Tribocorrosion behaviour of mooring high strength low alloy steels in synthetic seawater

Offshore components of High-Strength Low-Alloy Steel (HSLA) are frequently exposed to tribological and corrosion effects during their working life. In the present work, several experiments have been performed to study the tribocorrosion behaviour of two steel grades, under unidirectional sliding in synthetic seawater. Sliding wear tests were performed under potentiodynamic and potentiostatic conditions at different applied potentials. The wear tracks were analysed by means of optical microscope and profilometry. The wear-corrosion synergism was quantified according to the ASTM G119 standard. Sliding promotes the wear accelerated corrosion of the unworn area in both alloys. Furthermore, the coefficient of friction of the steels is strongly influenced by the corrosion products and the applied potential.