Improving tribological properties of Ti–Zr alloys under starved lubrication by combining thermal oxidation and laser surface texturing

In efforts to improve the tribological properties of the Ti–Zr alloy, thermal oxidization (TO) and laser surface texturing (LST) were performed on the surfaces of the alloy. Four kinds of samples, i.e., TO combined LST (TO-LST), TO without LST (TO-only), LST without TO (LST-only) and annealed-only (Contrast) samples were prepared. The tribological properties of the samples were investigated by carrying out sliding wear tests under starved lubrication using a ball-on-disc tribometer. The results show that TO treatment significantly improves the tribological properties of the surfaces due to the formation of the ZrTiO 4 layer which has a higher hardness and better wettability with PAO4 oil. More interestingly, the synergistic effect of TO-layer and LST can further improve the tribological properties since the dimple-textures can exist for a long time and offer effective lubrication for the contract areas. • The effect of LST is limited on the untreated Ti–Zr alloy. • Thermal oxidation can significantly improve the tribological properties of the surfaces under starved lubrication. • The synergistic effect of TO-layer and LST can further improve the tribological properties of the Ti–Zr alloy.