Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering

Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering

Investigation of the Effect of pitting corrosion on the splitting failure of bearing connections

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mohammadreza Mehditabar 1
Alireza Moazezi Mehretehran 2
1 Structural Engineering Division Civil Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
2 Structural Engineering Division, Civil Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
10.22065/jsce.2024.480272.3530
Abstract
Steel connections are continuously exposed to strength degradation due to corrosion. To more accurately evaluate the performance of bolted steel structures under corrosive conditions, it is essential to characterize the behavior of corroded bolted connections and incorporate this into structural analyses. A review of the literature indicates that most previous studies have focused on the behavior of structural members, with only a few addressing the effects of pitting corrosion on connections. This study aims to numerically investigate the performance of bearing connections with splitting failure under pitting corrosion and to propose a relationship for the reduction in load-bearing capacity. This relationship can serve as a reference for assessing the safety of bolted connections in an in-service steel frame. In this research, pitting corrosion was modeled in ABAQUS software using a random distribution of pits generated by a Python script. By accurately simulating the failure modes and behavior of connections in ABAQUS, this study examines all possible failure scenarios of bearing connections with splitting failure and the impact of corrosion on their behavior. The results indicate that variations in pit distribution, even with constant corrosion characteristics and volume, can alter the failure mode, load-bearing capacity, and ductility of the connection. The findings also show that an increase in pit depth has the most significant effect on reducing load-bearing capacity. When the degree of volume loss reached its maximum value of 13.2%, specimens with pits 6.4 mm deep experienced a 15% reduction in strength. Finally, based on the degree of volume loss in the connection plate, three relationships were proposed to estimate the ultimate load-bearing capacity, representing the lower bound, linear regression, and upper bound of the predictive model.
Keywords
Pitting corrosion
Splitting failure
Bearing capacity
Pits distribution
Failure mode

Subjects

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Journal of Structural and Construction Engineering
Volume 12, Issue 06 - Serial Number 95
September 2025
Pages 258-281

  • Receive Date 05 October 2024
  • Revise Date 14 December 2024
  • Accept Date 20 December 2024