Corrosion of Galvanized Steel in Soil
Corrosion of Galvanized Steel in Soil
Corrosion of Galvanized Steel in Soil
299
TABLE l. Properties of the soils at the lesl sites
- - ------ ------- - -- - - - - - - - - -- --- - - - - - - - - - - -
Test sitcs Total Composition of water extract (milligram equivalen t per 100 g of soil)
acidity a
~1oi s tllre Apparcnt Hcsistiv- (milli-
Aeration CQ Ui V3- speci fi c ityat pIT gram
Roil lent gravity 60 0 F cquiva- Na+ K
Environment and soil type num- Location (15.6 0 C) lent per as Na Ca Mg CO, fICO , CI SO.
ber 100!( of
soil)
Percent Ohm-cm
Cecil clay loam ______________ 53 Atlanta , Ga _._~ ___ ~ _____ Goou ________ 33.7 1. 60 17, 800 4.8 5.1 --- --- -- ---- -- -- -- ------ ------ - - - --- -- -- --
Hagerstown loam __________ 55 Loch Raven, Md _______ _____ c10 _____ __ 32.0 J. 49 5,210 5.8 10.9 -- - - - ~ ------ ._---- ._---- ------ ------ ------
Susquehanna clay ___________ 62 ~1eridial1, l\1iss _________ FaiL ________ 34.6 1. 79 6,920 4.5 12.0 ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ---- - - - - - - --
Ohino "ilt Joa m- - - ---------i 65 i Wilmington , o alif-------i GOOd --------i 26.4 1. 41 148 8.0 A 7.65 12.40 2.20 0.00 1. 30 6.05 16.90
Mobavc fine gravelly loarn _ G6 P hoenix, Ariz . __________ Fair _________ 16.5 1. 79 232 8. 0 A 6.55 0.51 0.18 .00 0.73 2.77 2.97
i 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
I
Co) INORGAN IC RED Ucn"W-ACID SOILS
I
o
o
Acadia elay ________________ 1 51 i Spinc1 letop, TeL --------i poor -------- i 47.1 2.07 190 6.2 13.2 10.27 15.55 .1.03 0.00 0.56 5. i5 22.00
Sharkey clay ______________ __ Gl Ne\'v' Orleans, L n ____ ____ _____ do ______ _ 30.8
I l. 78
1
943
1
6.8
1
4.9
1
0.73
1
0.6S
1
0.33
1
.00
1
.71
i
0.10
1
0. 91
Docas el:W __________________ 1 64 1 Oholame, calif __________ 1 Fair _________ 1 41. 1 1. 88 62 7.5 A 28.10 2.29 0.76 0.00 0.89 28.80 0.26
La ke Charles clav ____ ____ ___ 56 EI Vista, TeL __ __ ______ Very pOOf. __ 2S. 7 203 406 7. 1 ,1 .1 3. 12 0.69 . 47 .00 . SO I. 59 3.04
IVlcrccd silt l oam~____________ 70 Buttonwillow,OaliL . ___ :Fair. ________ 24 . 7 l. 69 278 9.4 A 8.38 .38 .22 . 02 1. 87 l.12 5.57
I I I 1 1 I I I I I I
OROANIC RED UCING -ACID SOILS
Carlisle muck _______________ 59 Ka1:lma7.oo, Mich . ______ Very poor ___ 43.6 1,660 5.6 12.6 1. 03 3.08 2.70 0.00 0.00 :3.47 1. 04
Muck _______________________ 58 N ew Orleans, La ______ __ Poor ________ 57.8 1. 43 712 4.8 15.0 2.03 2.23 1.29 .00 . 00 0. 47 2.54
Rifte ncaL __________________ 60 Plymouth,Ohio ________ _____ c10 _______ 43.4 1.28 218 2.6 297.4 2. 91 10.95 2.86 . 00 . 00 . 00 56. 70
Tidal marsh ______ -------- 63 Charleston , S. C . _______ Very poor __ _ 46.7 1. 47 84 6.9 14.6 33. 60 6.85 4.00 .00 . 00 12.70 36.60
CINDERS
Cinders ____________ ____ ___ _I 67 Milwa ukee, W is ________ 1 Vcry 1'oor ___ 1 455 i.6 A 0. 7i 3.03 0. 53 . 00 .55 0.08 2.89
1 ------ --- - --
1 I I I 1 1 I I I I I
a A, alkaline reaction .
