Soil Properties Influencing Corrosion of Steel in Texas Soils

Abstract

AbstractCorrosion of steel specimens was monitored in 15 Texas soils in order to test the current system for assessing soil corrosivity. Corrosion, measured in situ at two depths using electrical resistance probes, was a function of many soil properties and could not be adequately described using any single property. The current system, developed by the USDA‐SCS, which places soils into corrosion potential classes based on soil characterization data and descriptions, was found to overestimate corrosivity of many soils. A revised system was developed that more accurately predicted corrosion rates of buried steel under field conditions. Soil properties used in the revised system include electrical conductivity, texture, exchangeable acidity, and wetness class. When the two systems were tested using an independent set of data collected by the National Bureau of Standards, soil corrosion potential classes of the revised system correlated with actual corrosion better than the current SCS system.