An analysis of deviations of cylindrical surfaces with the use of wavelet transform

Wavelet transform becomes a more and more common method of processing 3D signals. It is widely used to analyze data in various branches of science and technology (medicine, seismology, engineering, etc.). In the field of mechanical engineering wavelet transform is usually used to investigate surface micro- and nanotopography. Wavelet transform is commonly regarded as a very good tool to analyze non-stationary signals. However, to analyze periodical signals, most researchers prefer to use well-known methods such as Fourier analysis. In this paper authors make an attempt to prove that wavelet transform can be a useful method to analyze 3D signals that are approximately periodical. As an example of such signal, measurement data of cylindrical workpieces are investigated. The calculations were performed in the MATLAB environment using the Wavelet Toolbox.