Abstract
Abstract The work presented here investigates the structural response of cleaned corroded plates, subjected to compressive load in the presence of a locked crack, where the change of mechanical properties as a result of corrosion development and the cleaning process is also accounted for. A Finite Element model for assessing the compressive strength, considering geometric and material nonlinearities, is developed, and the analysed plates are compared with the available experimental data. An experimental design plan is generated using the Design of Experiments techniques, which quantifies the influence of the governing variables and their interactions with respect to the plate’s ultimate compressive strength. With a limited number of observations, the most significant effects are identified. The corrosion degradation is revealed to be the most crucial effect leading to an effective strength reduction. It was found that, in the case of a corroded plate with a locked crack subjected to a compressive load, the most severe case is when the crack is transversely oriented. The strength reduction is slightly lower than when the corrosion degradation and the presence of a crack are considered to be a simple summation of these two effects but acting separately. The outcome of the analysis is the development of several empirical formulations that allow a fast estimation of the ultimate strength of a corroded plate, subjected to compressive load in the presence of a locked crack, accounting for different cleaning.
Highlights
Structural elements of ships and offshore structures are degraded during their service life
On a large scale, such as a typical coupon specimen, the POLISH MARITIME RESEARCH, No 3/2021 reduction of the mechanical properties is mainly caused by the nonregularities in the corroded surfaces, which was shown in different studies for both thin [14], [15] and thick specimens [16]. These findings are in line with tensile tests of corroded and cleaned specimens [13], which show that, when specimens are subjected to different cleaning methods, the corroded surface becomes smoother and the mechanical properties are higher than corroded, non-cleaned specimens
It is concluded that such a model could predict the strength behaviour of different structural elements subjected to corrosion degradation, despite the mechanical properties obtained via testing of small-scale coupon specimens
Summary
Structural elements of ships and offshore structures are degraded during their service life. These findings are in line with tensile tests of corroded and cleaned specimens [13], which show that, when specimens are subjected to different cleaning methods, the corroded surface becomes smoother and the mechanical properties are higher than corroded, non-cleaned specimens Combining these two phenomena (i.e. subsequent thickness and mechanical properties reduction) in the Finite Element model, shows a very good agreement with the experimental results presented for stiffened plates [1]. It is concluded that such a model could predict the strength behaviour of different structural elements subjected to corrosion degradation, despite the mechanical properties obtained via testing of small-scale coupon specimens. Similar to the corrosion degradation, the influence of locked cracks on the capacity of structural components was investigated In this case, the experimental studies are somewhat limited. The FE modelling was found to be a useful tool for predicting such phenomena
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