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Several tools are available to measure the roughness of a surface. The choice of the tool to be used depends essentially on the needs of the control and its specificities.

Roughness plays an important role in mechanics, it allows to control phenomena such as flow or adhesion. This is an important dimension to consider in precision mechanics because it has a significant impact on friction force, wear and mechanical anchoring (among others).

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There are other indicators that characterize the roughness of a surface, but in this article we will focus on the general surface condition of the control area.

Roughness Ra can be calculated very easily with roughness Ra, but they are mechanical devices, which require physical contact between the probe and the surface.

Plastiform has developed impression products. These products allow the properties of the control area, including its surface finish, to be copied with great precision.

They are much more accurate and efficient than physical contact measuring systems because they use the interference effects produced when light is superimposed when it is projected and reflected by the measurement area.

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Roughometer with skid also works very well on our footprints. However, it will give you rough estimates of Ra, and the other values (Rt and Rz) will be distorted because of the pressure exerted by the skate on the print.

The ability of devices without skids to recalculate trajectories allows for more accurate control, where devices with skids could complicate or even distort control when the surface differs slightly.

An important parameter is the roughness Ra, because it directly characterizes the condition of the surface in general. It makes it possible to evaluate the latter in its entirety.

The skid can affect the measurement if the surface is not flat, so you should only use it on the flattest possible surfaces. Despite this defect, roughometers with skid are a very handy and efficient way for measuring flat surfaces.

The main advantage of these devices is that they are very simple to use and often easy to move, so all you have to do is place them on the surface to be inspected and start them up to perform a measurement.

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In some sectors, particularly high technology, it is necessary that the roughness of the components produced be in line with expectations.

If the average roughness of a surface is determined using the Ra indicator, it is possible to quickly determine the micro- or macro-geometric irregularities of the surface.

Roughness is an indicator of the macro-geometry of the surface of a part or material that depends on the treatments that the production line has subjected it to.

To measure this indicator, we use various measurement instruments that measure the difference between “valleys” and “peaks” recorded over a given length and allow us to calculate several characteristics:

Use Plastiform to copy the control area and perform your measurements directly on the impression with your measuring devices!

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To check the surface condition, it is possible to use various devices, with or without contact. Generally, Roughometers or interferometers are used.

At Plastiform, we recommend performing the impression checks with the devices for which we have validated the compatibility, i. e. Accretech and Sylvac.

For simplicity, the Ra value indicates the average surface roughness for the length of the measurement performed, i.e., the average difference between peaks and valleys.

The roughness Ra is an excellent way to quickly check that the surface corresponds well to the customer’s request, its value is representative of the general condition of the surface.

The surface condition may sometimes be impossible to measure because it is impossible to access the measuring devices. There are many reasons for this, mainly one of these three:

It is in this kind of situation that it would be extremely practical to be able to control the part indirectly, and that is exactly why Plastiform has developed impression products capable of performing such operations.

Sometimes it is impossible for devices to access the desired control area. It is in these cases that Plastiform can save your life.

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In the second case, machines without skids, the devices use an internal guide that calculates the orientation of the probe in the 3D space, ensuring measurements on non-plane surfaces.

By using it on your part, you can copy its properties, the product then stiffens to 80 shore A, which will allow you to perform your measurements easily on the impression, directly and with your usual measuring devices.

In the first case, the machine has a small skid at the end of its head that slides on the control surface and serves as a straight guide.

In industry, roughness control is part of the dimension validation process and ensures part conformity during machining.

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If you can’t get one, choose a skidless roughometer, which is much more suitable for measuring the roughness of an impression. Whether with the roughometer or the interferometer, the Ra values will be accurate, the only difference will be with respect to the other indicators that will be given with much more precision with an interferometer.

They are sometimes used as selection criteria in quality control and modern measuring instruments mention them in their results.

In addition to Ra, when trying to assess the surface condition, it is possible that we also look at indicators like Rz or Rt to gain more information:

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We recommend the use of non-contact measurement systems, such as a white light interferometer, which are much more accurate and suitable for measuring the surface condition of impressions.

To schematize what roughness is, we can imagine a two-dimensional cut of the surface. The higher the roughness of this surface, the greater the difference between the peaks and valleys of the surface.