Friction Reduction of Chrome-Coated Surface with Micro-Dimple Arrays Generated by Electrochemical Micromachining

摘要

Surface coating and surface texture play a significant role in enhancing the tribological properties of mechanical components. In this study, to further improve the tribological properties of a chrome-coated surface, arrays of circular- and square-shaped micro-dimples were generated on chrome-coated surfaces via electrochemical machining. Through-mask electrochemical micromachining (TMEMM) is a popular electrochemical micromachining method for generating micro-dimple arrays. However, photolithography is a necessary process in conventional TMEMM before electrochemical micromachining, which is time-consuming and expensive when used in mass production. A reusable polydimethylsiloxane mask was introduced to prepare the micro-dimples. Circular micro-dimples of 120 mu m diameter and square micro-dimples of 106 mu m side length were fabricated on a chrome-coated surface. The results of friction tests indicated that at a load of 220 N, 10 mu m deep micro-dimples reduced the coefficient of friction (CoF) significantly compared to an untextured surface. At a load of 320 and 420 N, the CoF continually decreased when the depth of the micro-dimples was increased from 0 to 20 mu m. In addition, the results showed that, compared to circular micro-dimples, square micro-dimples contributed to a higher friction reduction ratio under the same conditions. The best friction reduction ratio was found for square dimples with a depth of 20 mu m.