A facile and low-cost fabrication of bionic textures for enhancing abrasion resistance

Abrasion resistance is crucial for the soil-engaging components in agricultural machinery. Constructing bionic surface textures is an effective strategy to enhance the abrasion resistance. However, the traditional methods are often intricate and costly. Herein, square and circular bionic textures were fabricated on 45 steel (GB/T 699–2015) surface through a facile and low-cost template-assisted boronizing method. The abrasion resistance was evaluated through friction and wear tests, while the coating adhesion was assessed using the standardized Daimler-Benz Rockwell-C method. The bionic textures, especially the circular texture, significantly improve the abrasion resistance, owing to the synergistic effect of the soft-hard alternating structure on the surface. Compared with the other structures, the circular bionic texture presents a low friction coefficient at high load, consistent wear rate, and robust adhesion, demonstrating the excellent abrasion resistance. This novel method offers valuable insights and guidance, both theoretical and practical, for the advancement of bionic technology.