Third body effects and material fluxes in tribocorrosion systems involving a sliding contact

Tribocorrosion is an irreversible transformation of a material resulting from simultaneous physicochemical and mechanical surface interactions taking place in a tribological contact. Tribocorrosion involves numerous synergy effects between mechanical and chemical or electrochemical phenomena. In the present paper a general framework for the interpretation of electrochemically controlled tribocorrosion experiments involving a sliding contact between a passive metal and an inert counter body is proposed. The analysis is based on material fluxes and takes into account the formation, transformation and ejection from the contact of third body particles. The usefulness of the proposed approach is illustrated with examples from the author's laboratory. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.