Effects of laser surface texturing on friction behavior of silicon nitride under lubrication with water

Water lubrication is one of the candidates of the tribo-system with low negative environmental impact. It is well known that some kinds of ceramics show excellent tribological properties under lubrication with water. The characteristic improvement was attempted by giving texturing to Si3N4 so that the water lubrication might spread as a representative of the ecotribology system. The surface laser texturing showed the friction reducing effect under the sliding condition of the low bearing characteristic number. The mechanism of the triblogical property improvement by the laser surface texturing was discussed based on the experiment results and the surface analytical results.