Influence of texturing parameters and contact conditions on tribological behaviour of laser textured surfaces

Introducing specific textures on a tribological surface can contribute to friction reduction in sliding contacts. Well defined micro-dimples can act as lubricant reservoirs capable of feeding lubricant directly into the contact and initiating micro elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication, as well as traps for wear debris. A lot of experimental work has been already carried out, but it is mostly based on trial and error approach when defining optimum textures for a given application. A comparison was made between the performance of a reference non-textured surface and laser surface texturing (LST) discs with three different dimple depths. It was found that tribological behaviour depends on the depth of the micro-dimples as well as on the dominant lubrication mode (operating conditions). The beneficial effect of micro-dimples becomes larger with an increase in dimple depth as well as for higher sliding speeds.