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Title: Tribological Behavior of Oil-Lubricated Laser Textured Steel Surfaces in Conformal Flat and Non-Conformal Contacts

Abstract

Changing the surface texture of sliding surfaces is an effective way to manipulate friction and wear of lubricated surfaces. Having realized its potential, we have done very extensive studies on the effects of laser surface texturing (LST, which involves the creation of an array of microdimples on a surface) on friction and wear behavior of oil-lubricated steel surfaces in the early 2000s. In this paper, we reviewed some of our research accomplishments and assessed future directions of the laser texturing field in many diverse industrial applications. Our studies specifically addressed the impact of laser texturing on friction and wear of both the flat conformal and initial non-conformal point contact configurations using a pin-on-disk test rig under fully-flooded synthetic oil lubricants with different viscosities. Electrical resistance measurement between pin and LST disks was also used to determine the operating lubrication regimes in relation to friction. In conformal contact, we confirmed that LST could significantly expand the operating conditions for hydrodynamic lubrication to significantly much higher loads and slower speeds. In particular, with LST and higher viscosity oils, the low-friction full hydrodynamic regime was shifted to the far left in the Stribeck diagram. Overall, the beneficial effects of laser surface texturing weremore » more pronounced at higher speeds and loads and with higher viscosity oil. LST was also observed to reduce the magnitude of friction coefficients in the boundary regime. For the non-conformal contact configuration, we determined that LST would produce more abrasive wear on the rubbing counterface compared to the untreated surfaces due to a reduction in lubricant fluid film thickness, as well as the highly uneven and rough nature of the textured surfaces. However, this higher initial wear rate has led to faster generation of a conformal contact, and thus transition from the high-friction boundary to lower friction mixed lubrication regime, resulting in a rapid reduction in the friction coefficient with increased ball wear. Higher density of LST, lower oil viscosity, and hardness of counterface steel surface facilitate an increase of the initial wear, which promotes friction reduction. This phenomenon can be beneficial if the initial accelerated wear on the counterface is acceptable in intended applications. This paper summarizes our experimental investigation of the effect of LST on friction properties and lubrication regime transitions in a unidirectional sliding contact.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3]
  1. Inst. for Problems of Materials Science, Dept. 7, 3 Krzhizhanovsky Street, Kyiv 03142, UA (Corresponding author), e-mail: andrii.kovalchenko@gatech.edu
  2. Argonne National Lab., Energy Systems Division, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439 US
  3. Technion-Israel Inst. of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Haifa 32000, IL
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) - Office of Vehicle Technology - Battery Materials Research (BMR) Program
OSTI Identifier:
1413700
DOE Contract Number:  
AC02-06CH11357
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Materials Performance and Characterization
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 6; Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 2165-3992
Publisher:
ASTM International
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; laser surface texturing, friction, wear, lubrication regime, boundary hydrodynamic, lambda ratio, contact resistance

Citation Formats

Kovalchenko, A. M., Erdemir, A., Ajayi, O. O., and Etsion, I. Tribological Behavior of Oil-Lubricated Laser Textured Steel Surfaces in Conformal Flat and Non-Conformal Contacts. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1520/MPC20160013.
Kovalchenko, A. M., Erdemir, A., Ajayi, O. O., & Etsion, I. Tribological Behavior of Oil-Lubricated Laser Textured Steel Surfaces in Conformal Flat and Non-Conformal Contacts. United States. https://doi.org/10.1520/MPC20160013
Kovalchenko, A. M., Erdemir, A., Ajayi, O. O., and Etsion, I. 2017. "Tribological Behavior of Oil-Lubricated Laser Textured Steel Surfaces in Conformal Flat and Non-Conformal Contacts". United States. https://doi.org/10.1520/MPC20160013.
@article{osti_1413700,
title = {Tribological Behavior of Oil-Lubricated Laser Textured Steel Surfaces in Conformal Flat and Non-Conformal Contacts},
author = {Kovalchenko, A. M. and Erdemir, A. and Ajayi, O. O. and Etsion, I.},
abstractNote = {Changing the surface texture of sliding surfaces is an effective way to manipulate friction and wear of lubricated surfaces. Having realized its potential, we have done very extensive studies on the effects of laser surface texturing (LST, which involves the creation of an array of microdimples on a surface) on friction and wear behavior of oil-lubricated steel surfaces in the early 2000s. In this paper, we reviewed some of our research accomplishments and assessed future directions of the laser texturing field in many diverse industrial applications. Our studies specifically addressed the impact of laser texturing on friction and wear of both the flat conformal and initial non-conformal point contact configurations using a pin-on-disk test rig under fully-flooded synthetic oil lubricants with different viscosities. Electrical resistance measurement between pin and LST disks was also used to determine the operating lubrication regimes in relation to friction. In conformal contact, we confirmed that LST could significantly expand the operating conditions for hydrodynamic lubrication to significantly much higher loads and slower speeds. In particular, with LST and higher viscosity oils, the low-friction full hydrodynamic regime was shifted to the far left in the Stribeck diagram. Overall, the beneficial effects of laser surface texturing were more pronounced at higher speeds and loads and with higher viscosity oil. LST was also observed to reduce the magnitude of friction coefficients in the boundary regime. For the non-conformal contact configuration, we determined that LST would produce more abrasive wear on the rubbing counterface compared to the untreated surfaces due to a reduction in lubricant fluid film thickness, as well as the highly uneven and rough nature of the textured surfaces. However, this higher initial wear rate has led to faster generation of a conformal contact, and thus transition from the high-friction boundary to lower friction mixed lubrication regime, resulting in a rapid reduction in the friction coefficient with increased ball wear. Higher density of LST, lower oil viscosity, and hardness of counterface steel surface facilitate an increase of the initial wear, which promotes friction reduction. This phenomenon can be beneficial if the initial accelerated wear on the counterface is acceptable in intended applications. This paper summarizes our experimental investigation of the effect of LST on friction properties and lubrication regime transitions in a unidirectional sliding contact.},
doi = {10.1520/MPC20160013},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1413700}, journal = {Materials Performance and Characterization},
issn = {2165-3992},
number = 2,
volume = 6,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jan 30 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Mon Jan 30 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}