be positioned conveniently. The lapped cylinder is supported on one side by the stylus and on the other side by two fixed rollers as shown in Fig. The stylus is restrained from all motion except the vertical one by the tensions in coil and leaf spring. The tensile forces in these two springs also keep the lapped steel cylinder in position between the stylus and it carries at its tip a diamond scriber which bears against a smoked glass. -hen measuring surface finish, body is traversed across the surface by a screw rotated by a synchronous motor. Any vertical movement of the stylus caused by the surface irregularities causes the magnified movement on a smoked glass plate. This vertical movement coupled with the hori"ontal in hori"ontal direction. The smoked glass trace is then, further pro5ected at ? 3) or ? 4)) magnification for examination. This instrument is comparatively cheap one and gives reliable results.

Fig. om"inson surface meter he ay"or,-obson a"ysurf The Talysyrf is an electronic instrument working on carrier modulating principle. This instrument also gives the same information as the previous instrument, but much more rapidly and accurately. This instrument as also the previous one records the static displacement of the stylus and is dynamic instrument like profilometer. The measuring head of this instrument consists of a diamond stylus of about ).))( mm tip radius an skid or shoe which is drawn across the surface by means of a motori"ed driving unit +gearbox,, which provides three motori"ed speeds giving respectively ? () and ? 4)) hori"ontal magnification and a speed suitable for average reading. A neutral position in which the pick up can be traversed manually is also provided. In this case the arm carrying the stylus forms an armature which pivots about the centre piece of @ shaped stamping as shown in Fig. %n two legs of +outer pole pieces, the @ shaped stamping there are coils carrying an a.c. current. These two coils with other two resistances form an oscillator. As the armature is pivoted about the central leg, any movement of the stylus causes the air gap to vary and thus the amplitude of the original a.c. current flowing in the coils is modulated. The output of the bridge thus consists of modulation only as shown in Fig. This is further demodulated so that the current now is directly proportional to the vertical displacement of the stylus only. The demodulated output is caused to operator a pen recorder to produce a permanent record and a mere to give a numerical assessment directly. In recorder of this instrument the marking medium is electric discharge through a specially treated paper which blackens at the point of the stylus, so this has no distortion due to drag and the record is strictly rectilinear one.

:ow a days microprocessors have made available complete statistical multi trace systems measuring several places over a given area and can provide standard deviations and average over area type readings and define complete surface characteri"ation. These systems lend themselves to research applications where speciali"ed programming can achieve auto correlation, power spectrum analysis and peak curvature.

Fig. he ay"or,-obson.s a"ysurf Sty"us: 8honograph needles, though used in some cases are found to be too large and too large and heavily loaded. It also causes damage. 1iamond styli are used universally. /ome of them are cones of A)o included angle and tip radius B 4( Cm. A popular stylus with truncated faces is A). The short edge is parallel to the direction of motion. Thus, this stylus cannot resolve a wavelength shorter than 7 Cm, and integrates over a narrow strip of surface D Cm wide. It may be noted that this pickup has finite dimensions, and it is constrained to move in an early vertical plane, relative to the moving pickup. Thus, the stylus cannot record re entrant features, an unimportant drawback for engineering investigations as re entrant structures are absent on most machined surfaces. This stylus will fail to follow peaks and valleys faithfully and produces a distorted record of the surface. /ince the dimensions of the stylus are finite, so also is the load on it. The load is of the order of E) mg force. 2ut as the area of contact is too small, the local pressure may be sufficiently high to cause significant local elastic downward deformation of the surface under examination.

10

Measurement of Surface Finish /ampling length should bear some relation to the type of profile. It is found that the required length can be related to the manufacturing process. In a surface there are, different kinds of irregularities having different frequencies and it is never clear which has got more importance. Thus the best thing would be to standardi"e some sampling length and that can be always associated with the surface roughness value. To standardi"e the sampling length is also not an easy task as the wavelengths vary to a considerable extent according to the way in which t he surface is produced. Further referring to Fig. another problem is as to where the sample length must be chosen, i.e. position of sample length on surface will also give different results. This effect is taken into account by taking the readings at several places and taking the mean value. /ampling length is standardi"ed for various operations considering all above facts as follows.

8rocess 0illing Turning !rinding 8lanning 9apping 8olishing

/ymbol 0 T ! 8 9p 8o

/ample length, mm ).E3 ).(3 ).(3 ).E3 ).E3 (.3 (.3 (.3 (.3 ).(3 ).E3 (.3 E.3

1efine &a value in surface roughness. 1efine &f value in surface roughness. 1efine &0/ value of surface texture. :ame any two stylus probe instruments.

1iscuss in detail about any two measures of surface traces. 8(E7