Picosecond Laser Surface Texturing of a Stavax Steel Substrate for Wettability Control

In this investigation,a picosecond laser was employed to fabricate surface textures on a Stavax steel substrate,which is a key material for mold fabrication in the manufacturing of various polymer products.Three main types of surface textures were fabricated on a Stavax steel substrate:periodic ripples,a two-scale hierarchical two-dimensional array of micro-bumps,and a micro-pits array with nanoripples.The wettability of the laser-textured Stavax steel surface was converted from its original hydrophilicity into hydrophobicity and even super-hydrophobicity after exposure to air.The results clearly show that this super-hydrophobicity is mainly due to the surface textures.The ultrafast laserinduced catalytic effect may play a secondary role in modifying the surface chemistry so as to lower the surface energy.The laser-induced surface textures on the metal mold substrates were then replicated onto polypropylene substrates via the polymer injection molding process.The surface wettability of the molded polypropylene was found to be changed from the original hydrophilicity to superhydrophobicity.This developed process holds the potential to improve the performance of fabricated plastic products in terms of wettability control and easy cleaning.

Analysis of Machinable Structures and Their Wettability of Rotary Ultrasonic Texturing Method

Tailored surface textures at the micro- or nanoscale dimensions are widely used to get required functional performances. Rotary ultrasonic texturing （RUT） technique has been proved to be capable of fabricating periodic micro- and nanostructures. In the present study, diamond tools with geometrically defined cutting edges were designed for fabricating different types of tailored surface textures using the RUT method. Surface generation mechanisms and machinable structures of the RUT process are analyzed and simulated with a 3D-CAD program. Textured surfaces generated by using a triangular pyramid cutting tip are constructed. Different textural patterns from several micrometers to several tens of micrometers with few burrs were successfully fabricated, which proved that tools with a proper two-rake-face design are capable of removing cutting chips efficiently along a sinusoidal cutting locus in the RUT process. Technical applications of the textured surfaces are also discussed. Wetting properties of textured aluminum surfaces were evaluated by combining the test of surface roughness features. The results show that the real surface area of the textured aluminum surfaces almost doubled by comparing with that of a flat surface, and anisotropic wetting properties were obtained due to the obvious directional textural features.

Characteristics of dual-frequency capacitively coupled SF_6/O_2 plasma and plasma texturing of multi-crystalline silicon

Due to it being environmentally friendly, much attention has been paid to the dry plasma texturing technique serving as an alternative candidate for multicrystalline silicon （mc-Si） surface texturing. In this paper, capacitively coupled plasma （CCP） driven by a dual frequency （DF） of 40.68 MHz and 13.56 MHz is first used for plasma texturing of mc-Si with SF6/O2 gas mixture. Using a hairpin resonant probe and optical emission techniques, DF-CCP characteristics and their influence on mc-silicon surface plasma texturing are investigated at different flow rate ratios, pressures, and radio-frequency （RF） input powers. Experimental results show that suitable plasma texturing of mc-silicon occurs only in a narrow range of plasma parameters, where electron density ne must be larger than 6.3 x 109 cm-3 and the spectral intensity ratio of the F atom to that of the O atom （[F]/[O]） in the plasma must be between 0.8 and 0.3. Out of this range, no cone-like structure is formed on the mc-silicon surface. In our experiments, the lowest reflectance of about 7.3% for mc-silicon surface texturing is obtained at an [F]/[O] of 0.5 and ne of 6.9 × 109 cm-3.

Sliding wear characteristics of solid lubricant coating on titanium alloy surface modified by laser texturing and ternary hard coatings

Titanium alloys are poor in wear resistance and it is not suitable under sliding conditions even with lubrication because ofits severe adhesive wear tendency.The surface modifications through texturing and surface coating were used to enhance the surfaceproperties of the titanium alloy substrate.Hard and wear resistant coatings such as TiAlN and AlCrN were applied over texturedtitanium alloy surfaces with chromium as interlayer.To improve the friction and wear resisting performance of hard coatings further,solid lubricant,molybdenum disulphide(MoS2),was deposited on dimples made over hard coatings.Unidirectional sliding weartests were performed with pin on disc contact geometry,to evaluate the tribological performance of coated substrates.The tests wereperformed under three different normal loads for a period of40min at sliding velocity of2m/s.The tribological behaviours ofmulti-layer coatings such as coating structure,friction coefficient and specific wear rate were investigated and analyzed.The lowerfriction coefficient of approximately0.1was found at the early sliding stage,which reduces the material transfer and increases thewear life.Although,the friction coefficient increased to high values after MoS2coating was partially removed,substrate was stillprotected against wear by underlying hard composite layer.

