Comparison on corrosion behaviour and mechanical properties of structural steel exposed between urban industrial atmosphere and laboratory simulated environment

Exposure tests in an urban industrial atmosphere and wet/dry cyclic accelerated corrosion tests for Q235B structural steel were performed. The corrosion kinetics under both conditions follow the empirical equation, W = At ⁿ . Inter-crystalline corrosion is the basic cause of mechanical property degradation in both environments. Steel mechanical property degradation is not strongly sensitive to differences in rust layer topographies and corrosion processes; as long as the microscopic mechanisms of corrosion are identical and the topographies of etch pits are similar, the accelerated corrosion test can simulate atmospheric corrosion and accurately predict the degradation pattern of steel mechanical properties in an atmospheric environment.