Axial compressive behavior of round-ended steel tubes with localized corrosion simulated by artificial notches: Experiment, numerical modeling, and prediction

To investigate the axial compressive behavior of round-ended steel tubes with localized corrosion, a total of 14 specimens with or without artificial notches were fabricated and tested. The effects of key parameters, including the corrosion types, lengths, orientations, longitudinal positions, and circumferential positions varied among the specimens, were investigated. The experimental results showed that corrosion orientations and positions have the most remarkable impact on the ultimate strength and failure pattern of round-ended elliptical hollow section (RES) steel tubes. Additionally, finite element models (FEMs) were developed and validated by comparison with the experimental results. Further parametric analyses using the FEMs were conducted to investigate the influence of different parameters on the ultimate strength of RES steel tubes with localized corrosion. Based on the test results and finite element analysis, the degree of corroded volume loss ( DOV ) employed as the only evaluation index has clear limitations. Therefore, formulae for calculating the corrosion damage reduction coefficient were proposed to estimate the axial compression strength of round-ended steel tubes with localized corrosion.