Effects of Normal Force on the Tribocorrosion Behavior of a Nickel-Based Superalloy in Alkaline Solution: An Electrochemical Study

The tribocorrosion behavior of Inconel 690TT in NaOH (pH = 9.8) solution at different normal forces was investigated by an electrochemical method. The results indicated that normal force had a great effect on the tribocorrosion behavior and mechanism. When normal force increased from 15 to 30 N, fretting regime was in gross slip regime (GSR), and wear volume gradually increased. When normal force further increased to 45 N, wear volume significantly decreased due to the fretting regime changing from GSR to partial slip regime (PSR). When fretting ran in GSR, the corrosion resistance decreased with the negative shift of open circuit potential (OCP). However, when the fretting regime changed to PSR, the corrosion reaction significantly decreased due to the adhesive wear. Fretting wear broke the passive film at the contacting surface, which caused the worn surface to be more active and prone to corrosion. However, the broken passive film was quickly repaired in subsequent oxidation. The break and repair of passive film strongly depended on normal force. In GSR, the increase in normal force aggravated the break of passive film. In PSR, the passive film was not easy to break with a further increase of normal force.