Some considerations about the development of software measurement standards in surface finish

Abstract

In an effort to standardise algorithms and parameters concerning surface finish measurement, distinct relevant organisations have developed their own optimised software's applications. In compliance with the current ISO standards, these applications allow for a wide range of possibilities in order to characterise the input data which represent the surface. Nevertheless, an average user will commonly be unaware of the quantitative differences that arise among the results of the various software packages. Provided the opaqueness of the organisations and the inaccessibility of its intern codes, this paper presents an analysis of the abovementioned discrepancies. Furthermore, the main strengths and weaknesses each program shows are outlined as well. On the basis of the foregoing, the development of a new software, VisualSR2D, is finally introduced as an alternative baseline that potentiates such characteristics as efficiency, modularity or user-friendliness.