Search

During co-action between contact elements in reciprocating motion, different working conditions exist in outer and inner zones of stationary elements. Because the tribological effects of surface texturing depend on the operating conditions, various dimple patterns were created in the middle part of the steel disc and near the reversal points. The behaviors of variable dimple patterns were compared with those of uniform texturing and untexturing. It was found that the dimple patterns in the middle disc zone depended on the resistance to motion. The best tribological behavior was obtained for a pit area ratio of 13% and diameter of 0.4 mm in the inner zone, and pit area ratio of 3% and diameter of 0.2 mm in the outer zones. Low resistance to motion and the smallest friction variation of all tested sliding pairs were achieved. For the same pit area ratio of 13% in a disc of 0.4 mm, the dimple diameter behaved better than in the 0.2 mm diameter disc. The greatest decrease in the coefficient of friction of 85% compared to untextured sliding pair was achieved for uniform laser texturing with a pit area ratio of 13% and dimple diameter of 0.4 mm, when the normal load was 40 N and frequency of displacement was 20 Hz.

The experiment was carried out in a reciprocating lubricated conformal sliding contact between steel discs of the same hardness. The effects of disc surface texturing on the friction coefficient at various operating conditions (temperature, normal load, and frequency of oscillations) were studied. Under various conditions, surface texturing caused friction reductions of sliding pairs. The largest reduction was 4.6 times at a lower temperature and 2.5 times at a higher temperature. The effect of the pit area ratio on the friction reduction was visible at a higher temperature. The highest dimple density of 25% corresponded to a lower coefficient of friction than the smallest density of 9%. The sliding pair with a dimple density of 17% led to large variation of the friction force. At lower temperatures, the coefficients of friction were lower compared to tests at higher temperatures.

The constant development of environmental protection causes the necessity to increase the efficiency of machines. By increasing the efficiency of machines, energy losses can be limited, leading to lower energy consumption. Friction reduction leads to an increase in efficiency and a decrease in wear. In this paper, selected surface texturing methods, such as burnishing and abrasive jet machining, with their limitations are presented. Thanks to those processes, various surface textures can be obtained. Examples of applications of these methods for friction and wear reduction are shown.

Experiments were conducted using an Optimol SRV5 tester in lubricated friction conditions. Steel balls from 100Cr6 material of 60 HRC hardness were placed in contact with 42CrMo4 steel discs of 47 HRC hardness and diversified surface textures. Tests were carried out at a 25–40% relative humidity. The ball diameter was 10 mm, the amplitude of oscillations was set to 0.1 mm, and the frequency was set to 80 Hz. Tests were performed at smaller (45 N) and higher (100 N) normal loads and at smaller (30 °C) and higher (90 °C) temperatures. During each test, the normal load and temperature were kept constant. We found that the disc surface texture had significant effects on the friction and wear under lubricated conditions. When a lower normal load was applied, the coefficient of friction and wear volumes were smaller for bigger disc surface heights. However, for a larger normal load a higher roughness corresponded to a larger coefficient of friction.

The effect of steel disc surface texturing on dry gross fretting in a ball-on-disc configuration was studied. Dimples were created with abrasive jet machining. The tribological performance of sliding pairs, steel–steel and steel–ceramics, was experimentally studied. The character of surface texturing effect was related to the dominant wear type. During steel–steel contact, the presence of dimples on disc surfaces could lead to increases in wear and friction. However, the escape of wear debris into dimples could result in reductions of friction and wear in the steel–ceramics configuration.