Improved Tribological Behavior of Grey Cast Iron Under Low and High Viscous Lubricants by Laser Surface Texturing

Abstract

The main objective of this paper was to investigate the effect of laser surface texturing (LST) on the friction and wear behavior of gray cast iron in lubricated conditions. The dimples with a diameter of 54 μm and depth of about 10 μm were produced with various dimple densities in the range from 5 to 35 %. Ball-on-disc friction tests were carried out for all the specimens in low and high viscous oils. The friction coefficient was reduced by about 35 % after the LST compared with the untextured specimen at a load of 5 N and speed of 5 cm/s. The textured specimen with a dimple density of 10 % possessed the lowest friction coefficient of all the dimpled specimens in both low and high viscous oils. However, the high viscous oil was found to be more effective to achieve a lower friction coefficient compared to the low viscous oil. The friction coefficient reduced by about 46 % in high viscous oil compared to the low viscous oil. Similarly, the lower wear was noticed for the specimen with a dimple density of 10 % and 5 % among all the specimens in both low and high viscous oils. The resistance to wear of the specimens was also found to be enhanced in high viscous oil compared to those in low viscous oil.