Wear directed metal oxidation

The adsorption of deposited monolayer films can be very tenacious, especially when the solid substrate can react with the deposited material. Carbox-yhc acid monolayers deposited on metal or metal oxide surfaces, for example, almost certainly form metal soaps that are extremely difficult to remove by any means other than direct chemical etching. For example, such strongly adsorbed films are very useful in friction and wear studies of boundary lubrication (see Chapter 18). 

As an example of how wear behavior with a changing rate can be treated, let us examine a model for the competition of metal removal from a slider by direct adhesive transfer and by combined oxidation and ablation of the oxide. The total rate of phenomenological wear is given by... 

The greatest potential for particulate release during reactor vessel safestorage undoubtedly arises from the corrosion of metallic components within the core. The graphite may also release particulates directly, through degradation (friction and wear) mechanisms, or from deposited carbon or other entrained materials such as oxide dusts. 

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