Tribological behavior of shot-peened and snake-inspired textured 65 Mn steel plow surface under water lubrication

Abstract

This study investigates the tribological performance of 65 Mn steel plow surfaces modified by combined ultrasonic shot peening and snake-inspired microtexturing under water lubrication. Ultrasonic shot peening was first applied to enhance surface hardness, followed by laser texturing to fabricate microstructures with different texture densities (18%, 27%, and 36%). Surface characteristics, including hardness, roughness, and morphology, were systematically characterized. Reciprocating friction and wear tests were conducted, and the lubrication mechanism was analyzed using numerical simulations in Ansys Fluent. Results show that shot peening significantly improves wear resistance despite increasing surface roughness, while microtexturing alone provides limited improvement. The combined treatment exhibits the best tribological performance at 27% texture density, reducing friction coefficient and wear rate by 25.58% and 69.14%, respectively. This improvement is attributed to enhanced hydrodynamic lubrication and load-carrying capacity induced by the microtextures, providing guidance for biomimetic wear-resistant surface design of agricultural tools under water lubrication.