moved. The cathod e was a strip of zinc 1.5 in . 6. Condition of Coating, Weight Loss, and
(38 mm) in wid th form ed so as to fit tiO"h tly around
th e inner peripher y of t he bottle. Contact with the Pitting of Galvanized Steel, Bare Steel,
~oa~ing was mac/r 'by means of a hole 0.19 in. (5 mm ) and Zinc
III di ameter in a No . 8 rubber stopper . A larger hole
b~red partly through one end of th e stopper per-
mItted the stoppcr to be placed over th e mouth of After each exposure p eriod , one set of sp eci mens
th e bottle. Th e electrol yte was a solution contain- was removed , returned to th e labora tory and cleaned
ing 20 g of NaC I, 10 g of ZnS04, and 100 g of H 2 0 . free of corrosion products by previou; ly desc rib ed
met!-lOds [2]. Pho tographs of the specimens of gal-
In operation. the bo ttle was inverted and the test valllzed steel, bare steel, and zinc r emoved from th e
pi.ece pl a?e~l in con tact with th e hole in th e stopper different sites after exposure for 13 yr are shown in
WIth sufheLCnt press ure to preven t leakage of th e figure 4.
electrolyte. By means of a 6-v storage battery
sh unted by a variab le vol tage divid er , an initial . The losses in ~v eigh t and the depths of th e deepest
current of 25 ma was passed through the cell with PI ts on th e speCimens, together with th e p ercentage
t he test piece as the anode, the current being read of t~lC area ~f the galvanized specimens on which
on a recording milliammeter. As the outer zinc coatmg remamed, are recorded in tab le 3 for the
coating was r emoved by electrolysis and differ ent different p eriods of exposure. Excep t as ind icated
phases of zinc-iron alloy and fimilly steel were ex- each value is the average of meas urements made o~
posed, the changes in po tential associated with each two sp ecimens .
phase produced corresponding changes in th e re- The data of table 3 reveal tha t in nearly on e-half
corded current. of th e total numb~r of soila (53, 55, 61 ,62, 64 , 65,66,
The interpretation of the current-time curves in and 70) the coatmg remained virtually intact and
terms of coating thiclmess is illustrated by figm e 3. consequently provided complete pro tection to th e
The minimum th ickness of the zinc layer is measu red underlying steel for the maximum period of expos ure.
by the horizontal part of the curve a't point A. On However, in the highly reducing soils (5 1 56 58 and
~xposure of an alloy layer locally, th e counter emf
60) a!ld in cinders (67 ) .little, if any, of'th ~ co~ting
mCl:eases, ~nd. the current proportionally decreases remamed at the concluslOn of th e test.
until th e zin c l S completely removed and a uniform In certain so ils, such as 58 and 60 fail ure of th e
laY?f of th e first phase of the alloy layer is exposed coating during the first few years ;r exposure r e-
(pomt B) . The current then remains unchanO"ed s ul t~d in a rate of corrosion of the galvanized
until a second phase of the alloy layer is exposed ~nd speCllnens comparable to that of bare steel. Bu t in
so on throu gh the various phases until the und er- other soils, contrary to expectations, destruction of
lyi.nO" steel is completely exposed . The minimum th e coatlllg was not accompanied by rapid co rrosion
thle~ness of the alloy layer , including th e inter- of the underlying steel. For example th e O"alva-
m ediate phases, is represented by th e distance RG. nized sp ecimens in soils 51 and 56 corrocied r elatively
and the maximum thickness by the distance A D: slowly durmg the greater part of the exposure p eriod
The reported thicknesses were 'computed from the in spite of the fact that th e coating was almost
3:reas und e ~' the curve. For the present investiga- completely removed by co rrosion during th e first
tIOn the th ickness of the zinc coating was taken as f~w years o.f exposure. Even in the highly corrosive
th~ maximum thickness, that is, to point ii, and th e cmders, SOlI 67, the galva nized specimens corroded
tlnckn ess of th e alloy layer was taken as being much more slowly th an the specim ens of bare steel.
