A New Optical Method For The Measurement Of Surface Roughness Of Technical Surfaces

A new optical method for the measurement of surface roughness of technical surfacesR. -J. Ahlers; H.J. WarneckeFraunhofer -Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation (IPA), StuttgartNobelstr. 12, D -7000 Stuttgart 80, Federal Republic of GermanyAbstractAs the standards of quality of a product increase, so also does the importance of theroughness measurement of technical surfaces. In the near future the most important methodsfor on -line measurement will be those, that work on a non -tactile basis.In this report, a new optical method is presented and described from a more experimentalpoint of view to emphasize the application- oriented development of this electro- opticalmeasuring device. Beginning with some remarks on the more theoretical characteristics,experiment results will be presented that have been obtained from both standardized andtechnical surfaces. The results reveal the ability to measure surface roughness in therange of approximately Ra = 0,06 -10 um.IntroductionFor decades the evaluation of roughness parameters of technical surfaces has been ofgreat importance. Of course not only our subjective aesthetic perceptions