Cooperative effect of surface alloying and laser texturing on tribological performance of lubricated surfaces

Abstract

The cooperative effect of laser surface texturing (LST) and double glow plasma surface alloying on tribological performance of lubricated sliding contacts was investigated. A Nd:YAG laser was used to generate microdimples on steel surfaces. Dimples with the diameter of 150 μm and the depth of 30–35 μm distributed circumferentially on the disc surface. The alloying element Cr was sputtered to the laser texturing steel surface by double glow plasma technique. A deep diffusion layer with a thickness of 30 μm and a high hardness of HV900 was formed in this alloy. Tribological experiments of three types of samples (smooth, texturing and texturing + alloying) were conducted with a ring-on-disc tribometer to simulate the face seal. It is found that, in comparison with smooth steel surfaces, the laser texturing samples significantly reduce the friction coefficient. Moreover, the lower wear rate of the sample treated with the two surface techniques is observed.