About 40 percent of total engine energy dissipates due to friction and abrasion. So, the energy consumption decreases if the friction is somehow reduced. During the past years, it is reported that creating small-size dimples and slots, i.e. with the dimensions of less than one millimeter, on the surface of contact bodies can have a lot of benefits. Friction decrease, better lubrication, service life increase and better cooling are among the benefits of creating small-size dimples and slots. Decrease in friction coefficient depends on the texture geometry which is created on the surface. The effect of surface texture on the friction decrease considerably depends on such factors as shape, size, density, and the pattern on the surface. In general, several approaches have been proposed to create small-size cavities on the surface. Mechanical methods, e.g. grinding, shot blasting, indenter, lithography methods, e.g. chemical and electrochemical, and high energy radiation, e.g. laser beam, electronic beam and electric discharge machining are being used. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. This project aims to design and manufacture a suitable mechanism to create small-size dimples on the surface of metals through the indentation process as this method is cheap and requires simpler equipments. A suitable tool as an indenter was designed using ABAQUS finite element commercial package. The tool was then manufactured and was mounted on a suitable seat. The mechanism was mounted on a milling machine to bring the part in the required position and small-size dimples were created on the surface of discs. The coefficient of friction for three different dimple densities, i.e. 5%, 9.5% and 15%, at three different normal force magnitudes, i.e. 10 N, 15 N and 20 N, was measured using a pin-on-disc machine. The results of this study show that the proposed method is able to generate dimples as small as 400 ?m on the metals surfaces. Furthermore, the coefficient of friction can be reduced up to 18% when the dimples are created on the surface. Keyword: Metal Forming, Tribology, Friction, Submillimeter dimple
