The Surface-Topography Challenge

A Multi-Laboratory Benchmark Study to Advance the Characterization of Topography

verfasst von

A. Pradhan, M. H. Müser, N. Miller, J. P. Abdelnabe, L. Afferrante, D. Albertini, D. A. Aldave, L. Algieri, N. Ali, A. Almqvist, T. Amann, P. Ares, B. N. Balzer, L. Baugh, E. A. Berberich, M. Björling, M. S. Bobji, F. Bottiglione, B. Brodmann, W. Cai, G. Carbone, R. W. Carpick, F. Cassin, J. Cayer-Barrioz, M. I. Chowdhury, M. Ciavarella, E. Cihan, D. Huang, E. Delplanque, A. J. Deptula, S. Descartes, A. Dhinojwala, M. Dienwiebel, D. Dini, A. C. Dunn, C. Edwards, M. Eriten, A. Esawi, R. M. Espinosa-Marzal, L. Fang, A. Fatemi, C. Fidd, D. Gabriel, F. Gaslain, G. Giordano, J. Gómez-Herrero, L. Gontard, N. N. Gosvami, G. Greenwood, C. Greiner, T. Grejtak, A. Haroun, M. Hasan, S. Hoppe, L. Isa, R. L. Jackson, S. Jang, O. Johnson, F. Kaiser, M. Kalin, K. Kalliorinne, P. H. Karanjkar, S. H. Kim, S. Kinzelberger, P. Klapetek, B. A. Krick, C. Kumar, N. Kumar, S. Kumar, P. LaMascus, R. Larsson, P. Laux, M. J. Lee, P. M. Lee, W. Lee, C. Leriche, J. Li, Y. Li, Y. Li, T. A. Lubrecht, I. A. Lyashenko, C. Ma, T. Ma, F. Maaboudallah, S. Mahmood, F. Mangolini, M. Marian, D. Mazuyer, Y. Meng, N. Menga, T. Miller, D. M. Mulvihill, M. Najah, D. Nečas, C. I. Papadopoulos, A. Papangelo, M. Pauli, B. N.J. Persson, A. Peterson, A. A. Pitenis, P. Podsiadlo, M. Polajnar, V. L. Popov, T. Požar, A. Prasad, G. Prieto, C. Putignano, M. H. Rahman, S. B. Ramisetti, S. Raumel, I. J. Reyes, N. Rodriguez, M. Rodríguez Ripoll, H. Rojacz, P. Sainsot, A. Samodurova, D. Savio, M. Scaraggi, F. Schaefer, S. W. Scherrer, K. D. Schulze, K. E. Shaffer, M. A. Sidebottom, D. Skaltsas, J. Soni, C. Spies, G. W. Stachowiak, L. Steinhoff, N. C. Strandwitz, K. Sun, S. Tripathi, W. R. Tuckart, S. Ugar, M. Valtr, K. E. Van Meter, J. Vdovak, J. G. Vilhena, G. Violano, G. Vorlaufer, M. Walczak, B. Weber, T. Woloszynski, M. Wolski, A. Yadav, V. A. Yastrebov, M. Yongjian, L. Yuan, J. Yus, J. Zhang, X. Zhang, Q. Zheng, L. Pastewka, T. D.B. Jacobs

Abstract

Surface performance is critically influenced by topography in virtually all real-world applications. The current standard practice is to describe topography using one of a few industry-standard parameters. The most commonly reported number is Ra, the average absolute deviation of the height from the mean line (at some, not necessarily known or specified, lateral length scale). However, other parameters, particularly those that are scale-dependent, influence surface and interfacial properties; for example the local surface slope is critical for visual appearance, friction, and wear. The present Surface-Topography Challenge was launched to raise awareness for the need of a multi-scale description, but also to assess the reliability of different metrology techniques. In the resulting international collaborative effort, 153 scientists and engineers from 64 research groups and companies across 20 countries characterized statistically equivalent samples from two different surfaces: a “rough” and a “smooth” surface. The results of the 2088 measurements constitute the most comprehensive surface description ever compiled. We find wide disagreement across measurements and techniques when the lateral scale of the measurement is ignored. Consensus is established through scale-dependent parameters while removing data that violates an established resolution criterion and deviates from the majority measurements at each length scale. Our findings suggest best practices for characterizing and specifying topography. The public release of the accumulated data and presented analyses enables global reuse for further scientific investigation and benchmarking.

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Maschinenkonstruktion und Tribologie
Institut für Mikroproduktionstechnik

Externe Organisation(en)

University of Pittsburgh
Universität des Saarlandes
Universidad Nacional del Sur
Politecnico di Bari
Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM)
University of Salento
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
Lulea University of Technology
Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkstoffmechanik (IWM), Institutsteil Freiburg
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Auburn University (AU)
Miami University
Indian Institute of Science Bangalore
OptoSurf GmbH
Hefei University of Technology
University of Pennsylvania
École Centrale Lyon
Lehigh University
Technische Universität Dresden (TUD)
Saint-Gobain Omniseal Solutions
Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
University of Akron
Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)
Imperial College London
University of Florida (UF)
University of Texas at Austin
University of Wisconsin Madison (UW)
The American University in Cairo
Robert Bosch GmbH
Florida State University
Currenta GmbH & Co. OHG
École des mines de Paris
Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD)
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
ETH Zürich
Pennsylvania State University
Freudenberg Technology Innovation SE & Co. KG
University of Ljubljana
Czech Metrology Institute (CMI)
Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC)
University of Glasgow
Corning Incorporated
Fraunhofer-Institut für Physikalische Messtechnik (IPM)
Southwest Research Institute
Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA)
Technische Universität Berlin
Samarkand State University
University of Science and Technology of China
Tsinghua University
Universite de Sherbrooke
Nationale Technische Universität Athen (NTUA)
Polytec GmbH
Forschungszentrum Jülich
University of Massachusetts Lowell
University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)
Curtin University
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT)
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Advanced Research Center for NanoLithography (ARCNL)
Central Salt & Marine Chemicals Research Institute

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Tribology letters

Band

73

Anzahl der Seiten

26

ISSN

1023-8883

Publikationsdatum

09.2025

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Werkstoffmechanik, Maschinenbau, Oberflächen und Grenzflächen, Oberflächen, Beschichtungen und Folien

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-025-02014-y (Zugang: Offen)