Abstract:
Abstract: Corrosion is one of the main problems in steel structures. The combined effect of corrosion and fatigue
caused by cyclic loading magnifies the damage severely reducing the fatigue life of the structure. Steel bridges in
coastal and industrial zones are among the structures most vulnerable to corrosion fatigue. Up until now there have
been no accurate methods introduced for assessing corrosion fatigue damage and predicting the future life of structures
in a corrosive atmosphere.
In the S-N approach based fatigue damage assessment method S-N curves should include corrosion effects. If usual
S-N curves that do not include corrosion effects are used, they should be modified or safety factors should be applied
to account for the effects of corrosion. The present paper describes a study carried out for improving one of the
existing full range S-N curve models for corrosion effects. Using adjustments to the existing S-N model a new
corrosion based S-N model was proposed. Experimental results showed that the proposed S-N model can be
efficiently used for assessing fatigue damage of steel structures located in corrosive atmosphere. The S-N model
proposed remains a simple single formula. The only parameters necessary for the new corrosion based S-N model are
the ultimate tensile strength, Vickers hardness and the high cycle fatigue strength in corrosive environment.
