Tribological Behaviour of Cross-Shaped Dimples on Sliding Surfaces Under Hydrodynamic Lubrication

This study reports on the tribological behaviour of sliding surfaces having cross-shaped micro-dimples on a surface. One wall is smooth and moving at a constant speed against the other fixed wall with dimples. The laser machine helps to create the desired dimples on the surface of the fixed wall. For the purpose of generating hydrodynamic pressure and tribological behaviour, the effects of cross-shaped dimples and oriented cross-shaped dimples have been compared with circular-shaped dimples. Additionally, the impact of sliding speed, dimple area density and depth on tribological behaviour was examined. The findings show that compared with a circular-shaped dimple, an unconventional cross-shaped and orientated cross-shaped dimple generates a higher net hydrodynamic pressure in the fluid domain and offers superior stability between the sliding surfaces. It has been demonstrated that geometrical factors like dimple depth and area density as well as operational factors like sliding speed have a substantial impact on the hydrodynamic average pressure and tribological behaviour of sliding surfaces. The experimental findings indicate that, for the same geometric and operating parameters, cross- and orientated cross-shaped dimples have a 20%–25% lower friction coefficient between the sliding surfaces than circular dimples. The results of the experiment support those of the analysis and CFD.