Date of Award

5-12-2024

Document Type

Thesis

School

School of Mechanical Engineering

Programme

Ph.D.-Doctoral of Philosophy

First Advisor

Dr.P.Dinesh Babu

Keywords

Laser Surface Texturing, Wear, Friction, Bearing, Tribology

Abstract

This research work determines the wear rate and friction characteristics of bearing material under different laser textured surface conditions. Chrome steels are used in bearings since they possess high strength and wear resistance. However, when those parts are in service, failure happens due to sliding friction before the lifetime. To improve the durability of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) 52100 chromium steel, in this work, the effect of laser surface texturing (LST) was analysed.

With the different pattern of circle, ellipse, groove and grid were produced on the sample surface, the wear behavior was investigated using the pin on disc tribometer. The lubricant used for wear analysis is semisolid lithium grease National Lubricating Grease Institute Lubricant (SKF NLGI-3). Sliding wear analysis was conducted at different loads and sliding speeds. The wear morphology was analysed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The roughness of the samples was found using a white light interferometer.

In the first phase of work laser process parameters were identified and LST shows considerable reduction in friction and wear for ellipsoidal pattern than the other patterns because of wear debris and lubricant getting trapped. In the second phase of work though the best texture shape is obtained, further focus on the optimum texture size, depth, and texture density will improve the overall performance of the bearing material and the durability. In the final phase of work the identified texture shape and its geometry were further investigated to determine the suitable service conditions.

By varying the temperature, load and speed of the wear test parameters minimum and maximum wear rate was obtained. It is observed that the texture design fabricated on the bearing material have maximum wear resistance compared to untextured bearing material. This study is useful to design and fabricate laser textured surface on bearing which will improve its life and durability.

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