Electrochemical Noise Analysis of Tribocorrosion Processes Under Steady-State Friction Regime

International audienceTribocorrosion processes of austenitic stainless steel in a medium close to that used in pressurized water reactor nuclear plants have been investigated using electrochemical impedance and noise measurements. The experiments were carried out under a steady-state friction regime yielded by the continuous circular displacement of a fretting probe against a large disk electrode. Finite-element-method simulations of the current distribution in a conventional three-electrode cell showed that a signifi cant part of the anodic current generated by the fi lm removal and surface repassivation at the wear track does not fl ow to the counter electrode and, therefore, is not measured by the potentiostat. A specifi c arrangement with two working electrodes, a small disk electrode inserted at the center of the large one and electrically isolated from it, was devised to monitor the anodic current induced by the tribocorrosion process. Results have shown that only a small part of the current lines fl ows to the central region connected through the zero-resistance ammeter. In spite of this, the power spectral density of the current fl uctuations generated at the wear track could be estimated, provided that the impedances of the two working electrodes have been previously measured