Experimental Study of Stress Corrosion of High-strength Wires Affected by Four Typical Ions

Characterized by light weight and high strength, cold-drawn galvanized cable wires are widely applied in all kinds of prestressed structures and cable structures. Investigation shows that cables are sensitive to corrosion. Severe corrosion of cables results in cable replacement which are costly, and even more, collapse of the whole bridge. In this paper, several tests were carried out to present the crack growth of wire in stress corrosion in different solutions. In particular, as Cl-, OH-, SO42- and NH4+ have major effect on stress corrosion in seawater and acid rain, these four kinds of ions are selected in tests. And all four kinds of corrosive solutions are tested with the concentration of 1.5 bsp and 3 bsp respectively. Effects on ultimate tensile strength and sensitivity of cable wires are different for each of chosen ions, and the increasing concentration for the same solution would drop ultimate tensile strength and the modulus of cable wires.