Effect of laser surface textures combined with multi-solid lubricant coatings on the tribological properties of Al2O3/TiC ceramic

To improve the friction and wear properties of Al2O3/TiC ceramic tool material, laser surface textures combined with burnished MoS2 solid lubricants, burnished WS2 solid lubricants and magnetron sputtered WS2/Zr coatings by physical vapor deposition (PVD) methods were fabricated on its surface. The friction and wear tests were performed by dry sliding friction tests against AISI 1045 hardened steel balls using a ball-on-disk tribometer. The effect of the surface textures combined with muti-solid lubricant coatings on the tribological behavior of Al2O3/TiC ceramic was investigated. Results show that a combination of laser surface textures and solid lubricants can effectively improve the tribological properties of Al2O3/TiC ceramic surface and protect the counter-face of the ball. The burnished WS2 solid lubricants combined with surface textures are more effective in reducing the friction and wear compared with burnished MoS2 solid lubricants. The WS2/Zr coatings deposited on the textured sample show the best efficiency in improving the tribological properties compared with the textured samples with burnished MoS2 and WS2 solid lubricants. However, the ball sliding against the textured sample with burnished WS2 lubricants exhibits the smallest wear rate. In addition, the possible mechanisms of laser surface textures combined with different solid lubricant types were discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.