Non-Uniform Laser Surface Texturing of an Un-Tapered Square Pad for Tribological Applications

Abstract

Femtosecond laser surface micro-texturing has emerged as a promising technology to enhance the tribological properties of different kinds of electromechanical devices. In this research paper, we have exploited the intrinsic flexibility and micrometric accuracy of femtosecond laser ablation to realize complex micro-structural modifications on the surface of a laboratory prototype of a steel thrust bearing (un-tapered) pad. The Bruggeman Texture Hydrodynamics theory (BTH) is employed for the design of the anisotropic and non-uniform texture maximizing the thrust load of the pad prototype. The preliminary experimental results, reported in this work, show that the non-uniform micro-texture largely affects the friction characteristics of the contact. In particular, in agreement with the BTH predictions, the tribo-system shows friction properties that are strongly sensitive to the direction of the sliding speed, as a consequence of the micro-fluid dynamics which are designed to occur only in a specific sliding direction. We suggest that the joint action of virtual prototyping (BTH lubrication theory) and ultrafast laser micro-prototyping can lead to unconventional and impressive results in terms of enhanced or tailored contact mechanics properties of the generic lubricated tribopair.

Assessment the Sliding Wear Behavior of Laser Microtexturing Ti6Al4V under Wet Conditions

“…This kind of techniques represents an essential tool to improve the functional performance of specific alloys in working environments, through the variation of specific features as wetting or tribological behavior [9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. By using laser surface processing procedures regular or random texture patterns can be achieved [13,[16][17][18][19][20][21]. Laser texturing techniques can be used to induce a large variety of topographies in terms of the distribution and geometry of the irradiated pattern being the most common linear, circular and pulses array distributions [13,16,19,21].…”

Surface Texturing for Tribological Applications: A Review

“…It also shows the frequency of other research conditions in 40 papers, published in the last 20 years, whose research topic was surface texturing for tribological applications. [6], [7], [8], [10], [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30], [31], [32], [33], [34], [35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41] 23…”

Laser Fabrication of Anti-Icing Surfaces: A Review

“…Consequently, using SHSs for anti-icing application is undoubtedly an inherently attractive strategy. Among the different technologies available for surface micro- and nano-structuring, short and ultrashort laser pulses have several advantages: (i) they offer extreme flexibility in the morphology of the structures and surface micro-/nano-features that can be created [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]; (ii) in principle, they have no limitations in terms of manufacturable materials, as long as the targets absorb the laser wavelength [ 34 , 35 ]; and (iii) it is possible to scale up such technology [ 36 ] to structure large areas with industrially relevant process times and costs [ 37 ].…”