Study on effect of dimples on friction of parallel surfaces under different sliding conditions

The influence of rectangle dimples with flat bottom on the friction of parallel surfaces at different sliding conditions is investigated based on lubrication equations. The elastic deformation of rough surfaces is evaluated using continuous convolution fast Fourier transform (CC-FFT). The friction coefficients for dimpled and non-dimpled parallel surfaces by simulation are compared with experimental results. Results show that this kind of dimples can reduce the friction coefficient for cases with the smaller ratio of film thickness to roughness (h/R_q), small roughness or large applied load. The friction force for the parallel surfaces can decrease due to the dimple effect over the range of the larger sliding speed, larger load or smoother surfaces.     

Laser surface texturing of gray cast iron for improving tribological behavior

Laser surface texturing process involves creation of microfeatures, e.g., tiny dimples, usually distributed in a certain pattern, covering only a fraction of the surface of the material that is being treated. The process offers several advantages for tribological applications, including improved load capacity, wear resistance, lubrication lifetime, and reduced friction coefficient. In the present study, the surface modification of gray cast iron, using millisecond (λ = 1,064 nm), nanosecond (λ = 1,064 nm) and femtosecond (λ = 800 nm) pulse duration laser irradiation, is adopted to establish a particular geometrical pattern with dimple features and dimensions, to improve wear and friction behavior. The effect of various laser processing parameters, including laser pulse energy, pulse duration and processing speed, on the performance characteristics of the laser-treated samples is investigated. The microtextured surfaces were produced on gray cast iron using different millisecond (0.5 ms), nanosecond (40 ns) and femtosecond (120 fs) laser source with the dimple depth between 3 and 15 μm. The coefficient of friction for the untextured surface was ~0.55, millisecond laser textured ~0.31, nanosecond laser textured ~0.02 and femtosecond laser ~0.01, under normal force of 50 N and sliding speed of 63 mm/s. Surface texturing of the gray cast iron surface using femtosecond pulse duration resulted in significant improvement in wear resistance in comparison to the untextured as well as millisecond and nanosecond laser-textured surface.     

Effect of surface micro-topography of titanium material on the behaviors of rabbit osteoblast in vitro

To study interactions of osteoblast on different topography surfaces of titanium material through in vitro systems, four kinds of micro-topography surfaces on novel titanium material were investigated. They were laser-scanned surface (LS), sandblasted surface (SS), machine-tooled surface (MS) and polished surface (PS). The titanium samples were seeded with osteoblast and maintained for a period of 1-12 days. Adhesion in 24 h, proliferation in 12 days and ALP activity in 11 days were assessed. The cell morphologies were observed by scanning electron microscopy and fluorescence microscopy. The investigation showed better cell proliferation and best cell osteogenic differentiation on the micro-grooved surface (LS) at the cell scale (50 μm). Furthermore, osteoblast on the micro-grooved surfaces also displayed a more similar morphology to osteoblast in vivo. It was shown that surface micro-texture at the cell scale have a better effect on cell responses than rough surface and surface texture above the cell scale (>100 μm). The regular micro-grooved titanium surface at the cell scale can offer a better cell growth environment compared with the other titanium surfaces.     

Hydrodynamics of slip wedge and optimization of surface slip property

The hydrodynamic load support generated by a slip wedge of a slider bearing was studied. The surface slip property was optimized so that a maximum hydrodynamic load support could be obtained. A multi-linearity method was given for the slip control equation of two-dimensional (2-D) wall slip. We investigated 2-D wall slip and the hydrodynamics of a finite length bearing with any values of the surface limiting shear stress. It was found that the hydrodynamic effect of the slip wedge is greater than the traditional geometrical convergent-wedge. Even though the geo- metrical gap is a parallel or divergent sliding gap, the slip wedge still gives rise to a very big hydrodynamic pressure. The optimized slip wedge can give rise to a hy- drodynamic load support as high as 2.5 times of what the geometrical conver- gent-wedge can produce. Wall slip usually gives a small surface friction.     

