Parallel groove surface textures with different area densities were fabricated on ASTM 1045 steel. Friction tests were conducted under dry sliding condition. Temperature rise, friction coefficient and wear of both the textured and untextured specimens were studied. An embedded K-type thermocouple beneath the friction surfaces was employed to measure frictional temperature rise. The results indicated that the temperature rise of the textured specimen was obviously reduced compared with that of the untextured specimen, although the difference between the friction coefficients was not significant. The specimen with high texture density exhibited a small temperature rise. The difference in temperature rise between the specimens with different texture densities can be primarily attributed to differences in heat dissipation and energy allocation between the tribo-pairs caused by the textured structure. The energy consumed by wear and plastic deformation was small in comparison with the total energy input by friction, thus, the influence of these factors on temperature rise can be considered to be negligible.