SELECTIVE SURFACE MODIFICATION ON LUBRICANT RETENTION

While surface patterns are effective in improving tribological properties, nevertheless they alter the surface wettability, which will in turn affect the surface–lubricant interactions. When there is a shortage of lubricant on a patterned surface, the lubricant stored inside the cavities will be extracted to compensate the surface lubricant dissipation. Additionally, the lubricant retention effect provided by the cavities is competing with the release of the lubricant. With weak surface–lubricant interaction, the retention is limited. Therefore, the lubrication will have a sudden failure, giving a dramatic transition to abrasive wear. To improve the performance of polar lubricants on hydrophobic polymer surfaces, both topographical and selective surface modifications were incorporated on injection molded polypropylene surfaces. Distinctive lubrication improvement was observed when the surface structure density for the lubricant storage was high, and the release of the lubricant was controlled by the interaction with the selectively modified surfaces.