Analysis of high temperature and strain amplitude effects on low cycle fatigue behavior of pitting corroded killed E350 BR structural steel

Abstract

High-tension structural steels are prone to accelerated fatigue damage from pitting corrosion and high-temperature. Despite adverse effects, research on their low cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior is limited. Specifically, studies analyzing temperature-dependent pit sensitivity effects, considering pit-related material’s susceptibility to surface topographic features variation and stress concentration are lacking. This study conducts LCF tests on pitting corroded killed E350 BR structural steel at multiple strain amplitudes and high temperatures. It develops temperature-dependent parameters, such as the cyclic softening pit sensitivity factor, suitable for integration into existing approaches like total cyclic plastic strain energy density (CPSED), power-law, average strain energy density (SED), Coffin-Manson, and pit stress intensity factor (pit-SIF). Further, it proposes multiple linear regression-based prediction models relating total CPSED and average SED with strain amplitude and temperature. Corroded specimens show higher plastic deformation and reduced peak stress, fatigue life, and total CPSED compared to uncorroded ones. The developed parameters, integrated with average SED approach, predicts LCF life within an error band of ±1.5, while power-law relationship reduces it to ±1.2. Moreover, pit-SIF approach estimates fatigue life within an error band of ±1.5. The findings provide critical knowledge for enhanced component design, leading to structural safety, performance, and fire resilience.