Development of a modified Mooney-Rivlin constitutive model for rubber to investigate the effects of aging and marine corrosion on seismic isolated bearings

In this study, aging and marine corrosion tests of a large number of rubber material and rubber bearings have been carried out. The constitutive Mooney-Rivlin model parameters for a rubber isolated bearing have been determined. By applying the least-square method to the experimental data, the relationships between the aging time and the marine corrosion time with the constants in the constitutive model for a rubber beating have been derived. Next, the Mooney-Rivlin model has been modified accordingly. Further, using the modified Mooney-Rivlin model and the Abaqus software, the performance of the rubber isolated bearings has been simulated. The simulation results have been compared to the experimental results so as to verify the accuracy of the modified model. The comparison shows that the maximum errors for the vertical and horizontal stiffnesses are 16.8% and 0.49%, respectively. Since these errors are considered acceptable, the accuracy of the modified constitutive model can be considered verified. The results of this study can provide theoretical support for the performance study on rubber isolated bearings under the complex ocean environment and the life-cycle performance evaluation of bridges and other offshore structures.

Microbial communities present on mooring chain steels with different copper contents and corrosion rates

Copper has long been utilized as a disinfectant for bacteria,but its impact on microbial communities attached to the steel surface in seawater remains unknown.In the present study,3 mooring chain steels of different copper contents are subjected to a 3-month marine field exposure,and the corrosion rate increases in the order of BR5 steel(without copper)<BR5 CuH steel(0.8%copper)<BR5 CuL steel(0.4%copper).The microbial community results show that copper introduction does not result in an obvious change in microbial quantity,but it alters the diversity,richness,and structure of microbial communities due to the variation in copper-resistance of different species.BR5 CuH steel holds microbial communities with the highest percentage of some well-known corrosive microbes including sulfate-reducing bacteria,sulfuroxidizing bacteria,and iron-oxidizing bacteria,but possesses the lowest community diversity/richness owing to the toxicity of copper.The microbial community diversity/richness is stimulated by the low-copper content of BR5 CuL steel,and this steel also carries an intermediate proportion of such corrosive bacteria.Both well-known corrosive bacteria and microbial community diversity/richness seem to be involved in the corrosion acceleration of copper-bearing mooring chain steels.

Protection Performance of Plasma Sprayed Al_(2)O_(3)-13 wt%TiO_(2) Coating Sealed with an Organic-inorganic Hybrid Agent

An organic-inorganic hybrid sealing agent was fabricated and used in the plasma sprayed Al_(2)O_(3)-13 wt%TiO_(2)coating,and conventional silicone agent was also used for comparison.Protection performance of the coatings was comprehensively evaluated based on both anti-corrosion and anti-biofouling properties.The results reveal that the sealing treatment is remarkably useful to decrease the porosity of the coating,and the porosity of the coating sealed with the hybrid agent is only 0.035%.Immersion corrosion test and Tafel polarization test reveal that the sealed coating with the hybrid agent exhibits a better corrosion resistance by compared with the coating sealed with silicone agent.The corrosion current density i_(corr) of the hybrid agent sealed coating is only 0.7×10^(-6)A·cm^(-2).Moreover,anti-biofouling tests both in the outdoor analogue hydraulic environment and in the natural marine environment prove that the mentioned novel coating presents a better combination of corrosion resistance and anti-biofouling property by compared with the other coatings,and it could be used as a protection of metal components in the marine environment.

Review of Ultimate Strength Assessment of Ageing and Damaged Ship Structures

The objective of this work is to provide an overview of the ultimate strength assessment of ageing and damaged ship structures in the last decades.Particular attention is paid to the ultimate strength of plates,stiffened panels,box girders,and entire ship hull structures subjected to corrosion degradation,fatigue cracking,and mechanical damage caused by accidental loading or impact.A discussion on the effect of the cyclic load on the plate rigidity,re-yielding,and ultimate load capacity on the ship hull girder is also part of the present study.Finally,some conclusions and discussions about potential future work are provided,identifying that more studies about the impact of corrosion degradation on the structural behaviour of the stiffened panels and the overall hull girders are needed.Studies related to the dynamic collapse behaviour of corroded and damaged ship structures under time-variant load also requires additional attention.