`Real mechanical profile' — the new approach for nano-measurements

Different functional meanings, e.g. contacting surfaces or visual effects lead to different real surfaces. For nano-measurements in ISO/DTS 14406:2003 (E) it is stated to distinguish between the mechanical and the electro-magnetic surface. Until today the traced profile has been the only defined surface of a workpiece. It is defined in ISO 3274 as `the locus of the centre of a stylus tip as it traverses the surface within the intersection plane'. The new approach for the extraction of the real surface is the correction of the traced profile with the radius of the tip by the morphological operation erosion. The result of the correction is defined in ISO/DTS 14406:2003 (E) as the real mechanical surface. The resulting profile is called the real mechanical profile and it is defined in accordance with the ISO definition. The poster discusses the distortion of the traced profile compared to the new real mechanical profile.