Effect of micro-dimple patterns on capillary pull-off force and friction force of silicon surface

A microtribometer is used to measure and compare pull-off forces and friction forces exerted on （a） micro-dimpled silicon surfaces, （b） bare silicon surfaces, and （c） octadecyltrichlorosilane （OTS） treated silicon surfaces at different relative humidity （RH） levels separately. It is found that above a critical RH level, the capillary pull-off force increases abruptly and that the micro-dimple textured surface has a lower critical RH value as well as a higher pull-off force value than the other two surfaces. A micro topography parameter, namely sidewall area ratio, is found to play a major role in controlling the capillary pull-off force. Furthermore, micro-dimpled silicon surface is also proved to be not sensitive to variation in RH level, and can realize a stable and decreased friction coefficient compared with un-textured silicon surfaces. The reservoir-like function of micro dimples is considered to weaken or avoid the breakage effect of liquid bridges at different RH levels, thereby maintaining a stable frictional behaviour.

Effect of Micro-Dimples on Hydrodynamic Lubrication of Textured Sinusoidal Roughness Surfaces

Surface texturing has been applied to improving the tribological performance of mechanical components for many years. Currently, the researches simulate the film pressure distribution of textured rough surfaces on the basis of the average flow model, and however the influence of roughness on the film pressure distribution could not be precisely expressed. Therefore, in order to study the hydrodynamic lubrication of the rough textured surfaces, sinusoidal waves are employed to characterize untextured surfaces. A deterministic model for hydrodynamic lubrication of microdimple textured rough surfaces is developed to predict the distribution of hydrodynamic pressure. By supplementing with the JFO cavitation boundary, the load carrying capacity of the film produced by micro-dimples and roughness is obtained. And the geometric parameters of textured rough surface are optimized to obtain the maximum hydrodynamic lubrication by specifying an optimization goal of the load carrying capacity. The effect of roughness on the hydrodynamic pressure of surface texture is significant and the load carrying capacity decreases with the increase of the roughness ratio because the roughness greatly suppresses the hydrodynamic effect of dimples. It shows that the roughness ratio of surface may be as small as possible to suppress the effect of hydrodynamic lubrication. Additionally,there are the optimum values of the micro-dimple depth and area density to maximize the load carrying capacity for any given value of the roughness ratio. The proposed approach is capable of accurately reflects the influence of roughness on the hydrodynamic pressure, and developed a deterministic model to investigate the hydrodynamic lubrication of textured surfaces.

Improving Tribological Performance of Gray Cast Iron by Laser Peening in Dynamic Strain Aging Temperature Regime

A high and stable brake disc friction coefficient is needed for automobile safety, while the coefficient degrades due to elevated temperature during the braking process. There is no better solution except changes in material composition and shape design optimization. In the dynamic strain aging（DSA） temperature regime of gray cast iron, micro-dimples with different dimple depth over diameter and surface area density are fabricated on the material surface by laser peening（LP） which is an LST method. Friction behavior and wear mechanism are investigated to evaluate the effects of surface texturing on the tribological performance of specimens under dry conditions. Through LP impacts assisted by DSA, the friction coefficients of the LPed specimens increase noticeably both at room temperature and elevated temperature in comparison to untreated specimens. Moreover, the coefficient of specimen with dimple depth over diameter of 0.03 and surface area density of 30% is up to 0.351 at room temperature, which dramatically rises up to 1.33 times that of untextured specimen and the value is still up to 0.3305 at 400℃ with an increasing ratio of 35% compared to that of untreated specimen. The surface of textured specimen shows better wear resistance compared to untreated specimen. Wear mechanism includes adhesive wear, abrasive wear and oxidation wear. It is demonstrated that LP assisted by DSA can substantially improve wear resistance, raise the friction coefficient as well as its stability of gray cast iron under elevated temperatures. Heat fade and premature wear can be effectively relieved by this surface modification method.

Electrochemical micromachining of micro-dimple arrays on cylindrical inner surfaces using a dry-film photoresist

The application of surface textures has been employed to improve the tribological performance of various mechanical components. Various techniques have been used for the application of surface textures such as micro-dimple arrays, but the fabrication of such arrays on cylindrical inner surfaces remains a challenge. In this study, a dry-film photoresist is used as a mask during through-mask electrochemical micromachining to successfully prepare micro-dimple arrays with dimples 94 lm in diameter and 22.7 lm deep on cylindrical inner surfaces, with a machining time of 9 s and an applied voltage of 8 V. The versatility of this method is demonstrated, as are its potential low cost and high efficiency. It is also shown that for a fixed dimple depth, a smaller dimple diameter can be obtained using a combination of lower current density and longer machining time in a passivating sodium nitrate electrolyte.