Rippled Polymer Surface Generated by Stick–Slip Friction

Textured surfaces with varied functionalities are generally fabricated by etching, cutting, or printing. In this study, different from the usual generation of grooves along the sliding direction in friction, regular parallel ripples that are perpendicular to the sliding direction were generated on a polymer surface by the stick–slip friction of polymer/metal friction pairs lubricated with water. Ripple height was proportional to the peak friction force in the sticking process. Ripple wavelength decreased as the sliding velocity increased. The generation of ripples was ascribed to the adhesion and plastic deformation during stick–slip motion. The achieved rippled surface effectively improved the lubrication property of the two surfaces. These findings demonstrate a new method of in situ manufacturing ripples on a soft material surface through a controlled traditional sliding friction and also provide a new insight into the stick–slip friction behavior of materials.