Laser microstructuring of steel surfaces for tribological applications

Laser technique is employed to improve substantially the tribological behavior of microstructured stainless steel surfaces. The laser-generated patterns consisting of precisely ablated microcraters were produced using a flash lamp pumped, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. The rims of resolidified melt around the craters are typical features of laser-produced microstructures and the laser parameters were established where their extent was notably reduced. The remaining rims could easily be removed by gentle polishing. The laser-structured substrates were tribologically tested by a sliding tribometer under standard conditions. The test results show clearly that the microstructures improve the lifetime of the samples.