Laser surface texturing of both thin polytetrafluoroethylene coatings and stainless steel substrates for improving tribological properties

Hilbert curve patterns were laser-textured on both stainless steel substrates and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin coatings by applying 15% and 5% of the 2.3-W full laser power, respectively. The nanomechanical and tribological behavior of both smooth and laser-textured PTFE coatings on both smooth and laser-textured stainless steel substrates were studied. It was found that laser-texturing thin PTFE coatings reduced the hard-ness of PTFE coatings and prevented the coating from tearing under nanoindenter scratches. Furthermore, laser-texturing on both PTFE coatings and the stainless steel substrate improved the coating wear life 29 times compared to the wear life of the control sample without any laser textures.

Automated summary

In this study, Hilbert curve patterns were laser-textured on stainless steel substrates and PTFE thin coatings. The laser-textured PTFE coatings reduced the hardness of the coatings and prevented tearing under nanoindenter scratches. Additionally, laser-texturing on both PTFE coatings and the stainless steel substrate significantly improved the wear life of the coatings.