An experimental method for quantitative analysis of real contact area based on the total reflection optical principle
Luo Zhijun, Song Baojiang, Han Jingyu, Yan Shaoze
       

A schematic of the contact surface: the dashed line is the reference plane which is the average line of the height of asperities, the solid line represents the rigid plane, the curve is the profile of surface, and the shadow areas are the real contact area, or named deformation of asperities.