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The creation and organization of this Challenge was supported by the National Science Foundation (CAREER-1844739 and CMMI-2400999), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG grant EXC-2193/1-390951807) and the European Research Council (StG 747343). Each individual submitting group has identified their funding sources in the Supplemental Information. All data processing occurred with the SurfaceTopography package, which is part of contact.engineering [27]. Some datasets were acquired with the WSxM software [71]. All data are stored on the Baden-Wurttemberg Storage for Science (bwSFS) system (DFG grant INST 39/1099-1 FUGG).

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The Surface-Topography Challenge: A Multi-Laboratory Benchmark Study to Advance the Characterization of Topography

Publicated to:TRIBOLOGY LETTERS 73 (3): 110- - 2025-07-26 73(3), DOI: 10.1007/s11249-025-02014-y

Authors: Pradhan, A; Mueser, M H; Miller, N; Abdelnabe, J P; Afferrante, L; Albertini, D; Aldave, D A; Algieri, L; Ali, N; Almqvist, A; Amann, T; Ares, P; Balzer, B N; Baugh, L; Berberich, E A; Bjorling, M; Bobji, M S; Bottiglione, F; Brodmann, B; Cai, W; Carbone, G; Carpick, R W; Cassin, F; Cayer-Barrioz, J; Chowdhury, M I; Ciavarella, M; Cihan, E; Huang, D; Delplanque, E; Deptula, A J; Descartes, S; Dhinojwala, A; Dienwiebel, M; Dini, D; Dunn, A C; Edwards, C; Eriten, M; Esawi, A; Espinosa-Marzal, R M; Fang, L; Fatemi, A; Fidd, C; Gabriel, D; Gaslain, F; Giordano, G; Gomez-Herrero, J; Gontard, L; Gosvami, N N; Greenwood, G; Greiner, C; Grejtak, T; Haroun, A; Hasan, M; Hoppe, S; Isa, L; Jackson, R L; Jang, S; Johnson, O; Kaiser, F; Kalin, M; Kalliorinne, K; Karanjkar, P H; Kim, S H; Kinzelberger, S; Klapetek, P; Krick, B A; Kumar, C; Kumar, N; Kumar, S; LaMascus, P; Larsson, R; Laux, P; Lee, M J; Lee, P M; Lee, W; Leriche, C; Li, J; Li, Y; Li, Y -S; Lubrecht, T A; Lyashenko, I A; Ma, C; Ma, T; Maaboudallah, F; Mahmood, S; Mangolini, F; Marian, M; Mazuyer, D; Meng, Y; Menga, N; Miller, T; Mulvihill, D M; Najah, M; Necas, D; Papadopoulos, C I; Papangelo, A; Pauli, M; Persson, B N J; Peterson, A; Pitenis, A A; Podsiadlo, P; Polajnar, M; Popov, V L; Pozar, T; Prasad, A; Prieto, G; Putignano, C; Rahman, M H; Raumel, S; Reyes, I J; Rodriguez, N; Ripoll, M Rodriguez; Rojacz, H; Sainsot, P; Samodurova, A; Savio, D; Scaraggi, M; Schaefer, F; Scherrer, S W; Schulze, K D; Shaffer, K E; Sidebottom, M A; Skaltsas, D; Soni, J; Spies, C; Stachowiak, G W; Steinhoff, L; Strandwitz, N C; Sun, K; Tripathi, S; Tuckart, W R; Ugar, S; Valtr, M; Van Meter, K E; Vdovak, J; Vilhena, J G; Violano, G; Vorlaufer, G; Walczak, M; Weber, B; Woloszynski, T; Wolski, M; Yadav, A; Yastrebov, V A; Yongjian, M; Yuan, L; Yus, J; Zhang, J; Zhang, X; Zheng, Q; Pastewka, L; Jacobs, T D B

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Abstract

Surface performance is critically influenced by topography in virtually all real-world applications. The current standard practice is to describe topography using one of a few industry-standard parameters. The most commonly reported number is R\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$R$$\end{document}a, the average absolute deviation of the height from the mean line (at some, not necessarily known or specified, lateral length scale). However, other parameters, particularly those that are scale-dependent, influence surface and interfacial properties; for example the local surface slope is critical for visual appearance, friction, and wear. The present Surface-Topography Challenge was launched to raise awareness for the need of a multi-scale description, but also to assess the reliability of different metrology techniques. In the resulting international collaborative effort, 153 scientists and engineers from 64 research groups and companies across 20 countries characterized statistically equivalent samples from two different surfaces: a "rough" and a "smooth" surface. The results of the 2088 measurements constitute the most comprehensive surface description ever compiled. We find wide disagreement across measurements and techniques when the lateral scale of the measurement is ignored. Consensus is established through scale-dependent parameters while removing data that violates an established resolution criterion and deviates from the majority measurements at each length scale. Our findings suggest best practices for characterizing and specifying topography. The public release of the accumulated data and presented analyses enables global reuse for further scientific investigation and benchmarking.

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