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Lubricants
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Laser Surface Engineering for Advanced Tribological Performance
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Laser Surface Engineering for Advanced Tribological Performance

A special issue of Lubricants (ISSN 2075-4442).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 1774

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Guoliang Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, Qingdao University of Technology, Qingdao 266520, China
Interests: high-performance manufacturing; laser surface engineering; grean cutting
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Achieving enhanced wear resistance remains a critical objective across various industrial sectors, including automotive, aerospace, and manufacturing. Component failure due to wear leads to significant economic losses and operational downtime. Laser Surface Engineering (LSE) has emerged as a powerful and versatile technology for addressing these challenges by enabling the precise modification of surface properties. Techniques such as laser cladding, alloying, texturing, and hardening allow for creating surfaces with tailored tribological characteristics, significantly improving component longevity and performance under severe operating conditions.

Despite rapid advancements, optimizing LSE processes for superior and predictable wear performance requires continued research. This involves gaining a deep understanding of the relationships between laser parameters, the resulting microstructure, and the final tribological characteristics. Furthermore, the development of novel feedstock materials and the application of LSE to new-generation components present exciting research avenues.

This Special Issue will gather the latest research and review articles on this pivotal topic. We welcome contributions focusing on, but not limited to, laser surface modification techniques (such as cladding, texturing, alloying, glazing); the development and testing of wear-resistant coatings and composites, microstructural evolution and its correlation with wear mechanisms, the modeling and simulation of wear behavior in LSE-processed materials, and industrial case studies demonstrating performance improvements for critical components.

We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions.

Dr. Guoliang Liu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Lubricants is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • laser surface engineering
  • tribological performance
  • surface modification
  • tribological coatings
  • microstructure–property relationships
  • laser cladding
  • modeling of wear behavior

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 2903 KB  
Article
Tribological and Sealing Performance of Squamous Textured Mechanical Sealing Faces: Experimental and Theoretical Analysis
by Xianghua Zhan, Na Zhang, Zhentao Li, Xiaoying Li, Dengke Chen and Yancong Liu
Lubricants 2026, 14(5), 195; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants14050195 - 7 May 2026
Viewed by 261
Abstract
Mechanical seal faces frequently operate under harsh and dynamic conditions, where maintaining stable and efficient lubrication remains a critical challenge. Surface texturing has emerged as an effective approach to improve the lubrication and tribological performance of sealing end faces. This study investigates the [...] Read more.
Mechanical seal faces frequently operate under harsh and dynamic conditions, where maintaining stable and efficient lubrication remains a critical challenge. Surface texturing has emerged as an effective approach to improve the lubrication and tribological performance of sealing end faces. This study investigates the lubrication behavior and sealing characteristics of squamous textured mechanical sealing faces through a combination of sealing experiments and mixed lubrication modeling. The results indicate that during start-up, increasing rotational speed enhances the load-carrying capacity and reduces contact force, resulting in thicker lubricant films and lower friction coefficients. Consequently, the sealing interface gradually transitions from mixed to hydrodynamic lubrication. Moreover, with increasing medium pressure, both the critical rotational speed and duration required for this lubrication regime transition increase. Under various steady periods, smooth seal faces predominantly operate in the mixed lubrication regime, whereas textured faces maintain hydrodynamic lubrication, reducing the average friction coefficient and temperature rise by 69.5% and 51.8%, respectively. These findings provide crucial insights into the performance improvement and practical applications of squamous textures for high-efficiency, long-lifespan mechanical seals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Surface Engineering for Advanced Tribological Performance)
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19 pages, 6684 KB  
Article
Controlled Laser Sintering as a Strategy for Improved Tribological Performance of Ni-Cr-Ti3SiC2 Coatings
by Mohammad Ashikul Alam, Nihal Ahmed, Md Abid Hossain, Janak Paudel, Bo Shen, Maharshi Dey and Sujan Ghosh
Lubricants 2026, 14(5), 183; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants14050183 - 23 Apr 2026
Viewed by 571
Abstract
The poor tribological and mechanical performance of Al alloys hinders their use in practical applications where low COF and high durability are required. This study examined and evaluated a novel laser-sintered Ni-Cr coating to improve the load-carrying capacity and tribological performance of an [...] Read more.
The poor tribological and mechanical performance of Al alloys hinders their use in practical applications where low COF and high durability are required. This study examined and evaluated a novel laser-sintered Ni-Cr coating to improve the load-carrying capacity and tribological performance of an Al alloy (Al 6061) substrate. The authors demonstrate that laser sintering cycle count is a decisive process variable governing coating dispersion, microstructural consolidation, and tribological performance in Ni-Cr coatings fabricated via Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). Increasing the laser cycle count progressively refined the surface morphology, improved coating dispersion, and strengthened interparticle bonding. As a result, the average durability after three cycles was seven times that after one laser cycle, accompanied by markedly improved COF. To further improve durability and load-carrying capacity, Ti3SiC2 was introduced into the Ni-Cr coating. The coating containing 10 wt% Ti3SiC2 exhibited a 20-fold increase in durability, extending the time to failure to approximately 70,000 s (700 m) while maintaining a low coefficient of friction (~0.48) compared with the coating containing no Ti3SiC2. The greater durability of the Ni-Cr-10wt%Ti3SiC2 coating in this novel study was attributed to improved adhesion to the substrate, better particle distribution during sintering, and greater load-carrying capacity. While further process changes do not yield feasible samples, this study showed that surface properties can be improved within the available small-process regime. Overall, laser sintering of a Ni-Cr-10wt%Ti3SiC2 coating shows promise as a means to improve the tribological and mechanical performance of Al 6061. This study should aid researchers and other stakeholders in fabricating well-adhering, durable, and tribotactic composite coatings on Al6061 and similar material systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Surface Engineering for Advanced Tribological Performance)
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14 pages, 11956 KB  
Article
Laser Cladding Fabrication of B4C-Reinforced Titanium Matrix Composites: Wear Resistance and Corrosion Performance
by Yawen Bai, Peipei Lu, Yiming Cai and Ziwen Xie
Lubricants 2026, 14(3), 134; https://doi.org/10.3390/lubricants14030134 - 19 Mar 2026
Viewed by 608
Abstract
This study involves the addition of B4C particles to TC4 powder to fabricate B4C-reinforced titanium matrix composite coatings on an AISI 304L substrate using a laser cladding process. The effects of B4C addition (0–12 wt.%) on microstructure, [...] Read more.
This study involves the addition of B4C particles to TC4 powder to fabricate B4C-reinforced titanium matrix composite coatings on an AISI 304L substrate using a laser cladding process. The effects of B4C addition (0–12 wt.%) on microstructure, microhardness, wear, and corrosion performance were systematically investigated. Results indicate that the composite coating with 9 wt.% B4C exhibits optimal properties, achieving a peak microhardness of 600 HV0.2 and a wear rate of 2.82 × 10−4 mm3/N·m, representing a 58.22% reduction compared to the pure TC4 coating. Electrochemical tests in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution reveal a significant positive shift in corrosion potential and reduced corrosion current density with increasing B4C content, confirming enhanced corrosion resistance, and the improved performance is attributed to grain refinement and dispersion strengthening by B4C particles. This work provides a feasible strategy for enhancing the surface properties of 304L stainless steel under demanding wear and corrosive environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Surface Engineering for Advanced Tribological Performance)
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