Abstract:The concept of atomic surface roughness is very important in the assessment of high performance nano surfaces. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were carried out, by using a diamond tool on copper workpiece, for nanomachining. The atomic surface roughness was evaluated after multi-pass runs and these were characterized for various conditions of machined thickness and machining velocity. It was observed that there was no systematic relationship between the depth of cut and the surface roughness. On the other hand, there is an overall increase in the surface roughness, with increase in the machining velocity, but this was with some fluctuations. The frictional forces during the nanomachining are high for low depth of cut and these decrease as depth of cut increases. The characterization of roughness could provide understanding of surface based properties.