Nanocrystalline nickel films with lotus leaf texture for superhydrophobic and low friction surfaces

Nanostructured Ni films with high hardness, high hydrophobicity and low coefficient of friction (COF) were fabricated. The surface texture of lotus leaf was replicated using a cellulose acetate film, on which a nanocrystalline (NC) Ni coating with a grain size of 30 ± 4 nm was electrodeposited to obtain a self-sustaining film with a hardness of 4.42 GPa. The surface texture of the NC Ni obtained in this way featured a high density (4 × 10³ mm⁻²) of conical protuberances with an average height of 10.0 ± 2.0 μm and a tip radius of 2.5 ± 0.5 μm. This structure increased the water repellency and reduced the COF, compared to smooth NC Ni surfaces. The application of a short-duration (120 s) electrodeposition process that deposited “Ni crowns” with a larger radius of 6.0 ± 0.5 μm on the protuberances, followed by a perfluoropolyether (PFPE) solution treatment succeeded in producing a surface texture consisting of nanotextured protuberances that resulted in a very high water contact angle of 156°, comparable to that of the superhydrophobic lotus leaf. Additionally, the microscale protuberances eliminated the initial high COF peaks observed when smooth NC Ni films were tested, and the PFPE treatment resulted in a 60% reduction in the steady-state COFs.     

Laser shock wave consolidation of nanodiamond powders on aluminum 319

A novel coating approach, based on laser shock wave generation, was employed to induce compressive pressures up to 5 GPa and compact nanodiamond (ND) powders (4-8 nm) on aluminum 319 substrate. Raman scattering indicated that the coating consisted of amorphous carbon and nanocrystalline graphite with peaks at 1360 cm⁻¹ and 1600 cm⁻¹ respectively. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a wavy, non-uniform coating with an average thickness of 40 μm and absence of thermal effect on the surrounding material. The phase transition from nanodiamond to other phases of carbon is responsible for the increased coating thickness. Vicker's microhardness test showed hardness in excess of 1000 kg_f/mm² (10 GPa) while nanoindentation test indicated much lower hardness in the range of 20 MPa to 2 GPa. Optical surface profilometry traces displayed slightly uneven surfaces compared to the bare aluminum with an average surface roughness (R_a) in the range of 1.5-4 μm depending on the shock wave pressure and type of confining medium. Ball-on-disc tribometer tests showed that the coefficient of friction and wear rate were substantially lower than the smoother, bare aluminum sample. Laser shock wave process has thus aided in the generation of a strong, wear resistant, durable carbon composite coating on aluminum 319 substrate.     

Flattening of micro-structured Si surfaces by hydrogen annealing

We report atomic scale flattening of surfaces of microstructures formed on Si wafers by furnace annealing. To avoid thermal deformation of the fabricated structures, advantage was taken of hydrogen annealing, which enables us to decrease the relaxation rate of Si surfaces due to surface hydrogenation. We examined cross-sectional shape and sidewall morphology of 3 μm deep trenches on Si(0 0 1) substrates after annealing at 1000 °C under various H₂ pressures of 40-760 Torr. We successfully formed Si trenches with flat surfaces composed of terraces and steps while preserving the designed trench profile by increasing H₂ pressure to 760 Torr.     

Sliding behavior of oil droplets on nanosphere stacking layers with different surface textures

Two facile coating techniques, gravitational sediment and spin coating, were applied for the creation of silica sphere stacking layers with different textures onto glass substrates that display various sliding abilities toward liquid drops with different surface tensions, ranged from 25.6 to 72.3 mN/m. The resulting silica surface exhibits oil repellency, long-period durability > 30 days, and oil sliding capability. The two-tier texture offers a better roll-off ability toward liquid drops with a wide range of γ_L, ranged from 30.2 to 72.3 mN/m, i.e., when the sliding angle (SA) < 15°, the oil droplet start to roll off the surface. This improvement of sliding ability can be ascribed to the fact that the two-tier texture allows for air pockets (i.e., referred to as the Cassie state), thus favoring the self-cleaning ability. Taking Young-Duprè equation into account, a linearity relationship between sine SA and work of adhesion (W_ad) appears to describe the sliding behavior within the W_ad region: 2.20-3.03 mN/m. The smaller W_ad, the easier drop sliding (i.e., the smaller SA value) takes place on the surfaces. The W_ad value ∼3.03 mN/m shows a critical kinetic barrier for drop sliding on the silica surfaces from stationary to movement states. This work proposes a mathematical model to simulate the sliding behavior of oil drops on a nanosphere stacking layer, confirming the anti-oil contamination capability.     

