A Machine Learning-Based Model for Predicting Atmospheric Corrosion Rate of Carbon Steel

The purpose of this study is to develop a practical artificial neural network (ANN) model for predicting the atmospheric corrosion rate of carbon steel. A set of 240 data samples, which are collected from the experimental results of atmospheric corrosion in tropical climate conditions, are utilized to develop the ANN model. Accordingly, seven meteorological and chemical factors of corrosion, namely, the average temperature, the average relative humidity, the total rainfall, the time of wetness, the hours of sunshine, the average chloride ion concentration, and the average sulfur dioxide deposition rate, are used as input variables for the ANN model. Meanwhile, the atmospheric corrosion rate of carbon steel is considered as the output variable. An optimal ANN model with a high coefficient of determination of 0.999 and a small root mean square error of 0.281 mg/m2.month is retained to predict the corrosion rate. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis shows that the rainfall and hours of sunshine are the most influential parameters on predicting the atmospheric corrosion rate, whereas the average chloride ion concentration, the average temperature, and the time of wetness are less sensitive to the atmospheric corrosion rate. An ANN-based formula, which accommodates all input parameters, is thereafter proposed to estimate the atmospheric corrosion rate of carbon steel. Finally, a graphical user interface is developed for calculating the atmospheric corrosion rate of carbon steel in tropical climate conditions.