Enhanced Wear Properties of an Inspired Fish-Scale Film Structure in Terms of Microstructured Self-Lubrication Induced Effects by High-Speed Laser Surface Remelting Processing

Abstract

DC53 tool steel has potential applications in mold product manufacturing because of its excellent toughness properties. However, it suffers from poor wear resistance, which limits its wide range of applications. A micron-size fish-scale film structure was designed on the DC53 steel surface and fabricated using crossover laser surface remelting processing to improve its tribological properties. Three kinds of DC53 surfaces, including the as-received, quenched, and fish-scale film structure, were used to evaluate the tribological properties. Specifically, tribological performance was evaluated using a reciprocating sliding tester. The unidirectional ball-on-disc method was employed to assess the wear of the mating surfaces under low-, medium-, and high-load conditions in terms of friction and wear tests. The friction coefficient and the wear rate were recorded to investigate the formation mechanism of tribo-layers. Experimental results demonstrated that the structure combined with microbulges on the DC53 surface had excellent load-bearing capabilities and wear resistance. Energy dispersive spectroscopy following wear tests showed pronounced material transfer from the structured surfaces, with SiO₂ particles filling up some groove voids. The reinforcing layer in the form of nanoscale SiO₂ particles exhibited enhanced performance at higher tribological loads. The synergistic effects of microbulges and SiO₂ films significantly improved the tribological properties of DC53 materials. In addition, the precipitation of SiO₂ contributed to the anti-wear performance of the tool steel surface, which is consistent with the self-lubricating wear mechanism of the worn surface. The laser surface remelting technique enables the fabrication of a micro fish-scale film structure, which has great potential for enhancing the wear resistance and applications of DC53 materials in various fields.