Sliding behavior of water droplets on line-patterned hydrophobic surfaces

We prepared line-patterned hydrophobic surfaces using fluoroalkylsilane (FAS) and octadecyltrimethoxysilane (ODS) then investigated the effect of line direction on sliding behavior of water droplets by direct observation of the actual droplet motion during sliding. Water droplets slide down with a periodic large deformation of the contact line and sliding velocity fluctuation that occurred when they crossed over the 500-μm ODS line regions in FAS regions on a Si surface tilted at 35°. These behaviors are less marked for motion on a 100-μm line surface, or on lines oriented parallel to the slope direction. Smaller droplets slide down with greater displacement in the line direction on 500-μm line patterning when the lines were rotated at 13° in-plane for the slope direction. This sliding behavior depended on the droplet size and rotation angle, and is accountable by the balance between gravitational and retentive forces.     

Mechanical properties of Ti(C0.7N0.3) film produced by plasma electrolytic carbonitriding of Ti6Al4V alloy

Porous nanocrystalline Ti(C_0.7N_0.3) film on Ti6Al4V substrate was prepared by plasma electrolytic carbonitriding (PECN). The film was characterized and analyzed by using a variety of analytical techniques, such as XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM, FESEM, Rockwell C indenter, scratch tester, Vickers microhardness tester and ring-on-block tribometer. The results showed that the film was about 15 μm thick and its hardness was Hv 2369 at a load of 0.2 N. The adhesion of the film was characterized by Lc and Pc value, and was found to be about 42 N and more than 800 N, respectively. The friction coefficients and wear volume loss of the PECN-treated samples sliding against a steel counterpart were much less than those of the untreated Ti6Al4V. The film possessed a good wear-resistance and antifriction under oil-lubricated condition due to its high hardness, adhesion and fracture toughness. Also, the porous surface morphology of the Ti(C_0.7N_0.3) film contributed to the enhanced tribological resistance by promoting the formation of lubricant film and entrapping wear debris.     

On the boundary slip of fluid flow

For hundreds of years, in all the textbooks of classical fluid mechanics and lubrica- tion mechanics it is assumed that there was no wall slip (boundary slip) at a liquid-solid interface, i.e. no relative motion between liquid and solid at the interface. This is the no-slip boundary condition. It has been widely applied to engineering and experiments and to almost all the rheology or viscosity measurements of fluids. Rheology is one of the most important bases for fluid mechanics and lubricati…     

Friction and wear properties of hybrid sol-gel nanocomposite coatings against steel: Influence of their intrinsic properties

A dual UV-curing process inducing in a single step cationic photopolymerization and a photoinduced sol-gel process was used to obtain novel hybrid coatings. For this, an epoxy resin based on hydrogenated diglycidyl ether bisphenol A was mixed with an epoxy trimethoxysilane precursor (GPTMS, TRIMO) in the presence of photoacid generator based on diaryliodonium salt. Various UV-cured coatings were prepared with different amounts of the hybrid monomer (20 and 50 wt%), and two thicknesses: 15 and 80 μm. The friction and wear properties of these coatings were characterized on a ball-on-disc tribometer (steel ball; applied normal load: 6 N; sliding speed: 5 cm/s). Both the coating thickness and the addition of the hybrid monomer tend to improve the stiffness of the pure epoxy resin; however, these two parameters also induce an increase of the dynamic friction value.     

