Profile Characterization of Manufactured Surfaces Using Random Function Excursion Technique—Part 1: Theory

Abstract

This paper discusses a new approach for describing accurately the typology of manufactured surfaces. The method employs the theory of stochastic excursions to characterize the surface texture in the amplitude and lengthwise directions. The mathematical principle behind the approach is briefly explained, and it is shown that an accurate description of the roughness can be obtained from the knowledge of the intercept probabilities of the crest and valley excursions of the surface texture about any given level, say the CLA value, specified with respect to the mean line. Based on the preceding excursion probability densities, new surface texture parameters are proposed. These parameters may be computed directly from the surface roughness data obtained from commercially available measuring devices. On the basis of this investigation, it is feasible to develop a low-cost measuring device for “on-line” surface evaluation in production. It is also shown that the sampling length provides a geometrically well-defined filter characteristic similar to that of the rolling circle radius in the E-system.