Hysteretic behavior and cyclic constitutive model of corroded low-alloy steel in a corrosive environment

To quantitatively analyze the mechanical properties of corroded low-alloy steel under monotonic and cyclic loading, a cyclic constitutive model was established. Accelerated corrosion, monotonic tensile testing, and cyclic loading testing of 28 groups of Q345B steel specimens were conducted to examine how corrosion affected the monotonic tensile and hysteresis characteristics of the specimens, and the combined hardening parameters based on the Chaboche model were calibrated and confirmed based on the test findings. The results showed that corrosion clearly affected the monotonic stress-strain curve of steel and that most mechanical indices deteriorated linearly with respect to the corrosion rate. The combination of corrosion and cyclic cumulative damage exacerbated the degradation of the deformation capacity of the steel and affected its energy consumption capacity and cyclic hardening. The constitutive model of corroded steel calibrated on the basis of cyclic loading test data could effectively simulate the hysteresis performance of corroded Q345B steel under cyclic loading.