Overview
ISO 23519:2010 - "Sintered metal materials, excluding hardmetals - Measurement of surface roughness" defines a standardized method to measure and report surface roughness of sintered metal parts. The standard addresses the effect of porosity and surface texture unique to powder metallurgy and prescribes measurement parameters and reporting conventions to ensure meaningful, comparable roughness data for sintered components.
Key topics and requirements
- Scope: Measurement method and principles for selecting suitable surface roughness parameters for sintered materials (excluding hardmetals).
- Filtered profile: Always use a filtered (roughness) profile with the standard Gaussian filter.
- Cut-off and evaluation length: Default cut-off = 0.8 mm and total evaluation length = 4 mm (5 × cut-off).
- If Ra > 4.0 µm, increase cut-off to 2.5 mm and evaluation length to 12.5 mm.
- Stylus probe: Use a probe with a 2 µm radius to resolve surface irregularities on sintered parts.
- Depth exclusion: Do not consider the first 5% of depth in measurements (to avoid artefacts from edge effects or initial pore influence).
- Recommended parameters: Report results primarily in Rk (core roughness depth) and Rpk (reduced peak height) - these better characterise stratified surfaces with open porosity.
- Parameters to avoid: Metrics that are strongly affected by porosity and pore depth - Rp, Rv, Rz, Rt, Ra, Rq, Rs, RSm - are not recommended for sintered materials because they conflate surface topography with open-porosity effects.
- Reporting precision: Results should be reported in Rpk (and Rk) to the nearest 0.1 µm.
Applications and users
ISO 23519:2010 is targeted at professionals involved in quality control, metrology and product development for powder metallurgy and sintered components. Typical users include:
- Quality engineers and inspection labs performing profilometer-based roughness measurements
- Production engineers optimizing sintering, sizing and surface finishing processes
- Materials and process engineers assessing functional surface properties (wear, lubrication retention, sealing)
- OEMs and suppliers of sintered parts in automotive, industrial machinery, bearings and filtration industries
Practical benefits include consistent roughness data for acceptance testing, improved correlation between surface finish and functional performance, and reduced measurement variability caused by porosity.
Related standards
- ISO 4287 - Surface texture: Profile method - Terms and parameters
- ISO 13565-1, ISO 13565-2, ISO 13565-3 - Surface texture for stratified functional properties (filtering and height-characterization methods)
- Other GPS/profile standards referenced for instrument and filtering requirements (e.g., ISO 3274, ISO 4288)
Keywords: ISO 23519:2010, sintered metal materials, surface roughness measurement, Rpk, Rk, powder metallurgy, profilometer, porosity, ISO 13565, ISO 4287.
