An approach for Surface Roughness Filtering as an alternative to ISO Standard

Abstract

Surface roughness is a popular index used for machined products quality and is usually used as a technical requirement for mechanical products. However, the mechanism of surface roughness formation depends on various uncontrollable factors, hence the need for quantification and measurement of surface roughness to assure high product performance in industrial applications. This paper presents a study on the use of the technique named Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) in the characterisation of surface roughness measurements. The paper starts by explaining the mathematical bases of this technique and then, analyses this filtering technique behaviour with examples. The most important parameter that must be chosen to apply this filter in surface roughness measurement is the window length. SSA has been applied on a series of machined surfaces, and similar results to those of the ISO standard have been obtained. The BAC (Bearing Area Curve – first proposed by Abbott and Firestone) curves, spectral content and coordinate profile obtained are also similar. Based on the results, it can be concluded that the SSA technique is an interesting alternative for surface roughness analysis, even though the ISO standard does not currently cover its implementation.