Influence of surface roughness on the adhesion force between the titanium plate and deep-sea sediment

Abstract

Stick of the deep-sea sediment on the surface of the mining machine can deteriorate its working efficiency. To resolve this issue, this study aims to reduce the adhesion force along the soil-metal interface by adjusting the roughness of the metal surface. During the experimental study, six types of Titanium samples with different surface roughness were first prepared through surface polishing. Then the adhesion force between the marine clay agglomerate and the Titanium surface was measured with Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The measured results indicated the adhesion force would first decrease and then increase with the surface roughness. The contact analysis based on Finite Element Analysis was then conducted to investigate the related mechanism. The simulation results indicated changed contact area with the surface roughness can partially explain the existence of the critical roughness with minimum adhesion force. This study can provide a substitutional protocol to reduce the adhesion force between the metal surface of the engineering machine and the surrounding adhesive clay.