ABSTRACT
Corrosion fatigue (CF), resulting from the combined effects of cyclic loading and a corrosive environment, is a critical factor that diminishes the service life of high-strength steel wires used in bridge cables. The interaction between corrosion and fatigue loading is highly coupled, significantly accelerating the degradation process of these steel wires. Effectively addressing this interaction is essential for accurately predicting the remaining service life of bridge cables. This study utilizes Peridynamic (PD) theory to simulate the CF process of steel wires, including pitting formation and growth, crack initiation, and crack propagation. First, a framework for CF simulation based on PD theory is presented. A PD CF numerical model for steel wires is then established to simultaneously simulate the effects of corrosion and fatigue loading. Subsequently, the complete corrosion fatigue process of steel wires is simulated, with an investigation into the effects of stress amplitude and loading frequency. The results demonstrate that the degradation process is significantly influenced by the interaction between corrosion and fatigue loading. Pitting formation and growth constitute the majority of the life cycle during the CF process, and the crack propagation phase occupies only a brief duration within the CF process. In the early stages, corrosion damage is predominant; however, after a certain period, fatigue damage becomes dominant, leading to rapid failure. The transition point between corrosion dominance and fatigue dominance is affected by both loading frequency and load amplitude.
