To study the corrosion degradation of cable wires in a bridge’s life, this research work created an accelerated corrosion test device, which sought to identify an optimal constant strain level. An accelerated corrosion test was carried out and the corroded specimens were scanned using super depth 3D microscopy technology. Mass loss and minimum cross-sectional diameter was measured to understand the degradation characteristics of cable wires at variable strains and corrosion time. The variation of elastic modulus, yield load, and ultimate load of corroded wires, subjected to a tensile test, were analyzed. The experimental results illustrate that the average mass loss ratio of the corroded cable wires increases nonlinearly as corrosion time increases. The higher the stress level, the more serious the corrosion level. The minimum cross-sectional diameter has good correlation with corrosion time and stress level. The elastic modulus of wires does not change significantly with the increase of corrosion time. Yield load and ultimate load decreases with the increase of strain level, and the rates of decline under different strains are nonlinear.

This paper presents a reliability analysis to assess the safety of corroded main cables of a long‐span suspension bridge. A multiscale probability model was established for the resistance of the main cables considering the length effect and the Daniels effect. Corrosion effects were considered in the wire scale by relating the test results from accelerated corrosion tests to the corrosion stages and in the cable scale by adopting a corrosion stage distribution of the main cable section in NCHRP Report 534. The load effects of temperature, wind load, and traffic load were obtained by solving a finite element model with inputs from in‐service monitoring data. The so‐obtained reliability index of the main cables reduces significantly after operation for over 50 years and falls below the design target value due to corrosion effects on the mechanical properties of the steel wire. Multiple measures should be taken to delay the corrosion effects and ensure the safety of the main cables in the design service life.