Prediction of Galvanic Corrosion in Aluminium-Stainless Steel Bolted Connection in Offshore Environment: Advanced Modelling and Simulation

The current research work investigates by numerical simulations the
degradation of aluminium-stainless steel bolted assemblies. Two
assemblies settings were used in this study: aluminium-aluminium (AlAl) and aluminium-stainless steel (Al-SS) lap shear joints with stainless
steel bolts, nuts and washers in both assemblies. Cyclic salt spray
corrosion tests were performed for validation of the numerical models.
The numerical results showed that the total weight loss in Al-SS
assembly is approximately 6 times higher compared to that of Al-Al
assembly due to the galvanic corrosion between aluminum and stainless
steel plates.
KEY WORDS: aluminium; AA6082; 316L; stainless steel; galvanic
corrosion; FEM;