On Design and Tribological Behaviour of Laser Textured Surfaces

The paper reports an investigation into the functional response of textured surfaces with different designs that incorporated arrays of micro-dimples and grooves (40 μm diameter/width and 15 μm depth for both patterns) produced on tungsten carbide (WC) blocks by employing nanosecond (ns) and femtosecond (fs) lasers. In particular, the tribological performance of the textured WC blocks against stainless steel (SS316L) counterbody was evaluated in terms of friction and wear under dry condition compared to an untextured specimen. Friction tests were carried out on a reciprocating sliding tester while unidirectional ball-on-disc method was utilised to assess wear on the mating surfaces. The untextured surface exhibited a continuous rise in the friction coefficient from 0.15 to 0.5 from the start of the cycle to the end while the specimens textured with ns and fs lasers reached steady-state condition after 100 and 200 cycles with values between 0.35-0.45 and 0.3-0.4, respectively. Energy dispersive spectroscopy following wear tests showed a pronounced material transfer from the balls to the textured surfaces with stainless steel filling up some of the dimple and groove cavities; however, the reverse phenomenon was not apparent. Additionally, texturing with the fs laser exhibited formation of nano-ripples/structures in the produced dimples and grooves that can be further studied for creating nano-textured cutting tools or surfaces with super-hydrophobic/anti-ice properties.