lubricants Article Investigation of the Tribological Properties of Different Textured Lead Bronze Coatings under Severe Load Conditions Adolfo Senatore 1 , Giacomo Risitano 2 , Lorenzo Scappaticci 3 and Danilo D’Andrea 2,* 1 Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II, 132, 84084 Fisciano, SA, Italy;
[email protected] 2 Department of Engineering, University of Messina, Contrada di Dio (S. Agata), 98166 Messina, SA, Italy;
[email protected] 3 Sustainability Engineering Department, Guglielmo Marconi University, via Plinio 44, 00193 Rome, SA, Italy;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +39-393-020-9246 Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the variation in the coefficient of friction (CoF) and also the wear in a lead bronze coating under different texture conditions. The tribological tests were performed using a tribometer with pin on disk configuration. Several kinds of textures, realised by a surface laser texturing, were tested by varying the diameter, depth, and density of the dimples under severe working conditions. The innovative aspect concerns the behaviour of the textured lead bronze coating and the lubrication conditions when the sample is subjected to extreme load conditions. Confocal microscopies and SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy)/EDS (Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy) analyses were performed to evaluate the texture behaviour and also the surface deterioration of the coating. The results show that the application of texture processing leads to an improvement in the tribological properties of the coating. By analysing separately the variation of the different geometric parameters of the dimples, it has been shown that the best results µ µ Citation: Senatore, A.; Risitano, G.; are obtained with a diameter of 50 m, a density of 5%, and a depth of 5 m.