Prediction of Cable Deterioration Based on the Characteristics of Delamination Corrosion on Hot-Dip Galvanized Steel Wire

Abstract

The cables of cable-supported bridges are susceptible to corrosion damage after decades of service. The early cable systems were predominantly composed of hot-dip galvanized (HDG) steel wires. The coating thickness of steel wires cannot be precisely controlled or accurately measured due to the imperfections of the hot-dip galvanizing process. There is a lack of experimental data specifically for HDG steel wire despite a wealth of atmospheric corrosion data for zinc and steel. A method for rapidly predicting the level of deterioration of cables after obtaining the characteristics of delamination corrosion on steel wire with different coating thickness based on empirical corrosion parameters (A,n) of zinc and iron in different environments is proposed in this study. The corrosion kinetics models for HDG steel wires (Φ5) in both environments is also derived in this study, using marine and nonmarine environments as examples. The reliability of models was verified by comparing them with atmospheric corrosion experimental data of zinc and steel. The corrosion processes of the wires were simulated using cellular automata, and corrosion control parameters were obtained by integrating these simulations with the corrosion kinetics models. These parameters were then used to simulate cable corrosion and predict cable deterioration progression.