
Average Roughness
November 16, 2023If you rely on average roughness (Ra) to control your surfaces, check out this short animation. It shows that very different surfaces can all have the same Ra value…and Ra

Which feature size scales matter for coating adhesion?
November 21, 2023When it comes to coatings, the amount of surface area matters. We know that increasing the surface area can improve adhesion, and that “roughing up” a surface increases surface area.

What surface finish does a medical device need?
November 14, 2023For a medical device to function over a long lifespan, we need to accurately specify, measure, and control its surface finishes. Yet, most surface finish specifications rely on parameters that

Register for Free Tribology & Surface Roughness Mini-Symposium
November 13, 2023On November 28, Surface Ventures will be hosting their first Mini-Symposium, gathering renowned experts in the fields of tribology, surface engineering and metrology for a series of presentations on tribological

My surface got shinier…but the average roughness stayed the same!
October 31, 2023I have a surface with a certain average roughness value. When I polish the surface, it gets shinier…but the measured number hasn’t changed.! What’s going on? Here’s an example to

How Do We Define Average Roughness?
October 17, 2023Average Roughness—in surface texture measurement, it’s one of the most frequently specified surface roughness parameters. In this video we look at how average roughness (Ra, or Sa) is calculated. We

Honing Plates (Sharpening Stones)
September 26, 2023Hone plates, or sharpening stones, are used to produce a fine edge on knives, scissors, and other tools. A kit of stones provides progressively finer grit sizes and spacings to

How Do We Define “Roughness?”
September 13, 2023“Roughness” can mean a lot of things, but in surface texture analysis, it has a very specific meaning. In this short video we look at how 2D and 3D surface

Friction and the Real Area of Contact
July 25, 2023If I need to push a long, heavy block, it seems like it should be easier if I stand the block up rather than laying it flat on its face…and

Dashboard surface texture
July 7, 2023When you’re thinking about the most engineered surfaces in a car, you may think of cylinder bores, clutches, brakes, etc. But we’d like to put one more item on your

Cavitation erosion
June 22, 2023Cavitation is the formation of air bubbles in a fluid as it goes from high pressure to low pressure. The dissolved gas can grow into bubbles—and under certain conditions those

Why do some bearings look shiny with wear?
April 25, 2023We tend to think of “new” surfaces as shiny and smooth, and “worn” surfaces as rough, dull, or uneven. But for a bearing surface, the opposite is often true: the