Fast laser surface texturing of spherical samples to improve the frictional performance of elasto-hydrodynamic lubricated contacts
File(s)Boidi2021_Article_FastLaserSurfaceTexturingOfSph(1).pdf (2.89 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Textured surfaces offer the potential to promote friction and wear reduction by increasing the hydrodynamic pressure, fluid uptake, or acting as oil or debris reservoirs. However, texturing techniques often require additional manufacturing steps and costs, thus frequently being not economically feasible for real engineering applications. This experimental study aims at applying a fast laser texturing technique on curved surfaces for obtaining superior tribological performances. A femtosecond pulsed laser (Ti:Sapphire) and direct laser interference patterning (with a solid-state Nd:YAG laser) were used for manufacturing dimple and groove patterns on curved steel surfaces (ball samples). Tribological tests were carried out under elasto-hydrodynamic lubricated contact conditions varying slide-roll ratio using a ball-on-disk configuration. Furthermore, a specific interferometry technique for rough surfaces was used to measure the film thickness of smooth and textured surfaces. Smooth steel samples were used to obtain data for the reference surface. The results showed that dimples promoted friction reduction (up to 20%) compared to the reference smooth specimens, whereas grooves generally caused less beneficial or detrimental effects. In addition, dimples promoted the formation of full film lubrication conditions at lower speeds. This study demonstrates how fast texturing techniques could potentially be used for improving the tribological performance of bearings as well as other mechanical components utilised in several engineering applications.
Date Issued
2021-10-01
Date Acceptance
2021-01-07
Citation
Friction, 2021, 9, pp.1227-1241
ISSN
2223-7704
Publisher
SpringerOpen
Start Page
1227
End Page
1241
Journal / Book Title
Friction
Volume
9
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2021. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Sponsor
Engineering & Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
Grant Number
EP/N025954/1
Subjects
Science & Technology
Technology
Engineering, Mechanical
Engineering
surface laser texturing
elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication
bearings
friction
film thickness
INTERFERENCE METALLURGY
INLET SUCTION
THIN-FILM
EHL
BOUNDARY
TRANSITION
MECHANISMS
REDUCTION
BEARINGS
TOOL
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2021-01-07