Surface texturing for adaptive Ag/MoS_2 solid lubricant plating

The objective of this research is to prepare specially designed surface texture on hard steel surface by electrochemical micromachining (EM) and to incorporate electroless plated Ag/MoS2 solid lubricant coating into the dimples of EM textured steel surface to effectively reduce friction and wear of steel-steel contacts. The friction and wear behavior of the Ag/MoS2 solid lubricant coating on EM textured steel surface was evaluated in relation to the size and spacing of the dimples thereon. The microstructure of as-plated Ag/MoS2 solid lubricant coating and the morphology and elemental composition of the worn coating surface and counterface steel surface were analyzed by means of optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectrometry. It is found that electroless plated Ag/MoS2 coating is able to greatly reduce the friction and wear of the EM textured steel disc coupled with GCr15 steel ring, mainly because of the formation of solid self-lubricating layer on the EM textured steel surface and of transferred lubricating film on counterface steel surface. The diameter and spacing of the dimples are suggested as 500 μm for acquiring the best wear resistance of the hard steel discs after electrochemical micromachining treatment and electroless plating of Ag/MoS2 solid lubricating coating.

Surface Texturing of TiO_2 Film by Mist Deposition of TiO_2 Nanoparticles

Unique and various microstructures of titanium oxide(TiO_2 ) film including macroporous structure, chromatic veins and rings, have been easily fabricated by mist deposition method on silicon substrate with mild preparation conditions. Rutile phase TiO_2 nanoparticles were directly used as starting material to prepare film and led to a simple preparation process. It was found that several different microstructures existed in the sample and changed with the varied positions from the center to the edge of the film when the concentration of the TiO_2 suspension is 0.06 mol/l, the deposition time is 30 min, the flow rate is 1 l/min and the temperature is150. The surface texturing shows apparent distinction as the concentration of the TiO_2 suspension decreased to 0.03 mol/l and 0.01 mol/l.

Effect of Surface Texturing on Lubricating Condition under Point Contact Using Numerical Analysis

The contact fatigue life of machine elements is affected by pitting, wear and so on, under heavier loading conditions. Increasing the fatigue life requires mainly the improvements of lubricating condition, operating condition and materials. In order to improve the lubricating condition, it is necessary to investigate the relation of the microscopic surface texturing and the contact modes of machine elements. In this paper, thus, the pressure and oil film thickness of the contact between sphere and the plate with 5 kinds surface texturing were calculated using a commercial software based on Reynolds equation. There was sufficient evidence to suggest that the dimple shape was the optimum texturing to increase the lubricating condition.

STUDY OF PET AIR-JET TEXTURING SEWING THREAD PROPERTIES

This paper presents a study of properties of air-jet textured threads made from high strengthpolyester filament and ordinary strength polyester filament.It includes the evaluation of tenacity,breaking elongation,modulus,specific work,evenness,abrasion resistance,hook strength,knotstrength and other mechanical properties relating to sewing.The polyester air-jet texturing sewingthread has special structure and appearance and possesses better properties of evenness,goodabrasion resistance,fatigue property,high hook and knot strength.

Cooperative effect of surface alloying and laser texturing on tribological performance of lubricated surfaces

The cooperative effect of laser surface texturing(LST) and double glow plasma surface alloying on tribological performance of lubricated sliding contacts was investigated.A Nd:YAG laser was used to generate microdimples on steel surfaces. Dimples with the diameter of 150μm and the depth of 30-35μm distributed circumferentially on the disc surface.The alloying element Cr was sputtered to the laser texturing steel surface by double glow plasma technique.A deep diffusion layer with a thickness of 30μm and a high hardness of HV900 was formed in this alloy.Tribological experiments of three types of samples(smooth,texturing and texturing+alloying) were conducted with a ring-on-disc tribometer to simulate the face seal.It is found that,in comparison with smooth steel surfaces,the laser texturing samples significantly reduce the friction coefficient.Moreover,the lower wear rate of the sample treated with the two surface techniques is observed.

