Application of Taguchi Method Design to Investigate Tribological Performance of Laser-Surface-Textured 316L Austenitic Stainless Steel

In this work, 316L austenitic stainless steel (ASS) was subjected to laser surface texturing to improve its tribological performance. The effects of surface texture parameters and service conditions on the tribological performance of laser-surface-textured 316L ASS were investigated through Taguchi’s orthogonal arrays. Four main factors were designed in the orthogonal array, namely texture diameter, texture interval, load, and sliding speed. Each factor was with three levels. The comprehensive scoring method was used to analyze the influence of factors and levels on the signal-to-noise ratios and the mean values of the corresponding indicators (wear rate and friction coefficient). Meanwhile, the significance of each factor on the response variable was calculated by analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results indicated that the order in which factors affect the tribological performance was as follows: interval>load>diameter>speed and the optimal parameter combination was 400 μm (diameter), 1200 μm (interval), 10 N (load), and 1500 r/min (speed). The interval had a greater influence of 29.88%, the load influenced 21.54%, and the diameter influenced 8.65%. Finite element analysis results showed that the optimized parameter combination obtained the minimum surface stress. With the increase in the texture interval, the surface stress decreased gradually.