P. Sandoz et al., ROUGHNESS MEASUREMENT BY CONFOCAL MICROSCOPY FOR BRIGHTNESS CHARACTERIZATION AND SURFACE WAVINESS VISIBILITY EVALUATION, Wear, 201(1-2), 1996, pp. 186-192
Brightness and waviness appearance are important criteria of surfaces
for the success of commercial products, The first part of this paper p
resents a brightness measurement procedure based on roughness measurem
ents by confocal microscopy and scattering theory. The resolution of t
he proposed method allows the separation of as many brightness levels
as the eye can detect. This method links the brightness level of surfa
ces to their microroughness and so provides industry with essential in
formation for the management of the fabrication process in order to ob
tain the desired final aspect. Tn a second part, the scattering diagra
ms of surfaces are computed from microroughness parameters. Computed w
aviness images are compared with real waviness images. Their likeness
shows the ability of the proposed procedure to predict the waviness vi
sibility and thus to better control the appearance of manufactured pro
ducts.