Tribological and vibrational effects of laser surface texturing on steel-steel sliding contact

Abstract

Laser surface texturing (LST) not only can significantly improve the tribological performance of various tribological contacts, but also can significantly reduce the frictional noise and vibrations generated from sliding contacts. In order to investigate the tribological effect of laser surface texturing, sixteen stainless steel specimens with different surface textures, and different textured area ratios are designed and processed on the surfaces of specimens by means of laser surface texturing technique. Four different operation speeds are carried out using a standard friction and wear testing machine (UMT-TriboLab) under rich oil lubrication condition. The experimental results show that the diameter of surface circular dimple had the most significant effect on the tribological properties of steel-steel sliding contacts, followed by texture depth, texture area density, and sliding speed. The effect of laser surface texturing on the frictional noise and vibration generated from steel-steel in dry sliding contacts is also investigated. Laser surface texture has significant effect on the reduction of noise generated from steel-steel dry sliding contacts in both time and frequency domains. The conclusion is that laser surface texturing has significant effects on the tribological, vibrational, and other physical performance of functional surfaces. To get the best tribological and vibrational performance, the functional surface texture should be optimized considering the coupled effects of surface texture, lubrication, and contact condition.