Effect of Textured Dimples on the Tribological Behavior of WC/Co Cemented Carbide in Dry Sliding with Al₂O₃/WC Ceramic

Micro-dimples were fabricated on the surface of WC/Co cemented carbide disks by laser, and dry friction tests were carried out by sliding with Al₂O₃/WC ceramic balls. Results show that the textured cemented carbide can reduce the average friction coefficient by about 30% compared to the smooth sample, while the textured cemented carbide with solid lubricants can reduce the average friction coefficient by about 50%. The density of textured dimples has no obvious influence on the friction coefficient. The wear rates of worn ceramic balls continue to decline with the increase in sliding speeds. The wear rates of the ceramic balls can be reduced by 40~50% for textured samples and about 65% for textured samples with solid lubricants compared to the untextured ones. The mechanism for improving the tribological properties of cemented carbide materials is that the textured dimples can store lubricants and capture wear debris, which would play an important role in promoting the engineering application of surface texturing in cemented carbide materials.