Tribocorrosion

The subject of tribocorrosion includes the interaction of corrosion and erosion abrasion, adhesion, fretting and fatigue wear processes. Tribocorrosion research aims to address the need to select or design new surfaces for future equipment, as well as to minimize the operating costs and extend the life of existing machinery and medical devices. Erosion is one of several wear modes involved in tribocorrosion. Sinnett-Jones et al. investigated the synergistic effects of corrosion and wear of a surgical-grade, cast F-75 cobalt-chromium-molybdenum (CoCrMo) alloy. Depassivation and repassivation processes identified micro-abrasion-corrosion methods which showed strong synergistic effects that ranged from negative to positive. The synergistic levels appeared to depend on the integrity of the passive films and the repassivation kinetics. The material performance under tribocorrosion conditions is highly system-dependent, and modest changes in environmental conditions can have a profound impact on wastage rates.