3-Dimensional ink printing of friction-reducing surface textures from copper nanoparticles

Surface texturing is an effective way for friction-reduction in hydrodynamic lubricating conditions. In this paper, an additive manufacturing method of selective laser melting of ink-printed copper nanoparticles (SLM-IP Cu NPs) was introduced. Concave squared textures, convex squared textures and fully sintered Cu film were fabricated. The tribological performances of the fabricated samples showed that the convex squared texture possesses a better friction-reducing ability than the concave textures and the full Cu film. Moreover, the relationship between the dimensional parameters of the convex textures and the friction-reducing ability was also experimentally studied. The lubricating condition was analyzed to show that the surface structures fabricated by SLM-IP Cu NPs can provide the surface with a friction-reducing ability in mixed lubrication.