r epresented by the di tance RD. The progress of corrosion of galvanized steel, ba re
The maximum thickness of the outer zinc coating steel, and zmc in the differ en t soils is shown bv th e
and . of th e alloy layer at several points on two weight loss and pit depth- time cu rves of fig lire 5.
specimens arc recorded in table 2. These data indi- The values for weight loss a nd pi tting of the gal-
c~te that a large par t of th e zinc applied to the steel yanized specimens on wbich the coating remained
pipe was co nver ted to alloy layer. illtact naturally apply to th e coating and not to the
basis m etal.
The weight loss and pi t-depth- time curves for
the galvanized specimens in soils 64, 65 , 66, and 70
TABLE 2. . Th ickness of the outer zinc roating, of the alloy layel', are of particular interest in indicating that zinc
and of the total coatwg on galvani zed specimens
coatings were effective in protecting steel aO"ainst
[In mils]
corrosion in soils that are highly corrosive to °steel
For ex.ampl.e, in spite of the fact that th e sLec! speci~
Specimen Zinc
layer
A lloy
Ia.yer
Total
cOilting
mens ill SOlI 66 wer e perforated by corrosion after-
exposure for a few years, th e coating on the galva-
A _________ __ ___
A ______________ 1.8 2.3 4.1 nized sp ecimens in this soil remained p erfec tly con-
A ______________ 0.9
2.0
3.4
2.3
4.3
4.3
tinuous throughout the en tire p eriod of the test.
A _________ . ____
2.0 3.0 5.0 In soil 70, th e specimens of both zinc and steel
B ______________
D __ ______ ______ 2.7 3.2 5.9 were severely corroded , bu t the coating on the
2.8 3.2 0. 0 galvanized specimens provided compl ete pro tection
to the und erlying steel. .
301
TABLE 3. Loss in weight and maximum penetration of galvanized a and bare steel pipe and zinc plate
[Average of two specimen s]
Soil
Condition of surface
Soil type Exposure
No . Loss in Maximum Loss in M axim um Loss in Maximum
weight penetration weight penetration weight penetration
Coated w ith I Coated with I Coated with I Bare stec~
ali~~ ;:;~~r zi or a lloy layer exposed
Years Percent Percent Percent Percent ozlft' Mils ozlft ' Mils ozl ft' ]vfils
2.1 85 to 100 60 to 100 o to 40 I 0 0.3 9 1.8 42 0.2 10
4.0 100 20 to 40 60 to 80 0 1.4 6 2.9 98 .6 10
53 Cecil clay loam .......... _____ ._. ___ ._._ ......•....... { 8.9 100 20 to 40 60 to 80 0 0.6 <6 3.4 74 1.1 13
11. 2 100 30 70 3.4 78 1.6 16
12. 7 100 20 80 I 0
0
1.0
0. 6
<6
<6 3.9 68 2.2 17
1.9 100 60 to 100 o to 40 0 .3 <6 1.8 33 0.4 13
3.9 100 20 to 40 60 to 80 0 1.2 8 2.6 50 .6 8
55 H agerstown loam .... . .••.•.........•......••....... { 9.0 95 20 to 40 55 to 75 <5 0.7 6 4.1 92 .7 8
