ABSTRACT
The corrosion products, residual area and mechanical behaviors of artificially corroded high strength steel wires were tested, which was essential for inspection and evaluation of corroded cables in service. The corrosion products were analyzed by high resolution X-Ray Diffractometer and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope. Three-dimensional scanning was applied to determine the change of the cross section of corroded wires along the axial direction of corroded wires. Static tensile and fatigue loading tests were also carried out. The degradation of the constitutive model parameters of corroded high strength wires were derived by regression analysis of the tested mechanical parameters and corresponding corrosion ratios. The results showed that the variability of sectional area along wire axis increased with the increase of corrosion ratio. The stress-strain curves showed that the ultimate stress decreased, the ultimate strain had great variability, and the strengthening stage of some corroded high strength steel wires was shortened or even disappeared. The ultimate strength of corroded wires were less than the standard strength of 1770MPa when the corrosion ratio was larger than 1.25%; the elongation was less than the Specification limit of 4% when the corrosion ratio was larger than 5.05%; the fatigue life was less than 2 million when the corrosion ratio was larger than 4.16%; while corrosion had little effects on the elastic modulus. The index for evaluation of corroded wires was refined for the Specification based on the above results.
