9 - Tribological aspects of different machining processes

Abstract

The conventional machining processes are mostly employed to attain the desired surface integrity for the specific tribological systems. In this chapter, an extended overview of typical topographies produced by various machining processes such as turning, milling, grinding, lapping, and honing is presented. The functional performances of different machined surfaces are compared based on their topographical features for both dry and lubricated conditions. Few advanced surface texture parameters are employed for the better assessment of the functional behaviors. It is perceived that in addition to the surface roughness, bearing area ratio, density, and sharpness of the peaks, peaks height distributions, fluid retainability, surface texture pattern, and texture direction are also important parameters to understand the surface characteristics. Few micromachining processes, which are used for microscale surface texturing, are reported. It is found that tribological properties of the components can be considerably improved by the optimizing the texture patterns.