Pangolin scale inspired laser surface textures embedded on nickel aluminium bronze: tribological and corrosion behaviour

Abstract Bio-mimetic surface texturing has gained significant interest in aerospace and marine applications in recent years. This paper aims at investigating the effect of pangolin scale-inspired biomimetic laser surface texturing (LST) on the tribological properties and corrosion behaviour of nickel aluminium bronze (NAB) substrates. Friction and wear performance of laser surface textures on NAB with varying occupancy rate (15%, 20%, and 32%) and normal load (10, 20, 40 N) was ascertained under dry and lubricated conditions. The potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were adopted to measure corrosion resistance of textured samples in 3.5% sodium chloride solution. The results showed that 20% occupancy yielded the best overall results, increasing wear resistance under dry sliding by 64.7% and reducing the coefficient of friction in lubrication by up to 39.8%. Furthermore, corrosion protection was improved by increased passive film stability. These findings show that optimized biomimetic LST offers a sustainable means of prolonging the service life of NAB components in demanding environments.