Sliding element with exposed functional surface

A sliding element in the form of a piston or piston ring, comprising:

• a support;
• and
• a coating applied on the support by means of thermal spraying;
• wherein
• the coating comprises at least two layers which have different mechanical strengths;
• one of the at least two layers is recessed with respect to the other layer or layers and exposed, wherein the recessed layer has the lowest strength;
• the recessed layer is exposed mechanically or chemically;
• and
• the exposure depth, provided over the reduced groove depth Rvk of the recessed layer, is 0.5 μm -6 μm.

A method for producing a sliding element in the form of a piston or piston ring, comprising:

• providing a support;
• applying, by means of thermal spraying, a coating on the support, wherein the coating comprises at least two layers which have different mechanical strengths;
• recessing one of the at least two layers with respect to the other layer or layers, wherein the recessed layer has the lowest strength, and wherein both of said layers are exposed;
• and wherein
• the recessed layer comprises a metal-based alloy;
• and
• the element most frequently occurring in the recessed layer has an ordinal number <14 from the periodic table.