Modeling tribocorrosion of passive metals - A review

Tribocorrosion is a material degradation phenomenon resulting from interactive effects between wear and corrosion. It is commonly found in engineering applications (e.g. biomedical implants and marine equipment) which involve relative motion of contacting metals in a corrosive environment. In this study, models describing tribocorrosion of passive metals in sliding contacts were reviewed. Different categories of models (two-body or three-body contact models, lubricated tribocorrosion model, empirical models, multi-degradation models) were found in the literature. Through the identification of relevant chemo-mechanical degradation mechanisms, robust analytical expressions accurately predicting the overall material loss in tribocorrosion have been developed. Numerical methods have been used to describe time dependent transitions in tribocorrosion. Possibilities and limits of the proposed models in the literature as well as future trends are discussed in this review.