Tribological performance analysis of textured steel surfaces under lubricating conditions

The tribological analysis of the lubricated conformal contacts formed between the smooth/textured surfaces of steel discs and smooth surface of steel pins under sliding conditions have been considered. Roles of dimples' pitch of textured surfaces have been investigated experimentally to understand the variations of coefficient of friction and wear at the tribo-contacts under fully flooded lubricated conditions. Substantial reductions in coefficient of friction and wear at the tribo-interfaces have been observed in presence of textures on the rotating discs for both fully flooded and starved conditions in comparison to the corresponding lubricating conditions of the interfaces formed between the smooth surfaces of disc and pin. In presence of surface texture, the coefficient of friction reduces considerable at elevated sliding speeds (>2 m/s) and unit loads (>0.5 MPa) for the set of operating parameters considered in the analysis.