The paper studies the formation of strain-induced roughness on an initially flat surface of materials with a modified surface layer in tension. The dynamic boundary value problem of mechanics is solved numerically by the finite difference method for plane strain. The curvilinear surface layer substrate interface is specified explicitly in the calculations. The mechanical response of the steel substrate and surface layer is described by elastoplastic models with isotropic hardening and elastic-brittle fracture models, respectively. The surface roughness shape and amplitude are found to depend on the thickness of both elastic and high-strength plastic layers with sinusoidal geometry of the hardened layer-substrate interface.