Axial compressive behavior of corroded H-shaped steel columns

Abstract

The unpredictability of corrosion in steel structures, especially in H-section columns, is a topic that has received limited research attention. Using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) and finite element analysis (FEA), this study investigates the effect of random pitting corrosion on H-section steel columns' ultimate bearing capacity under axial compression. In this study, MCS was employed to address the random distribution of pitting corrosion. The reliability of MCS and FEA was validated through existing literature on compression tests of H-shaped steel columns. To comprehensively assess the detrimental effects of pitting corrosion, a total of 3650 models of H-shaped columns, each exhibiting different pitting corrosion characteristics, were subjected to analysis. These models incorporated three corrosion parameters (volume loss rate, size, and depth) and two geometric parameters (slenderness and section size). A nonlinear buckling analysis was carried out to investigate the ultimate bearing capacity of the columns. The findings indicate that a volume loss rate of 20% can cause a decrease in the column's ultimate bearing capacity by approximately 50%. Furthermore, the study reveals that at equal volume loss rates, corrosion depth and slenderness significantly influence the reduction factor, while corrosion size and section size exert a minimal impact. As a result, this paper introduces a probabilistic assessment method for estimating the reduction factor in ultimate bearing capacity for H-section steel columns. Notably, with every 10% increase in the volume loss rate, the mean reduction factor in the ultimate bearing capacity decreases by approximately 0.12.