Tailored surface textures to increase friction—A review

Surface textures with micro-scale feature dimensions still hold great potential to enhance the frictional performance of tribological systems. Apart from the ability of surface texturing to reduce friction, surface textures can also be used to intentionally increase friction in various applications that rely on friction for their adequate functioning. Therefore, this review aims at presenting the state-of-the-art regarding textured surfaces for high-friction purposes. After a brief general introduction, the recent trends and future paths in laser surface texturing are summarized. Then, the potential of surface textures to increase friction in different applications including adhesion, movement transmission and control, biomimetic applications, and road-tire contacts is critically discussed. Special emphasis in this section is laid on the involved mechanisms responsible for friction increase. Finally, current short-comings and future research directions are pointed out thus emphasizing the great potential of (laser-based) surface texturing methods for innovations in modern surface engineering.