Surface Finish

• An engineering component may be cast,

forged, drawn, welded or stamped, etc.
• All the surfaces may not have functional
requirements and need not be equally
finished
• Some surfaces (owing to their functional
requirements) need additional machining
that needs to be recorded on the drawing
 SURFACE TEXTURE
1) Flaws (defects) – random irregularities which
occurs at one place or at relatively infrequent or
widely varying intervals on the surface. Flaws
include such as scratches, cracks, holes,
depressions, seams, tears, or inclusions.
2) Lay (directionality) – direction of the predominant
surface pattern and is usually visible to the naked
eye.
3) Roughness – fine irregularities of the surface
texture, usually including irregularities that result
from the inherent action of the production process
4) Waviness – Irregularity of the surface occurring at
greater spacing than roughness. Waviness may
result from machine or work deflections,
vibrations, chatter, and heat treatment
• Roughness is a measure of the texture of
a surface. It is quantified by the vertical
deviations of a real surface from its ideal
form. If these deviations are large, the
surface is rough; if they are small the
surface is smooth. Roughness is typically
considered to be the high frequency, short
wavelength component of a measured
surface
• Roughness plays an important role in
determining how a real object will
interact with its environment. Rough
surfaces usually wear more quickly
and have higher friction coefficients
than smooth surface. Roughness is
often a good predictor of the
performance of a mechanical
component, since irregularities in the
surface may form nucleation sites for
cracks or corrosion.
• Although roughness is usually
undesirable, it is difficult and expensive
to control in manufacturing.
Decreasing the roughness of a surface
will usually increase exponentially its
manufacturing costs. This often results
in a trade-off between the
manufacturing cost of a component
and its performance in application.
 LAY

LAY
- direction in which the cutting tool moves
 Types of irregularities
(i) Due to misalignment of centres -
Waviness
(ii) Due to non-linear feed motion -
Waviness
(iii) Due to tool feed rate - Roughness
(iv) Due to tool chatter - Roughness
 Main Measurement Methods of
Surface Roughness
• Inspection and assessment of surface
roughness of machined workpieces can be
carried out by means of different
measurement techniques. These methods
can be ranked into the following classes:
1) Direct measurement methods
2) Comparison based techniques
3) Non contact methods
4) On-process measurement
 1. Direct Measurement Methods
• Direct methods assess surface finish by means
of stylus type devices. Measurements are
obtained using a stylus drawn along the surface
to be measured: the stylus motion perpendicular
to the surface is registered. This registered
profile is then used to calculate the roughness
parameters. This method requires interruption of
the machine process, and the sharp diamond
stylus may make micro-scratches on surfaces.
 Stylus Equipment
Basically this technique uses a stylus that
tracks small changes in surface height,
and a skid that follows large changes in
surface height. The use of the two
together reduces the effects of non-flat
surfaces on the surface roughness
measurement. The relative motion
between the skid and the stylus is
measured with a magnetic circuit and
induction coils.
 
            
                                                                                                              
 The actual apparatus uses the apparatus hooked to other
instrumentation. The induction coils drive amplifiers, and
other signal conditioning hardware. The then amplified signal
is used to drive a recorder that shows stylus position, and a
digital readout that displays the CLA/Ra value.
The paper chart that is recorded is magnified in height by
100000:1, and in length by 82:1 to make the scale suitable to
the human eye.

The datum that the stylus position should be compared to

can be one of three,

- Skid - can be used for regular frequency roughness

- Shoe - can be used for irregular frequency roughness

- Independent - can use an optical flat

 
             
                                                                                                           
 
         
                                                                                                               
                                                                             

