Surface Functionalization of AISI 316 Steel by Laser Texturing of Shaped Microcavities with Picosecond Pulses

Surface texturing is gaining interest in the field of surface engineering. Enhancements can be obtained by carefully creating textures with arrangement of 3D-cavities; such textures retain lubricant and enhancing the hydrodynamic effect, reducing therefore the friction coefficient and wear of sliding contact surfaces 3D-cavities may have flat or curved shapes. In this investigation a picosecond pulsed laser with 1030 nm and 343 nm has been used to develop precise surface textures with triangular and flat shaped profiles. Tribological essays showed improvements in the tribological behavior of textured surfaces, triangular profile cavities obtained a friction coefficient < 0.03 doubling the wear resistance compared to reference surface without texture.