Effect of Surface Texturing Arrangement for Improving Anti-Seizure Property of Lead-Free Copper Alloy

Lead-bronze is widely used in the automotive industry owing to its excellent anti-seizure property. However, lead is toxic, and thus, from an environmental viewpoint, there is a demand for a lead-free copper alloy in the automotive industry. Despite the anti-seizure property of lead-free copper alloy being comparable to that of lead-bronze, it has not yet been well exploited. Therefore, the objective of this study was to improve the anti-seizure property of lead-free copper alloy using a laser surface texturing (LST) method. A ring-on-ring sliding friction tester was used to assess the effectiveness of LST and to investigate the effect of surface texturing arrangement on the anti-seizure property of lead-free copper alloy. In the friction tests, upper specimens made of FCD700 and lower specimens made of PBC2 (lead-free copper alloy) were used. Paraffinic oil was used as a lubricant and was circulated using a pump. Results of the friction tests showed that the textured specimens demonstrated superior anti-seizure property to that of the non-textured specimens. Further, on the basis of the obtained experimental results, it was concluded that the arrangement of dimples plays an important role in improving the anti-seizure property of lead-free alloy.