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H. Schnabl, A. Pauschitz et al.:
"3D-Modelling and Simulation of surfaces with respect to tribotechnical characterization and measurment possibilities";
Talk: 2nd World Tribology Congress, Wien; 09-03-2001 - 09-07-2001; in: "Abstracts of Papers of 2nd World Tribology Congress 2001", F. Franek, W.J. Bartz, A. Pauschitz (ed.); Österreichische Tribologische Gesellschaft, Abstracts of Papers (2001), ISBN: 3-901657-08-8; 858.

3D-surface characterization is usually done by scanning the surface with lasers or by microscopy (AFM, SEM). Most of these systems are not applicable in industrial environment for several reasons:
Ø they are difficult to apply (preparing of probes)
Ø relatively long measurement times
Ø high costs
So there is a need for a measurement-system that is simple and robust enough for use in such an environment (e.g. quality control, in situ check of bearings,...). Moreover, it should be possible to characterize the whole topography of a defined area (3D) and not only profiles of this topography (2D).
The idea is, to use a capacitive sensor with a multi-electrode. The capacitance between sensor-electrode and probe is measured with the High Frequency Impedance-method, which has been developed for characterizing the thickness of lubricant films qualitatively.
To check, if this method can be adapted for quantitative 3D-surface-characterization, we developed a simulation model. The modelling can be splitted in two parts:
The first part is the generation of surface models with defined statistical parameters (Autocorrelation-function ACF, mean roughness, correlation length). The surface-models are generated by means of Finite Impulse Response filters (FIR-filters). This algorithm is implemented in MATLAB, using Fast Fourier Transformation for calculating the filter parameters.