Tribological Performance of Bio-Inspired Surface Textures Fabricated by SLA 3D Printing

Muhammad Khafidh; Muhammad Imaduddin

Authors

Muhammad Khafidh S.T., M.T., SCOPUS ID: 56338397700, Universitas Islam Indonesia
Muhammad Imaduddin

Keywords:

bio-inspired surface, friction, stereolithography, surface texture, wear

Abstract

Tribological performance, particularly friction and wear, is one of the key factors determining the service life of engineering components. Although stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing has been increasingly adopted for various functional applications, studies on the tribological performance of SLA-printed surfaces remain limited. Surface texturing inspired by biological systems offers a promising approach to improve surface functionality. This study investigates the friction and wear behaviour of bio-inspired surface textures fabricated using SLA 3D printing. Five texture geometries were evaluated, namely original snake dorsal, simplified snake dorsal, snake ventral, shark micro-riblet, and giant salvinia leaf textures. Tribological tests were performed using a pin-on-disc tribometer under a normal load of 10 N and a rotational speed of 200 RPM. The results show that surface texture significantly influences tribological behaviour. The original snake dorsal texture exhibited the lowest wear of 0.0025 g, indicating superior wear resistance, while the snake ventral texture produced the lowest friction force of 2.82 N. In contrast, the shark micro-riblet texture generated the highest friction of 3.58 N. These results demonstrate that different bio-inspired geometries produce distinct tribological responses and confirm the potential of SLA 3D printing for the fabrication of functional textured surfaces.

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