Fundamentals of linking tribology and corrosion (Tribocorrosion) for medical applications: Bio-tribocorrosion

Abstract

Metal/alloys have been used in orthopedic and dental implants for many years. In a physiological environment, they are susceptible to materials degradation affecting its performance and lead to gradual and early failures due to the continuous exposure to the variation in in vivo mechanical and chemical conditions. Tribocorrosion is a new area of research that links tribology and corrosion, which can be defined as the irreversible material degradation process resulting from the synergistic interaction of wear and corrosion phenomena on surfaces subjected to a relative contact movement in biological environments. This book chapter describes some fundamental aspects about this new research area and focused on its significances in biomedical application, namely, orthopedics and dentistry.