First results of a methodology to obtain a 1D variable geometry model for the structural analysis of corroded steel beams from the point cloud

Abstract

Corrosion is the most common pathology suffered by steel structures and is the main problem for their maintenance and durability. In steel elements, corrosion causes a loss of material and, as a consequence, a decrease in the stiffness and strength of the structure. Determining the resistant geometry of a corroded steel profile by manual techniques is very difficult because, after cleaning the corrosion, the surface is usually irregular. For the measurement and extraction of these types of irregular shapes or surfaces, the point cloud is currently one of the most effective methods. This work aims to apply a methodology that allows the efficient modeling of corroded steel profiles by means of beam elements for their subsequent numerical analysis within a FEM simulation framework. The proposed methodology has been revealed to be more efficient than current techniques based on the 3D solid modeling since it allows a significant reduction in both the model size and the computing time. The methodology has been applied and validated in two different laboratory case studies