Roughness and Particle Diameter of Sandpaper

Prepared by
Frank Liu

6 Morgan, Ste156, Irvine CA 92618 · P: 949.461.9292 · F: 949.461.9232 · nanovea.com

Today's standard for tomorrow's materials. © 2018 NANOVEA
INTRODUCTION:

Sandpaper is a common commercially available product used as an abrasive. The most common
use for sandpaper is to remove coatings or to polish a surface with its abrasive properties. These
abrasive properties are classified into grits, each related to how smooth or rough of a surface
finish it will give. To achieve desired abrasive properties, manufactures of sandpaper must ensure
that the abrasive particles are of a specific size and have little deviation. To quantify the quality
of sandpaper, Nanovea’s 3D Non-Contact Profilometer can be used to obtain the Sa height
parameter and average particle diameter of a sample area.

IMPORTANCE OF 3D NON-CONTACT PROFILOMETER FOR SANDPAPER

When using sandpaper, interaction between abrasive particles and the surface being sanded
must be uniform to obtain consistent surface finishes. To observe this interaction, the surface of
the sandpaper can be observed with Nanovea’s 3D Non-Contact Profilometer to see deviations
in the particle sizes, heights, and spacing. Surface height parameters (such as roughness (Sa))
can be used to quantify and identify the shape of the sandpaper’s surface.

MEASUREMENT OBJECTIVE

In this study, five different sandpaper grits (120, 180, 320, 800, and 2000) are scanned with
Nanovea’s 3D Non-Contact Profilometer. The Sa is extracted from the scan and the particle size
is found by conducting a Motifs analysis to find their equivalent diameter.

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RESULTS:
The sandpaper decreases in surface roughness (Sa) and particle size as the grit increases
as expected. The Sa ranged from 42.37um to 3.639um. The particle size ranged from 127
± 48.7 to 21.27 ± 8.35. Larger particles and high height variations create stronger abrasive
action than smaller particles and a smooth surface.

Please note all definitions of the given height parameters are listed on page.A.1.
Grit Sa Sz Sv Sp Sq Ssk Sku
120 42.37 527.2 235.7 291.5 59.45 0.314 4.397
180 27.28 350.4 174.7 175.8 37.83 0.2653 4.734
320 17.92 325.5 138.1 187.3 24.6 0.2388 5.008
800 6.273 119.4 45.35 74.05 8.492 0.6921 5.516
2000 3.639 62.04 17.89 44.15 4.659 0.5882 4.454
Table 1: Comparison between sandpaper grits and height parameters

Grit Equivalent Particle Diameter

120 127.0 ± 48.7
180 105.6 ± 35.43
320 67.18 ± 22.62
800 28.16 ± 8.58
2000 21.27 ± 8.35
Table 2: Comparison between sandpaper grits and particle diameter

2D/3D view of Sandpaper:

Below are the false-color and 3D view for the sandpaper samples. A gaussian filter of
0.8mm was used to remove the form or waviness.
120 GRIT
µm
µm µm
2000 500
500
450

400
1500 400
350

300 300

1000
250

200 200

150
500
100 100

50

0 0
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 µm

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 180GRIT
µm
mm µm 350
2.0

300
300

1.5 250
250

200
200

1.0
150
150

100
100
0.5

50
50

0.0 0
0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 mm

320 GRIT
µm
mm µm
2.0 350
300

300
250
1.5
250

200

200
1.0
150
150

100
100
0.5

50 50

0.0 0
0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 mm

800 GRIT
µm
mm µm
2.0
110
110
100
100
90
1.5 90
80
80

70 70

1.0 60 60

50 50

40 40

0.5 30 30

20 20

10
10

0.0 0
0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 mm

2000GRIT
µm
mm µm
2.0 60
60
55

50
50
1.5 45

40 40

35

1.0 30 30

25

20 20

0.5
15

10 10

0.0 0
0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 mm

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Motif Analysis:
To accurately find the particles at the surface, the scanned surface was thresholded to only
show the upper layer of the sandpaper. A motif analysis was conducted afterwards to detect
peaks from the thresholded surface.

