Surface topography analysis software validation
Start: Oct 15
Modern advanced manufacturing requires a high degree of understanding about surface topography, especially where functional surfaces are used as part of a design. Control of surface topography requires measurement instrumentation and sophisticated data analysis methods for form removal, filtering and parameter calculation. Commercial software packages for these mathematical operations exist but are often not fully validated and verified against official references, which can result in significant manufacturing errors and poor/costly decisions about manufactured parts. Previous research at NPL has developed software measurement standards for a basic set of profile and areal surface texture parameters, but much more complex processes are now use in industry and this basic set needs to be significantly expanded. The project will develop a methodology for verifying and validating complex surface topography data analysis methods that allows the testing of complex surface topography analysis methods. The novelty of the research will lie in the development of validation methods for complex chains of calculations: from data sampling to form removal and advanced filtering and parameter calculation. Methods will be developed to evaluate measurement and numerical uncertainties associated with software measurement standards, and develop metrics to assess the numerical performance and fitness for purpose of software packages under test. Industrial case studies will be sought through the Manufacturing Technology Centre, NPL and Digital Surf. The main beneficiaries for the project will be users of software for surface topography analysis and ultimately those involved in the advanced manufacture of high-quality products.
Process complexity to calculate surface texture parameters
Various type of surface texture parameters