Texture Design for Reducing Tactile Friction Independent of Sliding Orientation on Stainless Steel Sheet

Surface texture is important for contact mechanical and tribological phenomena such as the contact area and friction. In this research, three different types of geometrical microstructures were designed and fabricated by pulsed laser surface texturing as semi-symmetric (grooved channel), asymmetric fractal (Hilbert curve), and symmetric patterns (grid). A conventionally finished surface as a reference sample from the same stainless steel sheet material was compared. From the experimental approach, a multiaxis force/torque transducer was used to investigate the functionality of surface texture based on measuring the tactile friction in three different sliding directions: perpendicular, parallel, and 45° to the textures. According to the dynamic friction measurements, the grid texture was indeed orientation independent. The other samples showed orientation-dependent frictional behavior, especially the grooved channel texture and reference sample. Furthermore, an analytical approach was applied to estimate the values of the friction coefficient by the pressure distribution method. From both the experimental and analytical approaches, the grid pattern was validated to be the optimal texture design in the concern of friction reduction and orientation-independent behavior.