Frictional characteristic of micro structures for wooden pallets

Wooden pallets are widely used in the field of logistics.Their frictional characteristics directly determine the reliability of transport. Microstructuring is an effective method to enhance the friction coefficient between the wooden pallet and corrugated box. In this study, the micro-cutting method was used to manufacture the micro grooves and pillars efficiently. 12 different sizes of microstructure are designed and manufactured on pine wood which is commonly used for the wooden pallet. The experimental results show that sample with a thickness of the groove wall 100μm has a poor structural strength and not suitable for microstructure design. The test results show that, micropillars has larger friction coefficient than grooved surface. It can lead to a 57 percent increase in the friction coefficient (from 0.21 to 0.33). This study lays the foundation for the manufacture of microstructures on wood to improve the frictional characteristic.