A novel assembly of MoS2-PTFE solid lubricants into wear-resistant micro-hole array template and corresponding tribological performance

Abstract

Abstract Special blind micro-hole array templates were constructed by fiber laser drilling on laser-clad wear-resistant Fe-based alloy coatings with aim to carry and to preserve solid lubricants into micro-hole reservoir. The influence of laser parameters on the morphology of blind holes was investigated. The blind U-shape micro-hole array templates, which are the most suitable for subsequent electrophoretic\xa0deposition (EDP), were fabricated by the optimized laser drilling parameters. Different lubricant mixtures of MoS2 and PTFE powder were assembled into the blind micro-hole array templates with different micro-hole density by\xa0EDP. The deposited mixtures of MoS2 and PTFE powder were densified by microwave sintering. The tribological performance evaluated by a ring-on-block wear tester indicated that the 20% micro-hole density template assembled with MoS2-10wt%PTFE powder presented the lowest friction coefficient.