MORPHOMETRIC ASSESSMENT OF SURFACE CONFORMATION AS AN ESTIMATE OF ROUGHNESS

One of the standard methods for assessing the roughness of a material subjected to wear uses the surface arithmetic means and root-mean-squa re deviation. However, these parameters often do not provide a qualita tive assessment of the difference in materials worn under the same con ditions of load and elapsed time. The profile and surface roughness pa rameters are frequently inconsistent. Such measurements are also requi red to determine the wear characteristics of various materials under d ifferent conditions. A morphometric assessment of wear characteristics , based on the surface area fraction of localized deviations in the su rface texture and stress fractures, is provided, and clearly indicates the observed difference.