Direct observation of the interface during sliding tribo-corrosion

A new test apparatus has been developed to allow the sliding interface between the inert and “active” surfaces during tribo-corrosion to be viewed directly. This apparatus allows the nominal contact area to be viewed and will, it is hoped, eventually allow the real contact area and the role of wear debris to be clearly revealed. Initial experiments reciprocating glass plates against AISI 316 balls in 0.1 M Na2SO4 have shown that the corrosion current does not linearly depend on the wear scar area and that the electrochemical contribution to the total material loss increases with increasing sliding distance.