The tribological performance of engineered micro-surface topography by picosecond laser on PEEK
Industrial Lubrication and Tribology
ISSN: 0036-8792
Article publication date: 26 September 2019
Issue publication date: 14 January 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of engineered micro-structures on the tribological properties of metal-polyetheretherketone (PEEK) surface.
Design/methodology/approach
Circular dimples with diameters of 25 and 50 µm were designed and manufactured on PEEK plate specimens using picosecond laser. Reciprocating friction and wear tests on a ball-on-flat configuration were performed to evaluate the tribological properties of the designed micro-structures in dry contacts. The loading forces of 0.9 and 3 N were applied.
Findings
As a result, obvious fluctuations of coefficient of friction curve were observed in tribosystems consisting of non-textured and textured PEEK with circular dimples of 25 µm in diameter. GCr15 ball/textured PEEK plate specimens with circular dimples of 50 µm in diameter revealed a superior friction and wear property.
Originality/value
Different to the existing studies in which the tribopairs consist of hard bearing couples, this study investigated the tribological properties of the engineered micro-structures on the hard-on-soft bearing couples.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research is funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, China (Grant Number BK20150741) and the Shuangchuang Doctor program of Jiangsu Province, China.
Citation
Wang, M. (2020), "The tribological performance of engineered micro-surface topography by picosecond laser on PEEK", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 72 No. 1, pp. 172-179. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-06-2019-0202
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited