STRAIGHTNESS, FLATNESS, ROUNDNESS

AND CYLINDRICITY
wk 8

STRAIGHTNESS & FLATNESS

Measured with the same basic type of apparatus as for texture

Instrument datum is made much longer

Horizontal magnifications are generally lower and compression ratios often higher
than for texture measurement

Normal engineering way of describing the deviations is in terms of the separation

of 2 parallel lines or planes between which all deviations are contained

This is a maximum peak-to-valley measure that would not distinguish between the
two surfaces in the following figure.

A distinction can be made by measuring over the whole and also over a fraction of
the length.

This resembles the sampling length procedure used for surface texture.

ROUNDNESS

Roundness is generally measured by rotation of the pick-up or workpiece round a

precisely generated axis.

Variations in the radius of the workpiece are plotted on a polar chart on which can
be superposed a least-squares reference circle from which the radial deviations are
determined.

They are expressed in terms of the separation of two circles, drawn from a
specified centre, that just contain the undulations.

Four centres are possible, the two standardised being the centre giving the minimum
separation and the least-squares centre.

The measure is again a maximum peak-to-valley value.

ROUNDNESS

ROUNDNESS

PRINCIPLE OF ROUNDNESS INSTRUMENTS

(a) ROTATING PICK-UP (b) ROTATING WORKPIECE

DEVIATIONS OF A HOLE WITH RESPECT TO ROUNDNESS

Out of roundness is specified as the difference between the largest and

the smallest measured radii, measured from a defined centre point

VARIOUS WAYS OF DEFINIG THE CENTRE OF A HOLE

1.

The most common method is to define the centre as the point at which the
smallest radial deviation, is obtained. (This method is known as MRSminimum radial separation, or TIR- total indicator reading).

2.

The least centre circle (LSC) method where the centre point is the centre of
the circle where the sum of the squares on the radial coordinates gives the
smallest value.

3.

The maximum inscribed circle (MIC).

4.

The minimum circumscribed circle (MCC).

(1) Minimal radial separation (MRS); (2) least centre circle (LCC); (3)
maximum inscribed circle (MIC); (4) minimum circumscribed circle (MCC)

POLAR GRAPHS SHOWING METHODS OF ASSESSING RADIAL VARIATIONS

CYLINDRICITY

The expression of cylindricity requires suitable instrumentation and display.

The magnitude of the error is generally conceived in the same way as for
straightness and roundness, but in this case as lying between two co-axial
cylinders (or cones).

ERR0RS IN CYLINDRICITY