Corrosion-induced mechanical properties of shear bolted connections in high-strength weathering steel

There have existed numerous experimental and analytical investigations about how bolted connections made of high-strength steel behave under corrosion conditions. However, the corrosion-induced mechanical properties are much less attentively scrutinized for bolted connections consisting of high-strength weathering steel. Accordingly, this paper presents an experimental investigation of load-bearing performance regarding shear bolted connections made of high-strength weathering steel subjected to corrosion. The corrosion tests were initially performed for nine specimens subjected to accelerated corrosion by copper salt spray, after which mechanical properties of these connections under different levels of corrosion were then investigated by static tensile tests to formulate the mathematical relation between mass loss rate and corrosion time, and to analyze the mathematical relationships between mass loss rate and mechanical index including slip coefficient, bolt preload, slip load or ultimate load. The results indicate that the corrosion that the specimens underwent primarily impacted the non-contact surfaces, and the relationship between the corrosion rate and the corrosion time conforms to the power function model for high-strength weathering steel. It is concluded that the corrosion environment has a significant impact on the slip load, slip coefficient and bolt preload of bolted connections.