Effect of corrosion models on the time-dependent reliability of steel plated elements

Time-dependent reliability considering corrosion and fatigue has received increasing attention recently. Many corrosion models have been proposed. In this paper, a new corrosion model which could better describe the corrosion process of actual steel structures under corrosive environment is proposed. This model is also compared with other existing corrosion models. The effect of corrosion models on the time-dependent reliability is studied using a steel plated element which has found wide applications in engineering structures. The advantages and the flexibility of the present corrosion model are demonstrated. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.