Published:
2023, Surface and Coatings Technology, 469, ISSN 0257-8972
Annotation:
Laser texturing is a well-established method used to customize the tribological performance of PVD coatings. To achieve this enhancement, two distinct strategies can be employed: laser texturing of the substrates prior to coating deposition, or laser texturing of the already deposited coating. Technological and economic problems of tuning laser parameters for different types of substrates can be significantly eliminated by laser texturing of already coated materials. Nerveless, the effect of structural changes caused by laser ablation on friction performance is not well studied. In this work, we investigated the differences in these two strategies on example of commercially available a-C:H/WC gradient coatings. The XPS, FIB, SEM and EDS results revealed that femtosecond laser texturing causes minor oxidation and graphitization of the a-C:H/WC coatings but only in a few top nanometers. Macroscale dry tribological tests reveal no statistically significant difference in tribological performance between samples manufactured using two different strategies irrespective of pattern type and tribotest parameters. This means femtosecond laser texturing of the coated substrates can be implemented in industry as a rapid, cost-, and environment-friendly strategy.