11. 0 100 70 30 0 1.0 <6 3.9 84 1.3 10
12. 6 100 70 30 0 0. 6 <6 3.4 73 1.2 9
CN
<:)
~
62 Su sq uehanna clay .................................... j 2.1
4.0
8.9
11. 2
12. 7
100
100
JOO
100
100
50 to 100
20 to 40
o to 20
80
75
o to 50
60 to 80
80 to 100
20
25
0
0
0
0
0
1.0
2.3
0.9
I.l
0.8
12
9
<6
<6
<6
3. 2
4.3
5.3
6.0
6.8
40
56
68
72
79
0.6
1.2
1.3
1.3
1.7
9
9
12
11
9
I
r~OR(JA~lC OXIDIZINO-ALKALIKE SOILS
I
2.1 100 o to 20 80 to 100 0 3.2 8 8.7 80 0.7 16
....... .... ..... ......... 11
4.0
64 D.= "" 9.0
11. 2
I 100
95
95
20 to 50
75 to 95
0
50 to 100
5 to 20
95
0
<5
5
1.6
1.5
2.4
9
10
<6
6.0
4.7
12.4
67
80
.6
1. 4
18
79
Jl8 1.6 35
12.8 95 0 95 <5 1.6 <6 b 17.2 J22 2.0 b 21
2. I 100 130 to 100
I
o to 40 0 2. 1 8 4.9 50 1.7 56
4.0 100 o to 20
70 Merced s ilt loam __ : __________________________________ { 9.0
11. 2
100
85
20 to 40
0
80 to 100
130 to 80
85
0
0
15
4. 5
0. 1
2.6
12
6
8
'9. 7
13.4
24.5
118+
122
' I. 6
3. 6
102+
84 I
145+ f) 150+
12.8
I 90 0 90 10 1. 3 8 21. 3 145+ D 150+
CI NDERS
304
certain limiting value b eyond which it was constant. TABLE 5. Condilinn or maximum pen etration of galvanized
On the basis of this relation and other considerations, pipe and i6-ga.ge steel sheel- Contill 11 c d
t he conclusion wa drawn that galvanized coatings
for underground use should have a weight of no t Coating weight (oz/rt 2) 011 -
Z, Zinc contin uolls over s pecimen; A, zinc-iron aHoy ln,vcr exposed over at least
a part or the specime n; n, rusted; M, shallow metal attack.
29
.>8
33
Coatin g weight (oz/H') on- 43
63
isoil number Sheet a Pipe 59
60
I
0.81
I 0.99
I 1.07 1.81
306
FrcURB ] . Envil'onmental conditions at typical test sites.
A, site 56, Lake Charles clay at El Vista, 'Texas; n, site 70, lvfcrccd silL loam _ ~t Bu/,tonwillo.w ,
Calif.; C, site 63, Uda l mars h at Charleston , S. C.; D, site 55, llagcrstow n loam at Loch R an-!1 , Nt d .
26
24
22
160
I
120
E
0
.-:
20
OF ZINC LAYER 1'
MAXIMUM THICKNE SS
i5
>-
u
cr 18
z
w
:> 80
il
0
LAYER----.. .:c~
w
cr 16
Ie
L Z IN C-I RON ALLOY ..........
40
12 Lo-~--~'O--~'5-~2~O-~2~5-~30~-~35~~4tO~~4~5-~5~0~~5~5--i6.o
THICKNESS OF COATING, MI LS TI ME, MINU TES
F 1GU RE 2. Distl'ibu tion 0/ coating on test specimens. F I.nuRll 3. Thickness 0/ the oute?' zi nc coating and 0/ the alloy
o Specimen A; length, 14 in.; numbcr or observations, 389. • Specimen B ;
le ngt h, 6 in.; number of observations, 162.
{a yeI'.
307
BARE STEEL
GALVANIZED STEEL
ZINC
SOIL 53 55 56 58 59 . 60 61
t.
FIGURE 4. Condition oj specimens of bare steel, galvanized steel, and zinc after exposureJor 13 yr to 14 soils.
