Materials Chemistry and Physics 84 (2004) 1–6

Materials science communication

Monitoring the corrosion susceptibility of mild steel in varied soil
textures by corrosion product count technique
E.E. Oguzie∗ , I.B. Agochukwu, A.I. Onuchukwu
Electrochemistry and Materials Science Research Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Technology,
P.M.B. 1526, Owerri, Nigeria
Received 18 March 2003; received in revised form 18 August 2003; accepted 3 September 2003

Abstract
The corrosion susceptibilities of buried steel in natural soil and laboratory simulated buried steel in varied soil textures were monitored by
weight loss and corrosion product count technique. The result shows that the corrosion product counts in these soils are in the order: clay 
sand < loam. Adsorption dynamics revealed that Weber and Morris equation was obeyed in all soil textures studied while the applicability
of Lagergren equation was limited to sandy and clay soil textures. Also, in the absence of insidious ions, fairly identical pH values, limited
aeration and moisture laden, soil depth and textures were corroborated for the observed high corrosion susceptibility of the buried steel.
© 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Soil textures; Weight loss; Corrosion product count; Weber and Morris equation; Lagergren equation

1. Introduction In soil laden moisture, corrosion according to Onuchukwu

The deterioration of metallic structure by electrochemical
corrosion in its environment is known to proceed within the
entire pH range [1]. Therefore, corrosion scourge is known
to provide no respite to metals in all environments. Buried
metal corrodes in non-atmospheric environment such as soil
and the corrosion rate of buried metal depends on the poros-
ity, pH, moisture and depth of the soil [2,3]. Again, buried
pipelines that span long distances are known to pass through
varied soil textures, depths, and in some places insidious ions
add to the corrosivity of the soil. In practice, it is observed
that the corrosion susceptibility of soils determines the ser-
vice life of the buried metallic structure [4]. However, the
service life as well as corrosion in soil also depends on the
thickness of the metal, the area exposed and repairs and/or
the maintenance technique employed [4–6]. Thus, the cor-
rosion tendency of soil varies from one location to another
due to the nature of the soil chemistry which in addition de-
pends on aeration, dissolved salts and resistivity. Increased
resistivity decreases the corrosion tendency of the soil and
vice versa, thus indicating that the resistivity is inversely
proportional to rate of corrosion which is expressed as
1
Resistivity ( cm) ∝
corr. rate
∗ Corresponding author.
et al. [7–9] is the formation of electrolyte pocket cells
at various surfaces on the metal. These pocket cells are
identified as the corrodent, two electrodes and a connect-
ing circuit which in this context is the soil moisture cum
dissolved salts producing ions. In consequence, the anode
and cathode sites on the buried corroding metal are formed
due to differential aeration sites on the metal. Thus, areas
with ample aeration constitute the cathode site where the
admixture of moisture and oxygen meets the electrons for
the production of hydroxyl ions that are received from the
anodic dissolution of the metal [10]. In the case of iron, the
corrosion product could be either FeO + Fe(OH)2 + Fe2 O3
or any two combinations of these grades of oxides which
depend on the degree of aeration and period of exposure.
The corrosion product acts as the electrolyte while the an-
ode side according to Scully always remains on the metal
surface which from earlier reports [11,12] is the oxygen
deficient sites beneath the rust. The metal itself serves as
the connecting circuit. This phenomenon accounts for the
raised spots or bumps, usually filled with underlying corro-
sion product, found on the metal surface in soil corrosion or
marine corrosion. These uneven corroded surfaces are com-
mon aspects of corrosion manifestation as highlighted in
(1) earlier works [13,14] which are typical of hidden corrosion
sites on the surfaces of a corroding buried metal structure.
Majority of the existing reports on corrosion studies
have relied mostly on gravimetric, potentiostatic, hydrogen

0254-0584/$ – see front matter © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.matchemphys.2003.09.002
2 E.E. Oguzie et al. / Materials Chemistry and Physics 84 (2004) 1–6

evolution and even conductometric methods for corrosion
monitoring. Underground corrosion surveys have usually
been restricted to resistivity as well as potential measure-
ments which may require sophisticated equipment [5,6].
This work investigates the suitability of corrosion prod-
uct count technique in estimating the corrosion rates of mild
steel in varied soil textures for laboratory simulated as well
as natural sub-soil structures. The dependence of corrosion
rates on soil textural characteristics has also been high-
lighted.
introduced from a dropping pipette at 6-h intervals for 20
days. Blank samples of the different soil textures were also
maintained without introduction of the steel coupons.
Test coupons were retrieved from each of the different soil
textures at 5-day intervals and the soil samples in the test
tubes separately digested with 40 ml of conc. HCl. The re-
sultant solutions were filtered and the filtrates subsequently
diluted with 40 ml of deionized water and analyzed for cor-
rosion product using the atomic absorption spectrophotome-
ter model, UNICAM 9/9.

