Design and Tribological Performance of Textured Surfaces

Abstract The aim of this work was to show that surface texturing could be regarded as ordered roughness, and therefore designed with the use of roughness parameters. By knowing which surface topography and especially which surface roughness parameters result in lower friction, we were able to select proper surface texturing parameters, and thus properly design the surface for given contact conditions. For this investigation, steel samples were laser surface textured in the shape of channels and dimples with different spacing between the channels/dimples. The experimental results performed on grooved and dimpled surfaces under lubricated sliding contact confirmed that the parameters Ssk and Sku can be used to design the surface texturing, where a higher value of Sku and more negative Ssk lead to lower friction. It was also shown that dimple texturing results in more favorable roughness parameters and consequently in better tribological behavior.