Stylus instruments and reference specimens

Stylus techniques play an important role in the research and metrology of engineering surfaces. This review will discuss the strengths and limitations of stylus instruments from several points of view, including horizontal and vertical resolution, range, accuracy, and speed. Some important properties of roughness calibration specimens will be described as well as the design, specifications, and potential uses of a new series of sinusoidal precision roughness specimens. Comparisons will be drawn between stylus methods and certain optical techniques, and the results of experiments to relate stylus measurements to optical scattering measurements will be described.