Combining graphene coating and groove-textured surface for enhancing the tribological behavior of electrical contact system

Abstract In this work, the tribological behavior of groove-textured surface and graphene composite coating (GTS-G) is compared with that of smooth surface (SS), groove-textured surface (GTS) and smooth surface-graphene composite surface (SS-G) in electrical contact. Results show that GTS-G can significantly reduce the friction coefficient of electric contact interface and suppress the generation of friction vibration. In contrast, the friction coefficient and vibration strength of GTS are higher. Surface analysis results show that the wear degree of GTS-G surface is the slightest, while the SS and GTS suffer more serious wear, and the grooves of the GTS surface are destroyed. Therefore, the graphene and the surface texture have a synergistic effect under the action of electrical contact, thereby improving the interface tribological behavior. The voltage analysis results show that the voltage generated by the GTS-G surface is the largest among all surfaces, but it does not lead to the appearance of the circuit breaking phenomenon. Finite element analysis results prove the variation of voltage signals, and the shear stress analysis results can be used to explain the wear characteristics of four surfaces in the electrical contact state. This study proves the feasibility of combining graphene and surface texture to improve the electrical contact tribological behavior, and provide a reference for the surface design of electrical contact systems.