Experimental study of wires extracted from steel wire rope and exposed to sulfuric acid

ABSTRACT Steel wire ropes, used for different applications in many industrial domains, are affected by environment aggressions (industrial, marine...). These actions appear through corrosion, whose direct consequences are the strong modifications of the geometrical and mechanical characteristics of the components. The purpose of this work is to perform an accelerated test, to evaluate the effect of corrosion on the mechanical properties and analyze the wires damage. The results obtained from tensile tests on virgin and corroded specimens demonstrate a decrease in strength as function of immersion hours. This progressive decrease of strength allowed us to quantify the damage. Thereafter, and with the establishment of the Damage-Reliability relationship, three stages of damage are distinguished and the value of the critical life fraction is identified (βC = 0.66). This value indicates the time at which the damage becomes sudden and the wire in this stage could be considered as useless.