Abstract
In order to clarify the tribological behaviour of SUS304 steel in seawater, the electrochemical approach was taken in this work. Wear tests were carried out at different potentials from -800mV to 600 mV (vs SCE) under the following conditions: a normal load of 10 N, a slip amplitude of 1.5mm, a frequency of 8.3Hz and total sliding distance of 3O0m (105 cycles) . Wear volume increased by three orders of magnitude with an increase in potential from -800mV to 600mV. The relationship between wear volume and corrosion volume was discussed. Corrosion volume was calculated from the anodic current in the polarization curve for a fresh surface, which was obtained by the potential pulse method. In conclusion, the electrochemical factor, dissolution of metal, governed the wear in seawater, while the mechanical factor was only to produce the fresh surface on the wear surface during sliding.
