Evaluation of corrosion management strategies for steel truss bridges based on ultimate load capacity and lifetime direct cost

Abstract

This study focuses on the time-dependent advanced structural analysis of coated steel truss bridges exposed to atmospheric corrosion, considering different corrosion management strategies to determine the optimum choice. Three different types of steel truss bridges having the same span but different geometries were selected from the literature, and different types of coatings and their contributions to corrosion protection were examined first. Next, preventive maintenance alternatives were evaluated considering ultimate load capacity and lifetime direct costs. Full repainting was applied to the bridge for different repetitive time intervals, and time-dependent advanced analyses were performed. On the other hand, a new approach of selection-based member repainting was proposed, and critical members that required repainting were selected based on time-dependent advanced analyses in each maintenance period. Likewise, selection-based member replacements using conventional carbon steel or corrosion-resistant A709-50CR steel were performed as an alternative maintenance strategy. Finally, the ultimate load capacity and lifetime direct cost for all maintenance strategies were evaluated using multi-criteria decision-making methods, and the optimum solution for each type of steel truss bridge was determined.

Keywords:

• Atmospheric corrosion
• coating
• deterioration
• lifetime direct cost
• maintenance
• repainting
• steel truss bridge
• time-dependent advanced analysis

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.