A Fully Coupled Tribocorrosion Simulation Method for Anchor Chain Considering Mechano-Electrochemical Interaction

Abstract

This study aims at proposing a fully coupled numerical simulation method of tribocorrosion development on anchor chains during service life, where the mechano-electrochemical interaction is considered in a simplified way. The damage evolution can be realized by a user-defined UMESHMOTION FORTRAN subroutine, where both stress-accelerated corrosion and corrosion-accelerated wear can be considered. Based on this numerical method, the time-variant damage morphology of mooring chain can be obtained. Simulation results obtained by different damage evolution models are shown and compared, and some discussions on the simplified simulation method of reciprocating tribocorrosion are also presented. A systematic parametric study is carried out, and the key factors affecting the tribocorrosion of chain link are revealed. Finally, a modified design method is proposed, and it can be used for optimization of the design of marine anchor chains.

Keywords

• tribocorrosion
• mechano-electrochemical interaction
• umeshmotion
• ALE
• mooring chain