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Corrosion of Mild Steel Buried Underground for 3 Years in Different Soils of Varying Textures

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Abstract

The effect of moisture content and soil texture on the corrosion behavior of mild steel coupons buried for 3 years in different soils was estimated from weight loss measurements and electrochemical techniques such as Tafel plots and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The results showed that the rate of corrosion and intensity of corrosion attack significantly depend on the soil’s moisture content and on the soil type. Corrosion was found to be severe in clayey soil compared to that in mixed and sandy soils. Morphological analysis of the corroded specimens performed using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy showed the presence of amorphous oxides and low-intense crystalline phases of goethite and hematite on the surface of the mild steel coupons, indicating only the initial stage of corrosion. It is concluded from this study that mild steel undergoes only less intense surface-level corrosion in 3 years when buried underground.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of M/S Transtonnelstroy-Afcons joint venture for their contribution to the design of the experiment and soil analysis. The authors wish to express thanks to Er. H. Jayaram (Project Manager) and Er. Prasad Reddy (Project Coordinator) for their technical discussions, useful suggestions and help. The XRD equipment procured from DST-FIST Fund, Department Chemistry, SRM University, was used for the analysis.

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  1. Department of Chemistry, SRM Institute of Science and Technology (formerly SRM University), Kattankulathur, Tamilnadu, 603 203, India

    S. Suganya & R. Jeyalakshmi

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  1. S. Suganya
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Correspondence to R. Jeyalakshmi.

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Suganya, S., Jeyalakshmi, R. Corrosion of Mild Steel Buried Underground for 3 Years in Different Soils of Varying Textures. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 28, 863–875 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-019-3855-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-019-3855-7

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