Abstract:
One of the main research areas of Metallurgical Engineering is associated with the
estimation of fatigue life of atmospherically corroded metallic structural components.
It has been studied extensively worldwide and most of the researchers in this area have
focused on statistical analysis of fatigue strength of alloy steels and other metals
deteriorated due to pitting corrosion. The scope of this work is focused on the fatigue
behavior of low carbon steel, exposed to coastal-atmospheric corrosion which omits
pitting. Studying the change in surface topography with exposure time, due to
atmospheric corrosion is one of the two main objectives of this research. Evaluating
the change in fatigue life of corroded samples with changing surface topography due
to corrosion is the second objective. Fatigue life is taken as the number of cycles to
failure, and it is evaluated by experimental and numerical methods (FEA). The surface
topography is evaluated quantitatively using Scanning Electron Microscopy and 3D
MountainMaps^"^ software. The quantitative data obtained on surface features are then
represented in a finite element model to evaluate their fatigue performance using
fatigue analyzing FEA software. The significance of this work is that it helps to
explain the difference between simulated and experimentally determined fatigue life
of atmospherically corroded low carbon steel, which can be ultimately used in
estimating the life expectancy of corroded structural steel components.
