Quantitative Evaluation of Corrosion Defects on Structural Steel Plates via Metal Magnetic Memory Method

The detection and evaluation of corrosion defects take on a critical significance to ensure the service safety of steel structures in civil engineering. The quantitative evaluation of corrosion defects has not been well addressed though metal magnetic memory (MMM) testing technology has been investigated in steel corrosion problems. In this study, the Q345qD steel plates were taken as the specimens of MMM testing. Specimens with different corrosion degrees were developed through electrochemical corrosion, and the change laws of the MMM signals and the characteristics of different corrosion specimens were analyzed. A three-dimensional (3D) magnetic charge model of the corrosion area was built based on the magnetic charge theory, such that the change laws of the MMM signal in the corrosion area from the mechanism were explained. The finite element simulation results of the corrosion specimens were well consistent with the experimental and theoretical results. A quantitative evaluation method for corrosion defect depth was proposed in combination with finite element simulation and experimental data. Comparing the experimental data and the inversion data, the relative errors of the determined defect depth h were within 20%, suggesting that the proposed evaluation method is feasible for the quantitative evaluation of steel corrosion depth.