EXPERIMENTAL DETERMINATION OF THE CHANGE OF GEOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS AND THE THEORETICAL ULTIMATE LOADCAPACITY OF CORRODED STEEL SAMPLES

It is known that one of the major negative impacts of the corrosion of steel structures is the reduction in geometry. The calculations of the load-bearing capacity of the steel elements depend on the geometric characteristics. The theory confirms that if the geometric characteristics decrease, the load-bearing capacity of the steel elements will also decrease. We conducted an experiment using the S355JR construction steel to determine how the geometry changes. We used electro-chemical accelerated corrosion on which our steel test samples were subjected. We interrupted the electrochemical corrosion process at some point in order to make the necessary measurements regarding the change in geometric characteristics of the test samples. Once we received the experimental data, we processed them using the stochastic method. We also performed theoretical calculations using classical theory and determined the theoretical load-ability (force, bending moment) of our test samples. We have come to the conclusion that the change in geometric characteristics is nonlinear and results in a slight decrease in the corrosion of the steel elements, but significantly reduces the theoretical ultimate load-capacity due to corrosion and the corresponding decrease in geometric characteristics.