About the meeting

The ability to deterministically alter the topographic structure of a surface can have a

profound effect on how that surface functions. Whilst much of the work in this area is at the

research stage, the number of products that include some form of surface structure

control is growing rapidly.

 

Structured and freeform surfaces have
numerous applications ranging from
optics to automotive, from aerospace to
biomedical and from micro-fluidics to
power generation. The key feature that
determines a structured or a freeform
surface is that its topography is not
just an artifact of the process used to
generate the surface, i.e. it has been
engineered for a specific function. Thus,
for a structured surface, typical parameters
such as Ra do not adequately characterize
its properties. A freeform surface can
have a topography that significantly departs
from a standard geometric element
and thus conventional metrology
methods tend not to be adequate. For
these reasons, such surfaces are a
challenge to manufacture and to measure
However, their function is by definition
profoundly affected by their geometrical
characteristics.