Buckling Behavior of Sulfate-Corroded Thin-Walled Cylindrical Steel Shells Reinforced with CFRP

Abstract

In this study, the buckling behavior of thin-walled cylindrical tanks exposed to sulfuric acid corrosion was investigated, and the buckling performance losses were recovered by reinforcing with Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). Experiments were planned for three groups: Control samples without corrosion, full CFRP models and variable CFRP application group. The experiments were performed with 12 models of 800 × 400 × 0.45-mm dimensions. The prepared solutions were applied to the sealed test models as full and ½-filled and then exposed to sulfuric acid solution for 24 h, after which the experiments were performed. The mass losses were determined from the weights of the cylindrical samples, which were discharged after 24 h. After the corrosion, CFRP was applied to the cylinder, at ½ height of the cylinder and at 10 cm from its midpoint. The prepared model samples were placed in the test apparatus and sealed. In the experiments, vacuum was made using the vacuum pump, and data were recorded using the load cell. Deformations were measured by strain gauges and LVDT and transferred to the computer using a data collection device (datalogger). After data collection, vacuum-displacement plots were made. We aimed to recover a material that has undergone acid corrosion. The main goal of this work is to use the theoretical model, which is evaluated for limited geometrical ratios and for the perfect models, for the prediction of buckling behavior of sulfuric acid corroded thin-walled steel shells. We observed that the samples exposed to corrosion recovered 20–60% of their lost strength by CFRP application.