Coupled effect of corrosion and fatigue on the service life of steel cables

•The current gradually decreases during the corrosion process and stress has a significant promoting effect on corrosion, as proven by tests.•The growth law of pitting corrosion was derived by quantitatively considering the effects of current and stress on corrosion.•A method for simulating the failure of steel cables was proposed, and test results indicate that it has high accuracy.•Increasing the number of steel wires does not significantly increase the fatigue life of the steel cable. Steel cables, as the main load-bearing components of cable-supported bridges, are prone to corrosion, mechanical influences, and their coupling effects, leading to fatigue failure. This paper proposes a comprehensive fatigue failure simulation method for steel cables, quantitatively studying the service life of steel cables under the combined effects of corrosion and fatigue. Based on the principles of electrochemical corrosion, the pit growth law during the corrosion stage is derived considering the influence of current and stress during the corrosion process. Subsequently, an improved Paris formula is employed to describe the crack growth rate during the crack growth stage, and relevant parameters are calculated based on experimental data to establish a steel wire failure model. Building upon this, a simulation method for the failure process of steel cables is proposed, emphasizing the discrete properties of the material and obtaining the fatigue life of the steel wires. Through fatigue life test data, the accuracy of the method is validated.