Stylus (X,Y) Rsm
Stylus (X,Y) Rsm, the Mean Profile Spacing Along (X,Y), is a measure of the average length between points along the profile which cross the mean line with the same slope direction. For a profile element to be considered, the feature must extend above and below the mean line by more than 10% of Rz and be spaced apart from a previous feature by at least 1% of the sampling length.
The contour plot (A) shows a line through the center over which the profile (B) is selected to determine Rsm.
Application
Stylus X Rsm and Stylus Y Rsm are used to understand the dominant width of features and thus may be useful in understanding channels for fluid flow and void space for coating coverage applications. Depending on the material properties, closer spaced texture (i.e. small Rsm) may be more prone to plastic deformation upon contact than wider spaced (i.e. large Rsm) features.