Molecular dynamics investigation on the atomic-scale friction behaviors between copper(0 0 1) and diamond(1 1 1) surfaces

Classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are conducted to examine the atomic-scale friction behavior of an infinite flat-flat contact between copper(0 0 1) and diamond(1 1 1) surfaces. Two types of diamond surface, namely H-free and hydrogenated, are constructed and on each of them the copper counterface is brought to slide along the [1 1 −2] and [1 −1 0] crystallographic directions with a variety of loads. The simulation results demonstrate that the hydrogen atoms chemisorbed to the diamond surface can to large extent eliminate the directional dependency of its friction behavior with copper. Under pressures less than 30 GPa, the sliding between copper and hydrogenated is wearless. In this period, the shear stress of them just slightly increases to 0.6 GPa. Between 30 GPa and 32 GPa, copper atoms near the interface begin to be worn and incorporate into the diamond substrate and this causes a sharp shift from 0.6 GPa to 2.7 GPa in their shear stress. In contrast, the sliding process between copper and H-free diamond is always wearless even under pressure beyond 40 GPa. The H-free [1 −1 0] model exhibits much higher shear stress than H-free [1 1 −2] under pressures less than 35 GPa. Beyond 35 GPa, they present nearly consistent shear stress evolution. Moreover, the simulations for hydrogenated diamond models suggest that their friction behavior is independent on sliding velocity only under wearless sliding regime.     

Variation of microstructure with carbonation in lime and blended pastes

Carbonation, as a reaction of the curing process of both, cement and lime binders, modifies the microstructure. Several microstructure properties, namely porosity, pore size distribution, surface fractal dimension, and specific surface area have been investigated in this study to describe the effect of carbonation on microstructure. Both carbonated and non-carbonated pastes of lime and blended pastes of lime and cement having varying water/binder (W/B) ratios are studied. Results show that carbonation decreases the porosity, but not with the same intensity in all pore size ranges. The highest modification is between 0.03 μm and 0.01 μm in lime pastes and between 0.2 μm and 0.02 μm in 50% lime pastes, while in 80% lime pastes the modification is very small. It is also observed that carbonation is a function of the binder composition but not of the W/B ratio. Moreover, surface fractal dimension decreases during the carbonation process, while the specific surface area varies depending of the binder composition.     

Dry sliding tribological behavior of AZ31 magnesium alloy irradiated by high-intensity pulsed ion beam

The dry sliding tribological behavior of AZ31 magnesium alloy irradiated by high-intensity pulsed ion beam (HIPIB) at energy density of 3.4 J/cm² with 10 shots is investigated by dry sliding wear tests in order to explore the effect of HIPIB irradiation on tribological property of magnesium alloy. Surface morphologies, composition and structure of the irradiated AZ31 magnesium alloys are examined by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results indicated that HIPIB irradiation led to the increase in surface microhardness and the reduction in friction coefficient and wear rate. Wear rate for both the original and the irradiated samples increased with increasing sliding load from 0.1 to 0.5 N. The transition from severe metallic wear to mild oxidative wear induced by HIPIB irradiation was observed by a combined analysis in surface morphology and chemical composition of wear tracks, mechanically mixed materials and wear debris, which is mainly attributed to the significant increase in microhardness resulting from grain refinement on the irradiated surface. In addition, defects induced by HIPIB irradiation promoted the diffusion of oxygen during sliding wear and therefore led to the formation of compact mixed materials and protective films on the wear tracks surface, which also contributes to the transition in wear mechanism of AZ31 magnesium alloy induced by HIPIB irradiation.     

Influence of substrate temperature on surface textured ZnO:Al films etched with NaOH solution

Transparent conducting Al-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al, AZO) thin films with good optical and electrical characteristics were prepared by direct current pulse magnetron sputtering. Textured surfaces of AZO films were obtained by etching with NaOH solution successfully and the effect of substrate temperature on the surface texture was investigated. The surface is covered with craters after etching with 5% NaOH solution, and the crater diameter decreases gradually as substrate temperature increases. For AZO film deposited at 270, the crater diameters is 0.5-1 μm, which is an effective surface texture for light trapping.     

