RESIDUAL WEB BEARING CAPACITY OF CORRODED STEEL BEAMS

Corrosion is one of the most pervasive types of structural problem experienced by steel girder structures especially in corrosive environments. Each of the damage modes, if not properly monitored and rectified, can potentially lead to catastrophic failure or unanticipated out-of-service time. The purpose of this paper is to propose a simple methodology to assess the residual strength capacity of steel girders under the degradations of corrosion. Two credible models have been developed for corrosion damaged steel I-beams based on the actual thickness loss data which come from the already literatures. Finally, to show the application of the proposed methodology, the residual web bearing capacity of corroded steel beams was estimated. It was found that it is possible to establish the applicable diagrams and flowchart which demonstrate the residual web bearing capacity assessment of steel I-beams as those ages.