Assessment of surface irregularities created by controlled liquid droplet on the surface of stainless steel AISI 304L

Surfaces created by the erosive action of water droplets have not been sufficiently explored because of their stochastic structure, which depends on hydraulic parameters. This article details the complex analysis of surfaces created by the controlled distribution of water droplets on the surface of AISI 304L using an ultrasonically stimulated water jet. The traverse speed of the jet controlled the distribution of the water droplets. The surface topology was modified in an interleaved mode when the trajectories were parallel for all samples. Additionally, the second layer treated the other half of the preprepared samples with a perpendicular trajectory with respect to the parallel trajectory. The 3D surface reconstruction was performed using a noncontact MicroProf FRT measuring instrument. Several profile roughness parameters (Ra, Rz, Rv, Rp, Rsk, and Rku), areal surface roughness parameters (Sa, Sz, Sp, Sv, Ssk, Sku, Sdr, Sk, Spk, and Svk) and surface isotropy values were measured for the surfaces generated using variations in the traverse speed of the jet. The measurement results show a decreasing trend of surface roughness upon an increase in the traverse speed, and a better surface finish was also measured for the cross-hatch trajectory compared to the linear trajectory. The results also show that the generated surfaces have deeper valleys with truncated peaks, which are suitable for use in a wide range of technical and medical applications. This study shows the potential utilization of controlled liquid droplet impingement for surface preparation in various application domains.