Enhancement of wear resistance of Ti–6Al–4V alloy by picosecond laser surface micro texturing process

A pulsed,picosecond Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of 532 nm is used to texture the surface of grade 5 titanium alloy(Ti–6Al–4V)for minimizing its wear rate.The wear properties of the base samples and laser surface textured samples are analyzed by conducting wear tests under a sliding condition using pin-on-disk equipment.The wear tests are conducted based on the Box–Benhken design,and the interaction of the process parameters is analyzed using response surface methodology.The wear analysis is conducted by varying the load,rotating speed of the disc,and track diameter at room temperature with a sliding distance of 1500 m.The results demonstrate that the laser textured surfaces exhibited a lower coefficient of friction and good anti-wear properties as compared with the non-textured surfaces.A regression model is developed for the wear analysis of titanium alloy using the analysis of variance technique.It is also observed from the analysis that the applied load and sliding distance are the parameters that have the greatest effect on the wear behavior followed by the wear track diameter.The optimum operating conditions have been suggested based on the results obtained from the numerical optimization approach.

Fabrication of ceramic coatings on the biodegradable ZM21 magnesium alloy by PEO coupled EPD followed by laser texturing process

Zirconia(ZrO_2)incorporated ceramic coatings were fabricated on biodegradable ZM21 Mg alloy by the PEO coupled with EPD process.Subsequently,the sample surface was modified by laser texturing to improve the corrosion resistance,roughness and cell proliferation and growth properties.The corrosion performance of the fabricated samples along with the substrate was studied by electrochemical measurements under simulated body fluid(SBF)environment.The cell direct contact assay was conducted for the substrate and fabricated samples using L-929 mouse fibroblast cells for 24 h.The phase contrast images of cell direct contact assay revealed that fabricated samples exhibited better contact and response with the fibroblast cells,compared to the substrate.The addition of nanoparticles in the PEO process,called PEO coupled EPD process,resulted in attaining a higher thickness and improved corrosion performance of the samples than the PEO coated samples.Among all the samples,laser surface textured PEO,and PEO-EPD coated samples unveiled enhanced corrosion resistance,cell growth,thereby enabling it as a suitable prototype for biodegradable implant applications.

Generating micro/nanostructures on magnesium alloy surface using ultraprecision diamond surface texturing process

The lightness and high strength-to-weight ratio of the magnesium alloy have attracted more interest in various applications.However,micro/nanostructure generation on their surfaces remains a challenge due to the flammability and ignition.Motivated by this,this study proposed a machining process,named the ultraprecision diamond surface texturing process,to machine the micro/nanostructures on magnesium alloy surfaces.Experimental results showed the various microstructures and sawtooth-shaped nanostructures were successfully generated on the AZ31B magnesium alloy surfaces,demonstrating the effectiveness of this proposed machining process.Furthermore,sawtooth-shaped nanostructures had the function of inducing the optical effect and generating different colors on workpiece surfaces.The colorful letter and colorful flower image were clearly viewed on magnesium alloy surfaces.The corresponding cutting force,chip morphology,and tool wear were systematically investigated to understand the machining mechanism of micro/nanostructures on magnesium alloy surfaces.The proposed machining process can further improve the performances of the magnesium alloy and extend its functions to other fields,such as optics.

Air-flow Analysis for BCF Texturing Tube

In this paper,the Reynolds number,velocity,pressureand kinetic energy of the BCF processing hot air-floware analyzed with the help of the aero-dynamic theory,and their distributions inside the texturing tube are ob-tained by pressure measuring.

RELATION BETWEEN STRUCTURE OF PP DRAWN FILAMENT AND TEXTURING EFFECT

The relationship between the structure of PP drawn filament and the crimp elasticity of tex-tured yarn is investigated.It is found that orientation,crystallinity,and especially,crystalline formof drawn filament are related to crimp property of textured yarn.Lower crystallinity,moderateorientation and unstable para-crystalline structure are necessary for increasing crimp elasticity.Inaddition,the filament structure and properties before and after texturing are compared.

ISOTROPIC TEXTURING OF POLYCRYSTALLINE SILICON WAFERS

An isotropic etching technique of texturing silicon solar cells has been applied to polycrystalline silicon wafers with different acid concentrations. Optimal e tching conditions have been determined by etching rate calculation, scanning ele ctron microscope (SEM) image and reflectance measurement. The surface morphology of the textured wafers varies in accordance with the different etchant concentr ation which in turn leads to the dissimilarity of etching speed. Textured polycr ystalline silicon wafer surfaces display randomly located etched pits which can reduce the surface reflection and enhance the light absorption. The special rela tionship between reflectivity and etching rate was studied. Reflectance measurem ents show that isotropic texturing is one of the suitable techniques for texturi ng polycrystalline silicon wafers and benefits solar cells performances.

