Tribological Wear Effects of Laser Texture Design on AISI 630 Stainless Steel under Lubricated Conditions

Abstract

Surface texturing is used in many applications to control the friction and wear behaviour of mechanical components. The benefits of texture design on the tribological behaviour of conformal surfaces are well known. However, there is a big dependency between the geometrical features of the texture and the texture’s performance. In this paper, the effect of laser texturing parameters on textured geometrical features is studied, as well as its role in the tribological behaviour of AISI 630 steel under lubrication and high-contact pressure conditions. The results show a linear impact of the energy density on the surface quality, whereas the scanning speed influences the homogeneity of the sample. Nevertheless, the surface integrity is also affected by the laser parameters, reducing the micro-hardness on the textured area by up to 33%. Friction coefficient average values and stability presented high variations depending on the sample parameters. Finally, the wear mechanisms were analysed, detecting abrasion for the disc and adhesion for the pin.