Tribological behavior of laser textured nodular cast iron surface

Purpose Previous publications were mainly focused on the effect of textures under lubrication. Under dry sliding, area ratio of surface texturing (pit area ratio) and diameter of pit affect the tribological behavior. This paper aims to investigate the effect of laser surface texturing on tribological behavior of nodular cast iron under dry sliding. Design/methodology/approach Pit-like textures with different diameters and spaces were fabricated by laser on nodular cast iron (QT600-3). Using nodular cast iron (QT600-3) as the disc specimen and resin matrix composites (UCV018) as the pad specimen, the tribological test was performed with pin-on-disk reciprocating tribo-tester. Findings The coefficient of friction (COF) of the non-textured specimen was larger than that of the textured one. For the same pit diameter, a larger pit area ratio induced a slight decrease of COF, while wear volume decreased significantly. The pit diameter induced a slight decrease of COF as the pit area ratio, but its effect was weaker. Practical implications The experimental studies will help to improve the brake system such as structure modeling of brake disc. Predicting the performance and life of the brake disc in vehicle based on tribological behavior checked in test, it was proved that pit-like texture had application value in vehicle brake system. Originality/value This paper showed that the effect of pit area ratio on friction and wear was greater than that of pit diameter. The experimental results will be useful to the design on safety brake disc.