Preparation and tribological tests of thin fluoroorganic films

Adhesion, friction and consequent wear of sliding surfaces are the basic problems that limit the performance and reliability of microelectromechanical devices. Lubrication of these nano- and microscale contacts is different from traditional lubricants. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) chemically bonded to the substrate are considered to be the best solution of lubrication. The majority of these monolayers are hydrophobic providing low friction, adhesion and wear.Chemical vapor deposition was used to grow a fluorosilane film on silicon Si(1 0 0) and a condensed monolayer of 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) on Au(1 1 1). The films were characterized by means of a contact angle analyzer for hydrophobicity, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) for identification of thin fluoroorganic monolayers deposited on silica surfaces and condensed monolayer MPTMS. Adhesion and friction measurements were performed using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and compared with measurements performed using a microtribometer operating in millinewton (mN) normal load range. Nanotribological measurements indicated that silica and MPTMS modified by fluorosilanes have the lowest friction coefficient and indicated a decrease friction coefficient with increasing fluoric alkyl chain length.     

Scattering from unidirectional ground steel surfaces in the specular direction

Scattering in the specular direction from unidirectional ground steel surfaces having random roughness is studied theoretically and experimentally. The grooves were oriented perpendicular and parallel to the plane of incidence and were illuminated by a light beam that was smaller than the sample size. Expressions for scattering from a one-dimensional rough surface in the specular direction were derived for the both orientations of the grooves. For the same groove orientations, scattering (λ = 0.633 μm) from the ground surfaces was measured in the specular direction at angles of incidence from 6° to 82°. The measured rms roughnesses of the surfaces were 0.096 μm, 0.143 μm, 0.311 μm, and 0.501 μm, respectively. The measured scattering was independent of the orientation of the grooves for the two smoother surfaces and depended on the groove orientation for the other surfaces. Calculations using the derived expressions taking into account the experimental results show that the scattering is independent of the orientation of the grooves if the rms roughness is no larger than ∼0.16 μm.     

Smooth Nb surfaces fabricated by buffered electropolishing

It was demonstrated that smooth Nb surfaces could be obtained through buffered electropolishing (BEP) employing an electrolyte consisting of lactic, sulfuric, and hydrofluoric acids. Parameters that control the polishing process were optimized to achieve a smooth surface finish. The polishing rate of BEP was determined to be 0.646 μm/min which was much higher than 0.381 μm/min achieved by the conventional electropolishing (EP) process widely used in the superconducting radio frequency (SRF) community. Root mean square measurements using a 3D profilometer revealed that Nb surfaces treated by BEP were an order of magnitude smoother than those treated by the optimized EP process. The chemical composition of the Nb surfaces after BEP was analyzed by static and dynamic secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) systems. SIMS results implied that the surface oxide structure of Nb might be more complicated than what usually believed and could be inhomogeneous. Preliminary results of BEP on Nb SRF single cell cavities and half-cells were reported. It was shown that smooth and bright surfaces could be obtained in 1800 s when the electric field inside a SRF cavity was uniform during a BEP process. This study showed that BEP is a promising technique for surface treatment on Nb SRF cavities to be used in particle accelerators.     

Investigation of the running-in process and friction coefficient under the lubrication of ionic liquid/water mixture

The tribological properties of three different films commonly used in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) under the lubrication of ionic liquid (IL)/water mixtures with various concentrations in the running-in process have been investigated. Results show that coefficients of friction (COFs) and wear rates for low temperature silicon oxide (LTO)/Si₃N₄ vary in a similar way to the ones for poly-Si/Si₃N₄ under the lubrications of different IL/water mixtures. In contrast, the differences in COFs and wear rates are more significant in that the COFs and wear rates increase dramatically with the decrease in IL/water concentration in the case of self-mated Si₃N₄, while the differences in COFs and wear rates for the two other tribopairs are relatively small when the concentration is changed. The period of the running-in process reduces with the increase in IL/water concentration for all the tribopairs. Effective hydrodynamic lubrication can be found in the case of Si₃N₄/Si₃N₄ tribopair at higher IL/water concentrations without an evident running-in process, however, such a phenomenon cannot be observed for the other two tribopairs. Different wear mechanisms will also be analyzed in this paper.