Reports on corrosion failure of cable bolts, used in mining and civil industries, have been increasing in the past two decades. The previous studies found that pitting corrosion on the surface of a cable bolt can initiate premature failure of the bolt. In this study, the role of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (A. ferrooxidans) bacterium in the occurrence of pitting corrosion in cable bolts was studied. Stressed coupons, made from the wires of cable bolts, were immersed in testing bottles containing groundwater collected from an underground coal mine and a mixture of A. ferrooxidans and geomaterials. It was observed that A. ferrooxidans caused pitting corrosion on the surface of cable bolts in the near-neutral environment. The presence of geomaterials slightly affected the pH of the environment; however, it did not have any significant influence on the corrosion activity of A. ferrooxidans. This study suggests that the common bacterium A. ferrooxidans found in many underground environments can be a threat to cable bolts’ integrity by creating initiation points for other catastrophic failures such as stress corrosion cracking.

在过去的二十年中，有关采矿和民用工业中的电缆螺栓腐蚀破坏的报告不断增加。先前的研究发现，电缆螺栓表面的点蚀会导致螺栓过早损坏。在这项研究中，研究了酸性氧化硫杆菌铁氧体（A. ferrooxidans）细菌在电缆螺栓中发生点蚀的作用。将由电缆螺栓的电线制成的受压试件浸入测试瓶中，该测试瓶中包含从地下煤矿收集的地下水以及氧化铁农杆菌和土工材料的混合物。观察到A. ferrooxidans在接近中性的环境中会引起电缆螺栓表面的点蚀。土工材料的存在对环境的pH值有轻微的影响；但是，它对A.ferrooxidans的腐蚀活性没有显着影响。这项研究表明，在许多地下环境中发现的常见铁氧化农杆菌会通过为其他灾难性故障（例如应力腐蚀开裂）建立起点来威胁电缆螺栓的完整性。