Tribological Behavior of the Laser Micro-Textured PEEK-1040 Steel Friction Pairs.

To compare them with PTFE-40# steel tribo-pairs, the tribological properties of textured PEEK-40# (AISI 1040) steel friction pairs were researched under full-film lubrication conditions by manufacturing micro-dimples with different dimensions on the contact surfaces of 1040 steel discs using laser surface texturing (LST). After repeated tribological tests, the coefficients of friction (COFs), wear losses, and wear morphologies of the PEEK-1040 steel friction pairs were measured and analyzed. The results show that micro-dimples do not significantly reduce the average COFs of PEEK-1040 steel friction pairs when lubricated with a sufficient amount of hydraulic oil, but they do reduce the wear losses of most groups. When the dimple diameter was 250 μm, the dimple depth was 5 μm, the area ratio was 6.6%, and the mass loss of the 1040 steel disc was reduced by 90% compared to the smooth reference. In comparison to the behavior of the PTFE-1040 steel tribo-pairs, PEEK-1040 steel friction pairs can provide better tribological performance, whether smooth or dimple-textured. This study offers important insights for the design of seals in machinery.