4. Topography

4.1 Introduction

Characterizing the state of a surface cannot be limited to analyzing a trajectory. The aim is to characterize the entire surface or portion of a surface, in order to determine its relief, texture and surface defects. Technological advances are constantly pushing back the frontiers of surface state knowledge and measurement. Recent years have seen a major development in equipment designed to quantify surface topography, thanks to the evolution :

• contact measuring devices (addition of a third measuring axis);

• high-resolution microscopy;

• information processing and image processing.

The three-dimensional measurement of surface...