2. Experimental 3. Results and discussion

Corrosion tests were performed on mild steel of the fol-
lowing percentage composition: C, 0.06; Mn, 0.51; P, 0.045;
S, 0.041, which were machined into cylindrical forms 6.7 cm
in length and 0.5 cm in diameter and used as cut without
further polishing. However, they were degreased in absolute
ethanol, dried in acetone and stored in a moisture-free dessi-
cator before their use in corrosion studies. Two experimental
techniques were adopted as follows.
2.1. Earth excavation
The analyses of the soil samples were accomplished by
identifying various parameters for each depth which were
categorized as follows: 5–15, 15–45 and 45–80 cm and la-
beled A, B, and C soil samples, respectively, for the buried
steel coupons. The results of the parameters investigated are
shown in Table 1.
The corrosion rates were evaluated for various soil depth
levels by calculating the geometric surface area of each test
coupon. The corrosion rate in mpy was defined by the ex-
pression [15]:

This was carried out on a virgin land which had not W(27 222)
corr. rate = (2)
entertained recent agricultural activity. Preliminary chem- PAt
ical analysis of the top soil confirmed minimal mineral where W is the weight loss (mg), P the density of the steel
or ionic presence with pH 7.35. Holes of top dimensions (8.03 g cm−3 ), A = 10.612 cm2 and t the various times of
20 cm × 30 cm were carefully excavated with depths 10, 30, exposure.
40, 60 cm, respectively. The pH and porosity of each soil A comparison of the corrosion rates with respect to
depth was experimentally determined. The resistivity ( cm) depths of soil is given in Table 2 and shown in Fig. 1, while
at each depth was also evaluated with the aid of a Philips Fig. 2 shows plots of corrosion product count (mg cm−3 )
digital multimeter model PM2522A. (Fe) versus time as determined in the simulated test. The
Ten pieces of the mild steel specimen were laid horizon-
tally at the bottom of each depth after the initial weights of
Table 1
the coupons had been determined and recorded. The coupons
Values of physical parameters which were determined with respect of
were allowed to remain buried and were retrieved in pairs depth levels of soil samples
from the various depths after 60, 80, 100, 200 and 250 days,
Soil sample pH Moisture Resistivity Organic
respectively, washed and immersed in 20% NaOH contain-
(cm) (25 ◦ C) (%) ( cm) matter (%)
ing 200 g l−1 of zinc dust, scrubbed with bristle brush until
A (10–30) 7.77 3.74 9783 13.48
clean and rinsed thoroughly with distilled water, dried and B (30–60) 7.38 6.32 8565 47.77
reweighed carefully. The net weights were recorded from C (60–80) 7.89 9.45 7003 21.96
which the corrosion rates were calculated in milligram per
year (mpy). Each recorded value is an average of triplicate
determinations. Table 2
Variations of corrosion rate will soil depths and average depths for the
buried steel
2.2. Laboratory simulated tests
Soil depths Corrosion Average Average corrosion
(cm) rate (mpy) depth (cm) rate for depth (mpy)
The simulated experiment was accomplished by scoop-
80 2.511 C (60–80) 1.38
ing soils from depths of 15, 25 and 60 cm which represent 70 2.292
sandy, loamy and clay textures, respectively. About 20 cm3 60 0.351
by volume of the each soil texture was packed separately by 40 0.033 B (30–60) 0.089
mechanical vibration into four test tubes. The steel coupons 30 0.028
were then carefully inserted to stand vertically midway into 20 0.015 A (10–30) 0.013
10 0.008
the soil columns and about 10 ml of deionized water was
 E.E. Oguzie et al. / Materials Chemistry and Physics 84 (2004) 1–6 3

Fig. 1. Variation of corrosion rate with soil depth.

Fig. 2. Changes in the concentration of corrosion product with number of days in (䊉) sandy, (䊏) clay and (×) loamy soils.
4 E.E. Oguzie et al. / Materials Chemistry and Physics 84 (2004) 1–6

√
Fig. 3. Plots of corrosion products concentration against t for (䊉) sandy, (䊏) clay and (×) soil textures.

soils sampled from the depths and as used in simulated test

were from the same source which made comparison easy.

