Effect of laser-texturing morphology on tribological performance of face seal pairs

In order to study effect of laser surface texturing on tribological properties of face seal materials, GCr15 steel disc was textured by Nd:YAG solid-state pulsed laser to form two surface morphologies of dimple and groove. The tribological performance for polytetrafluoroethylene ring/GCr15 disc (simulating face seal) was tested on the friction tester and the worn surface morphologies were analyzed. The results show that friction coefficient and wear loss of textured samples are lower than the smooth in the oil lubrication condition. And the wear resistance of dimple-textured sample was better than the groove because the groove-textured arrangement caused the oil film thickness uneven and the friction coefficient fluctuated. Under the dry friction condition, the existence of the favorable texturing can maintain the transfer film, capture wear debris and reduce abrasive wear. Compared with the smooth sample, the wear rate of the pair can be reduced.