308
BARE STEEL
GALVANIZED STEEL
ZINC
SOIL 62 63 64 65 66 67
Fl eU R/> 4. Condit?:on oj specimens oj baTe steel, galvani zed steel, and zinc ajter ex posure Jor 13 yr to I I, soiis.- Con(;inucd
309
INORGANIC OXIDIZING SOILS
30 120
I I I I I I
I- SOIL 53 -
20 I- -
f- -
10 f- -
.... -
0
I-
--t-:::::: :A.
..r.
:=:=:=:
30 I I I I I I 120
r- SOIL 55 -
20 f- - 80
r- -
- ~40
-
C\J 10 f-
+-
~
r- -
:
"-
N
0
o _:=:::::t: ~ £ ~ £
0 0
~- i=
<l
:I:
(!)
a:
~
w UJ
z
~
20 SOIL 62 ~80
z
~
<n ~
<n ~
0
-.J 10 ~40
=~
~
0 -~
40 160
SOIL 66
30 120
20 80
[C~
10 40
0
4 8 10 12 14 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
T IME , YEARS
FIGURE 5. lVeight-loss and maximum-penetration-time curves of galvanized steel, bare sleel, and zinc .
• Bare steel, 0 zinc, () Galvanized steel.
310
L
INORGANIC OXIDIZING SOILS
20 SOI L 65
10
SOIL 61
10
40i::
o
(j)
40r---,,--_.----,---,----,---,----, ~160r_---,-----r----r_--_.----~--_,r_--,
-
N" SOIL 64
~
~'20
o
30 f-
f-
:x: ~
f-
~ W
w Z
3: 20 ~ 80
~
(J)
(j)
o-.J
40r---,,--_.---,,---,----,---,----, f60r---.---_.----r---,---_r--_.---.
SOIL 70
30 120
80
40
O~~~ __~__~~__~__~__~__~
o 2 4 8 10 12 14
TIME, YEARS
FIGURE .5. Weight-loss and maximum-penetration-time curves of galvanized steel, bare steel, and zinc--Continued
• Bare steel, 0 zinc, () Galvanized steel.
22 3 9 77-52--- ~ 311
INORGANIC REDUCING SOILS (VERY POOR AERATION)
40.---.----.---.----.---,---- ,--__, 160r----r--~----r_--._--_r--_.--__,
SOIL 51
30 120
20 80
40
40r---,----r---.---.r---r_--,---, ~160r----r---,----,----.----r----r---,
...J
-
C\I
+-
"-
N
o
30
SOIL 56 ~
CINDERS
40.---~---r---r---.----r---'---, 160r---,---~-------,----r_--,_--,
30 120
20 80
40
14 4 6 8 10 12 14
TI ME ,
FIGUR E 5. Weight-loss and maximum-penetration- time curves of galvanized steel, bare steel, and zinc- Cont inued
• Bare steel, 0 zinc, () gal vanized steel.
312
20
I SOIL 59
REDUCING
80
SOILS
:
30r----r----.---.----.----.----.---, 120r----.---.~--.----r----r---~
SOIL 63
20 80
10 40
-
C\J
.....
~
o
o~~~----~----~--~----~--~~--~
-£
30r----r----.---.----.----.----.---, ~120r----.----.----,-----.----,----/
I"': «
:z: a:
<!I SOIL 58 I-
w
W Z
~ 20 W
Q. 80
~
(f)
(f)
3 10
40r----.----.---_.----.----.----.-----,
SOIL 60
30
20 80
/)v
W
10 40
0
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 0 2 4 6 14
TIME, YEARS
FIGURE 5. Weight-loss and maximum-penetration-time curves of galvanized steel, bare steel, and zinc-Continued
• Bare steel, 0 zinc, () galvanized steel.
313
14 0
z
o
;:::
<!
~ 80
w
z
W
Q
40
20
O o~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2 .4 3.2 4 .0
314