Analysis of the mechanical properties of mining anchor cables in corrosive environments

To investigate the failure modes and performance evolution of anchor cables under corrosion, anchor cable specimens with varying degrees of corrosion were prepared using electrochemical corrosion testing, and comparative tensile tests were conducted. Combined with numerical simulations, the study analysed the mechanism by which surface corrosion rates affect the mechanical properties of anchor cables. Using ellipsoidal pitting as an example, the study investigated the influence of pit geometric dimensions (depth, length, and width) and the pit angle on the stress characteristics of the pits. Experimental and simulation results indicate that corrosion-exposed anchor cables exhibit localised stress concentration due to the presence of surface pitting. An increase in corrosion rate leads to a gradual decrease in the anchor cable’s maximum nominal stress and yield stress. As the length of the pitting increases or its width decreases, the stress concentration phenomenon at the pitting site gradually weakens. By comparing the effects under the same dimensional increase, it is found that pitting depth has the greatest impact on the mechanical properties of the anchor cable. As the pitting depth increases, the degree of stress concentration gradually increases, and the bottom of the pitting becomes a high-risk area. Simulation tests for different pit inclination angles show that as the pit inclination angles increases from 0° to 180°, the stress concentration at the pit exhibits a nonlinear trend, first increasing and then decreasing, reaching a peak at 90°.