A plateau–valley separation method for textured surfaces with a deterministic pattern

•Existing standards are not suitable for characterizing structured surfaces.•We develop a new profile method detecting and separating surface features.•Targeted analyses can be performed depending on the feature function•The method is employed in the characterization of a multifunctional profile.•An effective profile alignment is required before using the method.

The effective characterization of textured surfaces presenting a deterministic pattern of lubricant reservoirs is an issue with which many researchers are nowadays struggling. Existing standards are not suitable for the characterization of such surfaces, providing at times values without physical meaning. A new method based on the separation between the plateau and valley regions is hereby presented allowing independent functional analyses of the detected features. The determination of a proper threshold between plateaus and valleys is the first step of a procedure resulting in an efficient division of the two regions, which can be studied separately according to their specific function. The case of a turned multifunctional profile is presented depicting the lacks in efficacy of standardized methods and therefore studied with this new methodology. Limitations of the method are eventually presented, in particular its dependence on a proper leveling of the profile beforehand.