Effect of acid erosion on the tribological performance of surface texture prepared with laser processing

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to further improve the performance of surface texture, the chemical polishing method was introduced and the effect of it on the surface morphology and tribological properties of the surface texture was investigated. Design/methodology/approach The surface texture was processed on the surface of 304 stainless steel with laser technology in air medium. Hydrochloric acid solution (pH 2.4 ± 0.05) was selected and used to soak the prepared texture samples for 12 h. The surface morphology and elemental content of the samples were measured with the white light interferometry, SEM and EDS. To obtain the effect of acid corrosion on the tribological properties of textured surfaces, the samples were tested under dry friction and oil lubrication conditions. Findings The detailed study shows that the melt and burr of surface texture produced with laser processing was reduced due to the corrosion effect of hydrochloric acid. Therefore, the better interfacial tribological properties was obtained due to the improvement of surface-textured morphology. Originality/value The main contribution of this work is to provide a new reference for improving surface texture quality. It also lays a foundation for improving the tribological properties of the textured interface. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-04-2023-0094/