A water hydraulic axial piston pump has become the preferred power component of environmentally friendly water hydraulic transmission systems, due to its advantages of a compact structure, high power density, and so on. The poor friction and wear performance in the water medium, especially under extreme conditions of high speed and high pressure, limit the engineering application of the water hydraulic axial piston pump. In this review, the research progress for key friction pair materials (such as special corrosion-resistant alloys, engineering plastics, and engineering ceramics) for water hydraulic axial piston pumps is, firstly, summarized. Secondly, inspired by nature, the processing methods, lubrication drag-reduction mechanism, and tribological properties of the biomimetic surface textures are discussed. The effects of the surface texture shape, equivalent diameter, depth, and arrangement on the pump’s tribological properties are reviewed in detail. Finally, the application status of, and problems with, surface texture technology in water hydraulic axial piston pumps are summarized. It is suggested that future studies should focus on the multi-field coupling lubrication anti-friction mechanism of the multi-type composite texture under extreme conditions and mixed lubrication; and the anti-wear performance of the texture coupled with a coating modification, to further promote the surface texture in the field of lubrication antifriction engineering applications.

The slipper pair is the crucial friction pair of the seawater axial piston pump. Taking seawater as the working medium will inevitably affect the bearing performance of the slipper pair. In this paper, a seawater axial piston pump slipper pair model with a composite bionic micro-texture of the first-stage circular pit and the second-stage circular ball is established. Using the CFD simulation method, 18 groups of orthogonal tests are designed to explore the effects of seven test factors, such as rotational speed, first-stage diameter, first-stage aspect ratio, second-stage diameter, second-stage aspect ratio, area ratio, and distribution angle, on the bearing characteristics of the water film of the slipper pair. Study whether cavitation can further improve the bearing characteristics of the water film. The research shows that there is a vortex behind the circular pit, and there is a pressure difference in the calculation domain of the water film. The existence of the pressure difference causes the bearing force of the water film surface to increase. The cavitation phenomenon mainly occurs at the divergent wedge behind the circular pit. Among them, the total pressure bearing force of the 5th test group increased by 90% after introducing cavitation effect, and the total pressure bearing force of the 17th test group increased by about 86% compared with other test groups at the same speed. The order of the test factors affecting the water film bearing features is: A (rotational speed) > C (first-stage aspect ratio) > B (first-stage diameter) > E (second-stage aspect ratio) > F (area ratio) > D (second-stage diameter) > G (distribution angle). The optimal model is A₆B₂C₁D₃E₃F₂G₃.

Current studies of a seawater axial piston pump mainly solve the problems of corrosion and wear in a slipper pair by selecting materials with corrosion resistance, self-lubrication, and wear resistance. In addition, an appropriate biomimetic non-smooth surface design for the slipper pair can further improve the tribological behavior. In this paper, 316L stainless steel and CF/PEEK were selected to process the upper and bottom specimens, and the biomimetic non-smooth surface was introduced into the interface between the friction pair. The friction and wear tests were performed on a MMD-5A tester at a rotation speed of 1000 r/min and load of 200 N under seawater lubricated condition. The results indicate that the main friction form of the smooth surface friction pair corresponds to abrasive wear and adhesive wear and that it exhibits a friction coefficient of 0.05–0.07, a specimen temperature of 56 °C, a high wear rate, and surface roughness. Pits on the non-smooth surface friction pairs produced hydrodynamic lubrication and reduced abrasive wear, and thus the plowing effect is their main friction form. The non-smooth surface friction pairs exhibit a friction coefficient of 0.03–0.04, a specimen temperature of 48 °C, a low wear rate, and surface roughness. The study has important theoretical significance for enriching the lubrication, friction, and wear theory of a seawater axial piston pump, and economic significance and military significance for promoting the marine development and the national defense military.

In this work, the lubrication mechanism and friction-wear characteristics of the friction pair between carbon-fiber-reinforced polyether ether ketone (CF/PPEK) and 316L stainless steel with a micro-hemispherical pit textured surface at different sliding speeds under seawater lubrication were studied through numerical simulation and experimental investigation. The study results indicate that the seawater moves following the sliding direction of the upper specimen, forms a vortex ring flow in the hemispherical pit of the bottom specimen, uses the convergent gap to generate a hydrodynamic effect, produces the bearing capacity, and realizes fluid lubrication. The hemispherical pit diminishes the abrasive wear during the friction process by storing the wear debris, and the main wear forms of the hemispherical-pit surface friction pair are oxidative wear and adhesive wear. The friction coefficient of the hemispherical-pit surface friction pair is 0.018–0.027, the specimen contact temperature is 40.2–55.1 °C, and it is always in the hydrodynamic lubrication state in a rotation speed ranging from 1000 r/min to 1750 r/min. As the sliding speed increases, the specimen contact temperature climbs, and the oxidation reaction gradually becomes full. Oxidative wear and adhesive wear alternately play a dominant role in the friction, and the wear rate first decreases and then increases sharply.

The reasonable design of biomimetic non-smooth surfaces is a novel and effective way to solve problems such as the poor lubricity and serious friction and wear of friction pairs of seawater axial piston pumps. Inspired by cross-scale, second-order compound microstructures on the surfaces of some living organisms, a hydrodynamic lubrication model of a slipper pair with a surface featuring spherical pits containing spherical convex hulls was built. This study analyzed the bearing lubrication mechanism and friction characteristics of cross-scale, second-order compound microstructure from the microflow perspective via the CFD method and optimized the working and geometric parameters using a hybrid orthogonal test scheme. The study’s results show that the cross-scale, second-order compound microstructure can produce a superimposed hydrodynamic pressure effect to improve the bearing capacity of the lubrication film of a slipper pair, reducing the friction coefficient. The orders of factors (the working parameter and geometric parameters) under multiple indices (the total pressure-bearing capacity and the friction coefficient) were found. The optimal combination is a spherical pit with a first order diameter of 0.7 mm, a first order depth-to-diameter ratio of 0.1, an area rate of 20%, an arrangement angle of α/3 and a spherical convex hull with a second order diameter of 0.13 mm, and a second order depth-to-diameter ratio of 0.3. Compared to a smooth surface and a first-order, non-smooth microstructure, the cross-scale, second-order compound microstructure has an 11.0% and 8.9% higher total pressure-bearing capacity, respectively, and the friction coefficient decreased by 9.5% and 5.4%, respectively.