Title:Enhanced Method of Predicting Tensile Strength Degradation of Steel Bridge Members Due to Corrosion
VOLUME: 2 ISSUE: 1
Author(s):J.M.R.S. Appuhamy, M. Ohga, T. Kaita, P. Chun and P.B.R. Dissanayake
Affiliation:Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Ehime University, Japan
Keywords:Bridge maintenance, corrosion, FEM analysis, maximum corroded depth, residual strength, steel bridges, tensile
test.
Abstract:Corrosion played a significant role in the catastrophic collapse of many aged steel bridge infrastructures around
the world. Those damages and many reviewed patents intensified the importance of careful evaluation of existing
structures for the feasibility of current usage and strengthening them by retrofitting some selected corroded members to
ensure the public safety. Only experimental approach is not enough to estimate the remaining strength of corroded
members as actual corroded surfaces are different from each other. However in modern practices, numerical simulation is
being used to replace the time-consuming and expensive experimental work and to comprehend on the lack of knowledge
on mechanical behavior, stress distribution, ultimate behavior and so on. This paper comprises the non-linear FEM
analysis results of many actual corroded plates with different corrosion conditions and a simple and comprehensive
analytical method is developed by measuring the maximum corroded depth (tc,max) only, for the utilization of recently
developed numerical techniques in assessment of the state of corrosion and consequences for the safety of old steel
bridges.
