Tribological properties of PTFE/PPS films deposited on the ultrasonic rolling textured substrates by electrohydrodynamic atomization under dry reciprocating sliding.

The combination of texturing pretreatments and lubricant films was researched to improve the dry friction and wear performance of aluminium alloys. Three linear microtextures with different spacings were fabricated on the aluminum alloy substrates by ultrasonic surface rolling processing (USRP). The surface characteristics of different microtextures, such as micromorphologies, hardnesses, and wettability, were tested. PTFE/PPS lubricant films were prepared onto the textured surfaces by electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA), and micromorphologies of the films were observed. The friction and wear performance of aluminum alloy substrate and the films with texturing pretreatments were tested by ball-on disk reciprocating sliding dry friction experiments, and the countball material was 316L steel. The test data indicated that all films effectively reduced the friction coefficient of the substrate surface, and among them, the film sample URTC100 with a combination of 100 μm spacing texture and PTFE/PPS film exhibited the best effect of anti-wear while dry reciprocating sliding. Compared to the unpretreated film sample, URTC100 increased the wear life by 10% and reduced the wear track width and adhesion width by 35% and 25%, respectively. • Ultrasonic surface rolling processing was used to prepare surface textures. • Electrohydraulic atomization was used to fabricate PTFE/PPS lubricant films. • The above two methods were synergistic on dry tribological property improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]