Effect of texture parameters on the tribological properties of spheroidal graphite cast iron groove-textured surface under sand-containing oil lubrication conditions

During the process of fabricating sand cores with a sand-moulding machine, silica sand can become embedded in the sliding guideway, causing serious abrasive wear. To improve the tribological performance of the sliding guideway, groove textures were fabricated on the spheroidal graphite cast iron surface to capture the silica sand. It was found that the friction coefficient of the groove-textured surface (depth, h, of 0.05 mm; width, w, of 1.5 mm; area density, Sp, of 34%) was 12.7% lower than that of the non-textured surface under oil lubrication. Meanwhile, the groove-textured surface achieved excellent wear resistance performance with groove parameters of h ≥ 0.40 mm, w ≥ 1.0 mm, and Sp ≥ 34%. The wear resistance of the textured surface (h = 0.40 mm, w = 1.5 mm, and Sp = 34%) was 4.9 times greater than that of the non-textured surface. The main wear mechanism of the groove-textured surface with a high depth, width, and area density was slight abrasive wear or scratching under the given test conditions, which was attributed to the larger groove trapping the sand so that less sand remains on the substrate.