120 Grit 180 Grit

mm µm mm µm
2.0 2.0

200
1.5 1.5
100

150

1.0 1.0

100
50

0.5 0.5
50

0.0 0 0.0 0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 mm NM 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 mm NM

Number of motifs 35 Number of motifs 47

Parameters Stat. Value Unit Parameters Stat. Value Unit

Height Mean 98.75 µm Height Mean 61.68 µm
Std dev 36.02 µm Std dev 24.51 µm
Equivalent diameter Mean 0.1270 mm Equivalent diameter Mean 0.1056 mm
Std dev 0.04867 mm Std dev 0.03543 mm

320 Grit 800 Grit

mm µm mm µm
2.0 2.0
120
40
110
100
1.5 1.5
90 30
80
70
1.0 1.0
60 20
50
40
0.5 30 0.5
10
20
10
0.0 0 0.0 0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 mm NM 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 mm NM

Number of motifs 67 Number of motifs 199

Parameters Stat. Value Unit Parameters Stat. Value Unit

Height Mean 47.12 µm Height Mean 12.77 µm
Std dev 18.82 µm Std dev 5.859 µm
Equivalent diameter Mean 0.06718 mm Equivalent diameter Mean 0.02816 mm
Std dev 0.02262 mm Std dev 0.008583 mm

2000 Grit
mm µm
2.0

25

1.5
20

15
1.0

10

0.5
5

0.0 0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 mm NM

Number of motifs 384

Parameters Stat. Value Unit

Height Mean 4.020 µm
Std dev 3.136 µm
Equivalent diameter Mean 0.02127 mm
Std dev 0.008345 mm

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CONCLUSION:
Nanovea’s 3D Non-Contact Profilometer was used to inspect the surface properties of
various sandpaper grits due to its ability to scan surfaces with micro and nano features
with precision. Surface height parameters and the equivalent particle diameters were
obtained from each of the sandpaper samples using advanced software to analyze the
3D scans. It was observed that as the grit size increased, the surface roughness (Sa) and
particle size decreased as expected.

Learn more about the Nanovea Profilometer or Lab Services

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Definitions of Height Parameters

Height Parameter Definition

Mean surface roughness.

Arithmetical 1
Sa
Mean Height Sa = ∬ |z(x, y)|dxdy
A A

Standard deviation of the height distribution, or RMS surface

roughness.

Root Mean 1
Sq Sq = √A ∬A z 2 (x, y)dxdy
Square Height
Computes the standard deviation for the amplitudes of the
surface (RMS).

Maximum Peak
Sp Height between the highest peak and the mean plane.
Height
Maximum Pit
Sv Depth between the mean plane and the deepest valley.
Height
Maximum
Sz Height between the highest peak and the deepest valley.
Height
Skewness of the height distribution.

1 1
Ssk = 𝑆𝑞3 [𝐴 ∬𝐴 𝑧 3 (𝑥, 𝑦)𝑑𝑥𝑑𝑦]
Skewness qualifies the symmetry of the height distribution. A
negative Ssk indicates that the surface is composed of mainly
Ssk Skewness
one plateau and deep and fine valleys. In this case, the
distribution is sloping to the top. A positive Ssk indicates a
surface with a lot of peaks on a plane. Therefore, the
distribution is sloping to the bottom.

Due to the large exponent used, this parameter is very

sensitive to the sampling and noise of the measurement.
Kurtosis of the height distribution.

1 1
Sku = 𝑆𝑞4 [𝐴 ∬𝐴 𝑧 4 (𝑥, 𝑦)𝑑𝑥𝑑𝑦]
Sku Kurtosis
Kurtosis qualifies the flatness of the height distribution.
Due to the large exponent used, this parameter is very
sensitive to the sampling and noise of the measurement.

6 Morgan, Ste156, Irvine CA 92618 · P: 949.461.9292 · F: 949.461.9232 · nanovea.com

Today's standard for tomorrow's materials. © 2018 NANOVEA