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1998
Journal Article
Titel
Laser structuring reduces wear and friction
Abstract
In order to reduce wear and friction in tribological systems, attention is now focussing on ensuring optimum selection of material combinations and on modifying surface topographies. Laser structuring is a relatively new development in this field. This technique can be applied using a pulsed laser beam to produce defined microlubrication bore reliefs on functional surfaces which are subjected to tribological stress. At the Fraunhofer-lnstitute of Production Technology IPT, CO2- and Nd:YAG-lasers are being deployed to do just this. The crater-like structures generated in this way, are influenced primarily by the geometry and the intensity distribution of the laser beam on the workpiece surface and the process parameters such as pulse width and focus position of the laser beam. The functional surface modified by the laser beam, consists of a surface area, most of which has a plateau character and a reproducible, regular array of uniform micro-lubrication bore reliefs. Using ceramic slidi ng ring seals as a sample part, the following contribution will demonstrate that friction and wear can be reduced by applying laser structuring techniques to functional surfaces.
Language
English