The Effects of Corrosion and Fire Damage on the Steel-Bolted T-Section Connections Used in the Steel Construction

Abstract

The most common type of connection in steel structures is the T-section connection. Steel structures can be damaged due to environmental effects such as earthquakes, fires, corrosion, etc., in real applications used in industry. Therefore, in this study, the corrosion and fire condition effects that occur in the T-section connection on the behavior of the connection zone were investigated. The study was carried out with 18 T-section connections with various corrosion (hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid) in different layers at 5, 10, 15, and 20% corrosion levels, and fire (ISO834) conditions after corrosion have been evaluated and compared. T-section-bolted joints examined in the study were produced using IPE300 standard profiles. In the first part of the study, the behavior of the 18 T-section connections under an axial tensile load has been determined experimentally. The second part created a finite element model with the ABAQUS program for all models. It was seen that the finite element model analysis results converged with the results obtained as a result of the experimental study. As a result, compared to H2SO4 corrosion, HCl corrosion has little effect on the load–deformation characteristics of the connections. Also, if corrosion specimens are exposed to fire, then the connections will change from semirigid to hinged.