Influence of micro-structure on surface friction and wear characteristics

Surface microstructures hold tremendous potential in reducing friction and wear and have become a hot topic in tribology research. Inspired by the excellent friction-reducing properties of biological surface structures in nature, various microstructures have been designed on the friction pair surfaces to alter the tribological properties between contact surfaces, with the aim of enhancing gear scuffing and wear resistance. In this paper, friction and wear tests for disk-on-disk contact between smooth and micro-structured surfaces were conducted using finite element simulation. The test results indicate that microstructures can improve the stress distribution between contact surfaces, facilitate a reduction in friction temperature, and alleviate surface wear. To validate these properties, micro-structures were integrated with the tooth surfaces of gears to investigate their impact on the frictional properties of gear surfaces under the same operating conditions. The test results demonstrate that microstructures improve the stress distribution on gear surfaces, reduce the temperature increase on gear surfaces, and promote a decrease in the effective wear rate of gear surfaces. Among them, compared to gears with smooth surfaces, gears with circular micro-structures exhibited a reduction in maximum contact force by 6.67% to 12.09%, a temperature decrease by 1.07%, and a minimum wear rate reduction by 9.09%, significantly outperforming the other two types of micro-structured gears.