The current response from a reciprocal motion pin-on-disc experiment was modelled assuming a rate limiting reaction at a film inter-face. Two different geometries were considered: inert pin on metal substrate (ipms) and metal pin on inert substrate (mpis). For the ipms configuration and an electrolyte with a high conductivity, an analytical solution was found. To illustrate the effects of ohmic drop and other parameters, numerical solutions were introduced for both configurations. They made it possible to estimate the influence of, e.g. ohmic resistance and wear rates. The passive film growth parameters were taken from electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) experiments. A formalism was proposed for calculating growth fractions by comparing rubbing experiments performed at different potentials. The growth fractions compared qualitatively with those obtained during potential sweep experiments in the EQCM. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.