Where the scan is stopped might influence the Ra value. This is especially true if the
surface texture varies within a very small section of the surface
• (a) A skid or shoe drawn slowly over the surface and
following its general contours, thus providing a datum.
• (b) A stylus or probe which moves over the surface with the
skid, and vertically relative to the skid due to the roughness
of the surface.
• (c) An amplifying device for magnifying the stylus
movements.
• (d) A recording device to produce a trace or record of the
surface profile. It should be noted that all such traces are
distorted, i.e. the vertical and horizontal magnifications
differ, to enable significant vertical features to be observed
on a trace of reasonable length. If a sample length of 0.8
mm was magnified 5000 times the resulting trace would
need to be 4 m long!
• (e) A means of analysing the profile thus obtained. This may
be incorporated in the instrument or done separately.
Instruments satisfying these characteristics can be
produced with mechanical or electronic systems of
magnification.
2. Comparison Based Techniques
• Comparison techniques use specimens of
surface roughness produced by the same
process, material and machining
parameters as the surface to be
compared. Visual and tactile senses are
used to compare a specimen with a
surface of known surface finish. Because
of the subjective judgment involved, this
method is useful for surface roughness
Rq>1.6 micron.
 3. Non Contact Methods
• Here is an electronic speckle correlation method
given as an example. When coherent light
illuminates a rough surface, the diffracted waves
from each point of the surface mutually interfere to
form a pattern which appears as a grain pattern of
bright and dark regions. The spatial statistical
properties of this speckle image can be related to
the surface characteristics. The degree of
correlation of two speckle patterns produced from
the same surface by two different illumination
beams can be used as a roughness parameter.
• The following figure shows the measure principle. A rough surface is
illuminated by a monochromatic plane wave with an angle of
incidence with respect to the normal to the surface, multiscatterring
and shadowing effects are neglected.  The photosensor of a CCD
camera placed in the focal plane of a Fourier lens is used for
recording speckle patterns. Assuming Cartesian coordinates x,y,z, a
rough surface can be represented by its ordinates Z(x,y) with
respect to an arbitrary datum plane having transverse coordinates
(x,y). Then the rms surface roughness can be defined and
calculated.
 4. On-process measurement
• Many methods have been used to measure surface
roughness in process. For example:
1) Machine vision. In this technique, a light source is used
to illuminate the surface with a digital system to viewing the
surface and the data being sent to a computer to be
analyzed. The digitized data is then used with a correlation
chart to get actual roughness values.
2) Inductance method.  An inductance pickup is used to
measure the distance between the surface and the pickup.
This measurement gives a parametric value that may be
used to give a comparative roughness. However, this
method is limited to measuring magnetic materials.
3) Ultrasound. A spherically focused ultrasonic sensor is
positioned with a non normal incidence angle above the
surface. The sensor sends out an ultrasonic pulse to the
personal computer for analysis and calculation of roughness
parameters.
ANALYSIS OF SURFACE TRACES

1) Peak to Valley height (Rz)

2) Root Mean Square (R.M.S.)
Value
3) Centre Line Average Method
(Ra)
 Peak to Valley height (Rz)
1) Draw a line AA parallel to the general Lay of
the trace.
2) Select heights from AA to the five highest
peaks and the five lowest valleys in the
trace.
3) The average peak to valley height, RZ, is
then given by:
Measurements to calculate the ten-point height average (RZ).
CENTER LINE AVERAGE (Ra)
• The value thus obtained is the average height
of the trace. To obtain the Ra value of the
surface it is necessary to divide this value by
the vertical magnification of the trace, and
6
multiply by 10 to give the value in micro-inches

where = sum of areas above and below the mean line in inches
Before making such a measurement it is
necessary to position the mean line so that
the areas above and below it are equal to
within 5 %. This can be done by:
(a) Estimating its position by eye.
(b) Measuring the total areas above and
below the estimated line.
(c) Correcting the position an amount equal
to the difference in areas divided by the
trace length.
Root Mean Square (R.M.S.) Value
Defined as the square root of the mean of
the squares of the ordinates of the surface
measured from a mean line.
• If equally spaced ordinates are erected at
1, 2, 3, 4, ... n, whose heights are h1, h2,
h3, ... hn, then
 QUESTIONS
1) EXPLAIN WITH DIAGRAMS DIFFERENT
TYPES OF SURFACE FINISH
MEASURING MACHINES.
SURFACE ROUGNESSES PRODUCED BY COMMON PRODUCTION PROCESSES
Roughness Average
Micrometers µm
(Microinches µ in.)
50 25 12.5 6.3 3.2 1.6 0.80 0.40 0.20 0.10 0.05 0.025 0.012
Process (2000) (1000) (500) (250) (125) (63) (32) (16) (8) (4) (2) (1) (0.5)
Flame Cutting

Snagging
Sawing

Planing, Shaping

Drilling

Chemical Milling

Elect. Discharge Mach.

