Friction Behavior of a Textured Surface against Several Materials under Dry and Lubricated Conditions.

Abstract

This paper reports research on frictional behavior of textured surface against several materials subject to under dry and lubricated conditions and this is aimed to provide design guidelines on the surface texturing for a wide-ranging industrial application. Experiments were performed on a tribo-tester with the facility of simulating ball-on-plate model in reciprocating motion under dry, oil lubricated and water lubricated conditions. To study the frictional behavior of textured SiC against various materials, three types ball bearing elements , 52100 steel, silicon nitride (Si3N4) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) were used. Friction and wear performance of un-textured surface and two kinds of widely used micro-scale texture surfaces, grooves and circular dimples, were examined and compared. The results demonstrated that the effect of surface textures on frictional and wear performance was influenced by texture parameters and the materials of friction pairs. The circular dimple texture and groove texture with certain texture parameters had a positive role in improving friction and wear performance under specific operating conditions employed in this research for SiC-steel and SiC-Si3N4 friction pairs, however there was absolutely no friction and wear improvement for textured SiC-PTFE friction pair. Results of this study offer understanding and knowledge base to enhance performance of bearing elements in turn complex interacting systems.