An investigation on tribological behavior under dry and lubricated conditions of open-air and underwater laser textured Al-Mg alloy

Improving friction and wear performance of aluminum alloys remains a critical challenge in tribological applications, especially when different lubrication conditions are present. In this regard, the current study examines the impact of laser surface texturing under various processing environments and parameters. This work examines laser surface texturing on Al-Mg alloy (AA5754) using two different pitch spacing (300/150 µm) and scanning speeds (50/3 mm/second) in order to analyze wear and friction. A nanosecond fiber laser was utilized to create the grid pattern in both open-air and underwater environments. Textured surfaces were analyzed for morphological studies using a confocal laser scanning microscope and a scanning electron microscope. The sessile drop technique was employed to measure contact angles. Tribological data showed that, in comparison to untextured AA5754 substrates, textured surfaces are favorable in the reduction of wear volume loss and coefficient of friction. In dry conditions, the underwater textured specimen with scanning speed 3 mm/second and pitch spacing of 150 µm was found to have a maximum reduction in coefficient of friction and wear volume loss (45.40% and 70.23%, respectively) compared to other experimental conditions. In lubricated conditions, the underwater textured specimen with scanning speed 3 mm/second and pitch spacing of 150 µm exhibited the highest reduction in coefficient of friction and wear volume loss (65.98% and 78.18%, respectively). It was observed that laser processing in underwater environments significantly enhanced the tribological performance.