Parametric description of one-process surface texture

•Parameters describing one-process textures were developed.•Amplitude parameters were strongly interrelated.•Sq/Sa and Sp/Sz better describe height distribution than Ssk and Sku.•Machining process can be identified on the basis of selected surface texture parameters. There is the problem with a proper selection of areal parameters that describe a surface texture. Analysis of the linear correlation between parameters can be helpful in the selection of parameters. One hundred surface topographies after five machining treatments (grinding, polishing, vapour blasting, milling, and one-process honing) were measured by a white light interferometer and analysed. The number of surfaces within each group was twenty. In addition, 20 surfaces after various treatments were selected. On the basis of correlation and regression analysis, sets of parameters describing individual surface groups were determined. It was found that one-process surfaces can be characterised by the following set of parameters: Sq, Sal, Str, Sdq, Sq/Sa, and Sp/Sz, the wider description contains also: Ssk, Sku, and Spd. It is possible to identify the machining process on the basis of selected areal surface texture parameters. The following pairs of parameters were chosen: Sq/Sa and Sp/Sz, Sdq and Sal, as well as Str and Spd. It was found that the Sq/Sa and Sp/Sz ratios better characterize the ordinate distribution of surface texture than Ssk and Sku.