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.