Determining ways of improving the tribological properties of the silicon carbide ceramic using a pulse-periodic laser treatment

Laser surface microstructuring is applied to improve the tribological properties of materials. To increase potential practical applications, the expansion of the laser microstructuring functionalities through the use of more common laser systems with pulse durations in the millisecond range may show promise. For the first time it was shown that the tribological properties of the surface of the silicon carbide ceramic can be improved using a pulse-periodic laser treatment with millisecond pulses. Morphological changes of the surface under treatment after the exposure to pulse-periodic laser light were assessed. It was found that the pulse-periodic laser treatment with 0.5-ms pulses of energy 1.1 J led to the smoothing of recesses in the polished surface of the silicon carbide ceramic. Higher-energy laser treatment led to the formation of cracks on the material surface. The study of tribological properties of the resulting structures showed that following the laser treatment the mean value of the friction coefficient decreased by 15%.