3.1. Soil texture effects

The characteristics of buried steel in soil have exhib-

ited a constant manifestation of varied degrees of corro-
sion susceptibility with increased electrical resistivity. In our
earlier report [12,20], we observed that soil resistivity for
buried metallic structures exhibited more decrease in mois-
ture laden soil than the porous sand. The inverse relation
between resistivity and corrosion rate has already been high-
lighted.
Under the sticky clay soil, corroding metal surface exhib-
ited pitting at non-aerated sites with adhesive soil while the
fairly aerated surface sites were smooth and devoid of cor-
rosion. This suggests that the hidden clay-clad metal surface
constitute the anode site while the aerated metal surface is
the cathode site where oxygen is de-electronated to form a
conjugate corrosion product.
The percentage of organic matter deposit was found to
attain a maximum at 10–30 cm sub-soil texture while the
pH was least at this depth. The pH was observed to at-
tain a maximum value of pH = 7.89 at 60–80 cm, clay
sub-soil texture as shown in Table 1. Interestingly, the
maximum moisture-laden clay provides the least resistiv-
ity of 7003  cm. The corrosion rate is observed to be Fig. 4. Plots of log (qe − q) against t (days) for (䊉) sandy and (䊏) clay
favorable with adequate moisture, pH and aeration. There soils.
 E.E. Oguzie et al. / Materials Chemistry and Physics 84 (2004) 1–6
is a steady increase in corrosion rate with soil depth as
contained in Table 2 while Fig. 1 illustrates succinctly the
trend of increase of corrosion rate with depth. Fig. 2 re-
veals fairly rapid initial increase in corrosivity with time in
all soil textures. The trend suggests that clay  sandy <
loamy soil.
Navara [16] identified certain phenomena which traps wa-
ter on soil particles, thus enhancing corrosion of buried met-
als. The quantity of trapped moisture is directly proportional
to the soil surface available and hence the particle size. Also,
previous reports [17,18] have shown that the extent of aer-
ation in a soil is inversely proportional to the amount of
moisture in the pore spaces. Clay soil has fine particle size
with the clad tendency and moisture retention which nor-
mally favors metal corrosion. However, this clad tendency
also ensures poor penetration and circulation of air which
consequently tends to retard the corrosion rate with time.
Though the larger voids in sandy soil allows rapid pene-
tration of air and water to reach the buried metal, these
voids also ensure poor retention of water and hence low
corrosivity.
Fig. 5. Plots of log of corrosion product concentration against t (days) for loamy soil texture.
5
3.2. Kinetic considerations
Machu [19] observed that the kinetics of the corrosion
process acquire the character of a diffusion process under
certain conditions. The influence of pore diffusion on the
observed corrosion rates in the different soil textures was
evaluated using the equation of Weber and Morris [20]
q = Kt0.5 (3)
where q is the concentration of corrosion product in time (t)
and k the rate constant of pore diffusion.
Fig. 3 shows plots of corrosion product concentration
against t0.5 for the different soil textures. Straight lines were
obtained which confirms an influence of pore diffusion on
the corrosion rates. However, the plots do not pass through
the origin, thus indicating that pore diffusion is not the only
step that controls the corrosion rate.
It is again obvious from Fig. 2 that corrosion rate attained
equilibrium values in sandy and clay soils. The corrosion rate
in loamy soil on the other hand, maintained steady increase
with time. This observation can be explained on the basis of
6 E.E. Oguzie et al. / Materials Chemistry and Physics 84 (2004) 1–6
earlier findings [17,18] that loamy soils possess properties
intermediate between clay and sandy soils. This excludes
those properties associated with the extreme looseness and
low water holding capacity of sandy soil and the stickiness
and low air and water movement of clay. It has been reported
[21] that much of the corrosion which occur underground
results from concentration cells which are set up when two
different soils are in contact with a single piece of metal.
The resultant variations in oxygen penetration also create
differential aeration cells.
Lagergren equation [22]
kt
log(qe − q) = log qe −
2.3
was applied to the equilibrium systems in sandy and clay
soils, where qe is the concentration of corrosion product at
equilibrium, q the concentration at time t, and k the rate
constant for adsorption. Fig. 4 shows plots of log(qe − q)
against t (days) for sandy and clay soils. Straight lines were
obtained suggesting the applicability of Lagergren equation
for both systems.
When log of corrosion product concentration was plotted
against time in days for the various soil textures, only the
loamy soil texture gave a linear plot, suggesting first-order
kinetics (Fig. 5).
4. Conclusions
1. Corrosion product count technique can be used to esti-
mate the corrosion rates of buried steel structures.
2. An optimum depth is required to ensure safety of buried
metal from corrosion.
3. Soil comes in many varieties and has many different prop-
erties that can influence corrosion.
4. The order of corrosivity of soil textures is clay 
sandy < loam.
5. The applicability of Lagergren equation was limited to
sandy and clay soils while Weber and Morris equation
was obeyed in all soil textures studied.
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