Abstract
Hydrogen degradation represents a problem of major technological concern in the structural integrity of prestressed concrete structures in which cold-drawn wires are the main structural component and can suffer the deleterious effect of hydrogen, with the subsequent risk of catastrophic failure. This paper presents an innovative numerical analysis of hydrogen degradation of cold-drawn prestressing steel wires, focused on the two relevant variables influencing the phenomenon of hydrogen transport by diffusion in the metal: residual stresses generated by manufacture and plastic strains after cold work. To achieve this goal, two real (industrial) drawing processes are analyzed with two main differences, namely, the reduction of cross-sectional area performed at the first drawing stage and the number of drawing steps used in the whole process. Generated results prove the importance of an adequate design of the cold-drawing process with regard to the residual stress-and-strain field and its relevant role in hydrogen diffusion in the wires, as well as its possible consequences for hydrogen degradation and, thus, for catastrophic failure.
