Effect of laser surface textures combined with multi-solid lubricant coatings on the tribological properties of Al2O3/TiC ceramic

Abstract To improve the friction and wear properties of Al 2 O 3 /TiC ceramic tool material, laser surface textures combined with burnished MoS 2 solid lubricants, burnished WS 2 solid lubricants and magnetron sputtered WS 2 /Zr coatings by physical vapor deposition (PVD) methods were fabricated on its surface. The friction and wear tests were performed by dry sliding friction tests against AISI 1045 hardened steel balls using a ball-on-disk tribometer. The effect of the surface textures combined with muti-solid lubricant coatings on the tribological behavior of Al 2 O 3 /TiC ceramic was investigated. Results show that a combination of laser surface textures and solid lubricants can effectively improve the tribological properties of Al 2 O 3 /TiC ceramic surface and protect the counter-face of the ball. The burnished WS 2 solid lubricants combined with surface textures are more effective in reducing the friction and wear compared with burnished MoS 2 solid lubricants. The WS 2 /Zr coatings deposited on the textured sample show the best efficiency in improving the tribological properties compared with the textured samples with burnished MoS 2 and WS 2 solid lubricants. However, the ball sliding against the textured sample with burnished WS 2 lubricants exhibits the smallest wear rate. In addition, the possible mechanisms of laser surface textures combined with different solid lubricant types were discussed.