Effect of Laser Surface Texture on the Tribological Properties of Different Materials under Dry Friction

Block-on-ring tribo-meters were used to investigate the dry friction and wear behavior of 45 steel and 12Cr with different laser textures area density. The wear was measured using a high precision scale and the morphologies of surfaces were examined using a 3D profiler and a scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the wear of textured 45 steel specimens was significantly reduced with reference to that of untextured specimens. However, adverse results were obtained for 12Cr steel. For 45 steel, the wear decreased with the increase of textures area density within a certain range, while the friction coefficient was independent on the area density of laser surface textures. Additionally, high hardness regions was obtained after laser textured which improved the wear resistance of 45 steel specimens.