Abstract
In order to improve the lubrication properties of silicon carbide (SiC) in water, symmetrically spiral periodic structures for bi-directional rotation were intermittently and alternately produced on the surface. These periodic structures of submicron size develope in a self-organized fashion on a surface illuminated by linearly polarized femtosecond laser pulses with a low fluence (slightly above the ablation threshold). The periodic structures formed on the sliding surface of the disk. Ring-on-disk tests were performed to investigate the influence of the periodic structures on the friction coefficient. The experiment showed that the symmetrically spiral periodic structures for bi-directional rotation accelerated the running-in process and achieved a low friction coefficient, μ<0.01, which was about the same as the uni-directional spiral periodic structures.