Milling
Broaching
Reaming

Electron Beam
Laser
Electro-Chemical

Boring, Turning
Barrel Finishing
Electrolytic grinding
 50 25 12.5 6.3 3.2 1.6 0.80 0.40 0.20 0.10 0.05 0.025 0.012
Process (2000) (1000) (500) (250) (125) (63) (32) (16) (8) (4) (2) (1) (0.5)
Roller Burnishing

Grinding

Honing

Electro-Polish

Polishing

Lapping

Superfinishing

Sand Casting

Hot Rolling

Forging
Perm Mold Casting

Investment Casting

Extruding

Cold Rolling, Drawing

Die Casting
50 25 12.5 6.3 3.2 1.6 0.80 0.40 0.20 0.10 0.05 0.025 0.012
Process (2000) (1000) (500) (250) (125) (63) (32) (16) (8) (4) (2) (1) (0.5)

KEY:
Average Application
Less Frequent Application

Higher or lower values may be obtained under special conditions

Surface Roughness expected from manufacturing
processes
Surface Roughness expected from manufacturing
processes
 INDICATION OF SURFACE TEXTURE

The basic symbol consists of two legs of

unequal length inclined at approximately
60’ to the line representing the considered
surface
The symbol must be represented by thin line

If the removal of material by machining is

required, a bar is added to the basic symbol,

If the removal of material is not permitted,

a circle is added to the basic symbol.

When special surface characteristics have to

be indicated, a line is added to the longer arm of
any of the above symbols,

Basic symbol : only be used alone when its meaning is explained by a note
 Indication of Surface Roughness

The value or values defining the principal criterion of roughness

are added to the symbols

a- surface roughness value

Roughness a obtained by Roughness a obtained by Roughness a shall be

any production process removal of material by obtained without removal
machining of any material

If it is necessary to impose maximum

and minimum limits of the principal criterion
of surface roughness, both values shall be
shown

maximum limit (a1) ;minimum limit (a2).

 If it is required that the required surface texture be produced by one particular
production method, this method shall be indicated in plain
language on an extension of the longer arm of the symbol

Indication of machining allowance where it is necessary to specify the value

of the machining allowance, this shall be indicated on the left of the symbols.
This value shall be expressed in millimeters.
Generally to indicate the surface roughness, the symbol is used instead of value.
The relation is given in following table.
 Machining Symbols

This symbol may also be used in a drawing, relating to a production process , to indicate that
a surface is to be left in the state ,resulting from a preceding manufacturing process,
whether this state was achieved by removal of material or otherwise
Position of the Specifications of the Surface Texture in the Symbol - The
specifications Of surface texture shall be placed relative to the symbol as
shown in figure.
symbol Interpretation
Parallel to the plane of projection
of the view in which the symbol is
used

Perpendicular to the plane of

projection of the
view in which the symbol is used

Crossed in two slant direction relative

to the plane of projection of the view
in which the
symbol is used

Multidirectional

Approximately circular relative to the

centre of the surface to which the
symbol is applied

Approximately radial relative to the

centre of the surface to which the
symbol is applied
Symbols with Additional Indications.
Based on the following specification of a
surface texture, draw a figure put the
information in its correct places.

Roughness value (Ra) 6.3 micrometers

Mill to a length of 3 mm
Direction of a lay is multidirectional
The machining allowance is 3 mm
 If it is necessary to define surface texture
both before and after treatment, this shall
be explained in a suitable note or in
accordance with figure

The direction of lay is the direction of the

predominant surface pattern, ordinarily determined
by the production method employed.

If it is necessary to control the direction

of lay, it is specified by a symbol added to the
surface texture symbol
Ways to represent roughness
Surface finish grade is shown

Surface finish value is shown

Separate note is written
Surface finish grades specified