Tribocorrosion Behaviors of Moving Ear Bushing-Spacer Assemblies in Marine Atmospheric Environment

LI Gang; JIN Linghao; XU Jiacheng; HUANG Shiyu; LI Ming; CAI Liangxu; WU Wei; XING Shaohua

doi:10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2026.06.005

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Surface Technology ›› 2026, Vol. 55 ›› Issue (6) : 53-62. DOI: 10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2026.06.005

Corrosion and Protection

Tribocorrosion Behaviors of Moving Ear Bushing-Spacer Assemblies in Marine Atmospheric Environment

LI Gang¹, JIN Linghao², XU Jiacheng², HUANG Shiyu^2,*, LI Ming¹, CAI Liangxu¹, WU Wei³, XING Shaohua⁴

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Abstract

The work aims to investigate the tribocorrosion behavior of typical metal wing components, specifically the dynamic ear bushing-spacer pair, under the combined action of mechanical load and an atmospheric thin electrolyte layer, by simulating a humid marine atmosphere. This synergistic interaction between wear and corrosion can significantly accelerate material degradation, leading to reduced structural reliability and a sharp decrease in service life and representing a core issue affecting aviation safety. Therefore, this work will provide a critical basis for enhancing the structural reliability and in-service safety of aircraft structures exposed to such aggressive environments. To accomplish the objective of this work, a thin electrolyte layer method was employed to simulate a humid marine atmospheric environment. A paired articulation system of a dynamic ear bushing and a spacer, compatible with a tribometer, was designed. Furthermore, an electrochemical monitoring setup was developed to track the synergistic tribocorrosion damage of metal components. The experimental program comprised three different test protocols: (1) tribocorrosion tests under open circuit potential, designed to measure the total material loss; (2) potentiodynamic polarization tests under both static and sliding conditions, aimed at obtaining the corresponding polarization curves; and (3) pure mechanical wear tests under a cathodic protection potential of -1 V (vs. SCE), intended to isolate the contribution of mechanical wear to the total material loss. Tests were performed with a Bruker UMT-3 Tribolab tribometer coupled with a Gamry Interface 1010 electrochemical workstation. The environment was simulated by a 300 µm thick layer of 3.5wt.% NaCl solution. The tests involved reciprocating sliding over a 6.5 mm stroke under a constant load of 10 MPa, with actuation frequencies of 0.17, 0.5, and 1 Hz, to investigate the frequency dependence of the damage mechanisms. Based on the analysis of wear scar profiles obtained through white light interferometry (Bruker Contour GT-X3) and corrosion current density measurements derived from electrochemical data, the individual loss components of the material under different actuation frequencies were quantitatively calculated. The total volume loss of the 1Cr17Ni2 dynamic ear bushing and 316L stainless steel spacer due to tribocorrosion in a marine atmosphere reached a maximum of 4.10×10^-3 mm³ (at 1 Hz) and a minimum of 2.76×10^-3 mm³ (at 0.17 Hz). The pure wear loss varied only slightly with frequency, ranging from 2.49×10^-3 mm³ (0.17 Hz) to 2.80×10^-3 mm³ (1 Hz). In terms of contribution to total material loss, pure mechanical wear accounted for the largest proportion (over 60%), while pure corrosion loss was negligible (below 0.3%). The increment in corrosion-induced wear loss increased with frequency, contributing up to 4.1% of the total loss. The enhancement of wear due to corrosion was also significant, representing up to 27.3% of total loss—the second largest contribution among synergistic effects. The tribocorrosion failure mechanism of the metal assembly is dominated by pure mechanical wear and corrosion-enhanced wear. The tribocorrosion resistance exhibits strong frequency dependence. Under high-frequency conditions, all volume loss values reach their maxima. An increase in frequency not only directly aggravates mechanical wear but also intensifies the corrosion-wear synergy, thereby significantly reducing the resistance of materials to tribocorrosion.

Key words

wing components / atmospheric thin liquid film / corrosion-wear interaction / friction frequency / friction pair

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LI Gang, JIN Linghao, XU Jiacheng, HUANG Shiyu, LI Ming, CAI Liangxu, WU Wei, XING Shaohua. Tribocorrosion Behaviors of Moving Ear Bushing-Spacer Assemblies in Marine Atmospheric Environment[J]. Surface Technology. 2026, 55(6): 53-62

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