Influence of Circular Texture Diameter on Surface Properties of TC4 Titanium Alloy Prepared by One-Step Additive Manufacturing

To investigate the effect of selective laser melting (SLM)-fabricated surface texture diameter on the tribological properties of TC4 titanium alloy, specimens with 300, 500, and 800 μm pit textures were integrally formed by SLM. Their morphology, roughness, hardness, and dry sliding wear performance were analyzed. Results showed that the pit shapes in one-step 3D printed titanium alloy specimens remained intact. The textured specimens exhibited significantly increased surface roughness and reduced surface hardness. Under a 3 N load, the 500 μm textured specimen demonstrated the lowest average friction coefficient, wear scar width, and wear volume, showing reductions of 10%, 22.2%, and 27.5% compared with the substrate, respectively. The 300 μm textured specimen and the 500 μm textured specimen obtained comparable friction-reducing performance. Compared with the substrate, the textured specimens showed shallower plow grooves and fewer fragment-like debris. It was found that the SLM one-step forming process can be used to prepare titanium alloy specimens with surface textures. Abrasive wear and adhesive wear can be reduced by using surface textures with appropriate diameters, thereby improving the friction reduction and wear resistance properties of 3D-printed titanium alloys under dry friction conditions. Excessively large texture diameters were not conducive to improving their tribological properties.