Real Time Collision Detection Using Depth Texturing Spheres

In this paper,we present a novel collision detection algorithm to real time detect the collisions of objects.We gen- erate sphere textures of objects,and use programmable graphics hardware to mapping texture and check the depth of different ob- jects to detect the collision.We have implemented the algorithm and compared it with CULLIDE.The result shows that our algo- rithm is more effective than CULLIDE and has fixed executive time to suit for real-time applications.

Texturing and evaluation of concrete pavement surface:A state-of-the-art review

Concrete pavement is accompanied by two major functional properties,namely noise emission and friction,which are closely related to pavement surface texture.While several technologies have been developed to mitigate tirepavement noise and improve driving friction by surface texturization,limited information is available to compare the advantages and disadvantages of different surface textures.In this study,a state-of-the-art and state-of-thepractice review is conducted to investigate the noise reduction and friction improvement technologies for concrete pavement surfaces.The commonly used tests for characterizing the surface texture,skid resistance,and noise emission of concrete pavement were first summarized.Then,the texturing methods for both fresh and hardened concrete pavement surfaces were discussed,and the friction,noise emission and durability performances of various surface textures were compared.It is found that the next generation concrete surface(NGCS)texture generally provides the best noise emission performance and excellent friction properties.The exposed aggregate concrete(EAC)and optimized diamond grinding textures are also promising alternatives.Lastly,the technical parameters for the application of both diamond grinding and diamond grinding&grooving textures were recommended based on the authors'research and practical experience in Germany and the US.This study offers a convenient reference to the pavement researchers and engineers who seek to quickly understand relevant knowledge and choose the most appropriate surface textures for concrete pavements.

Spin texturing in quantum wires with Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit interactions and in-plane magnetic field

In this work, we investigate the effects of interplay of spin-orbit interaction and in-plane magnetic fields on the electronic structure and spin texturing of parabolically confined quantum wire. Numerical results reveal that the competing effects between Rashba and Dresselhaus spin--orbit interactions and the external magnetic field lead to a complicated energy spectrum. We find that the spin texturing owing to the coupling between subbands can be modified by the strength of spin- orbit couplings as well as the magnitude and the orientation angle of the external magnetic field.

Achieving high ductility and low in-plane anisotropy in magnesium alloy through a novel texture design strategy

Texture regulation is a prominent method to modify the mechanical properties and anisotropy of magnesium alloy.In this work,the Mg-1Al-0.3Ca-0.5Mn-0.2Gd(wt.%)alloy sheet with TD-tilted and circular texture was fabricated by unidirectional rolling(UR)and multidirectional rolling(MR)method,respectively.Unlike generating a strong in-plane mechanical anisotropy in conventional TD-tilted texture,the novel circular texture sample possessed a weak in-plane yield anisotropy.This can be rationalized by the similar proportion of soft grains with favorable orientation for basalslip and{10.12}tensile twinning during the uniaxial tension of circular-texture sample along different directions.Moreover,compared with the TD-tilted texture,the circular texture improved the elongation to failure both along the rolling direction(RD)and transverse direction(TD).By quasi-in-situ EBSD-assisted slip trace analysis,higher activation of basal slip was observed in the circular-texture sample during RD tension,contributing to its excellent ductility.When loading along the TD,the TD-tilted texture promoted the activation of{10.12}tensile twins significantly,thus providing nucleation sites for cracks and deteriorating the ductility.This research may shed new insights into the development of formable and ductile Mg alloy sheets by texture modification.

A unified computational model for surface texturing process of strip casting rollers

A new unified computational method is proposed for modeling the relationship between the parameters of the high-speed particle-impact texturing process and the final surface morphology of the casting roller. The whole surface-texturing process is divided into three parts. The first part is the acceleration process of particles inside and outside the nozzle,which can be analyzed using the computational fluid dynamics method to obtain the particle impact velocities. The second part is a simulation of the bombardment process of particles onto the roller surface using the LS-DYNA software as the analysis tool and the results obtained in the first part as input parameters. The last part is the continuously random impact process of particles on the casting roller surface to form a functional surface,which is characterized by a simplified roughness model. Finally,the above three parts are combined to establish a unified computational model,the performance of which is successfully verified in a series of experiments.