Corrosion

Impacts
on Steel Piles
By Scott Canada

Courtesy juwi solar

O
ver the last 5 years, driven Steel piles are often driven
steel piles have been the in undisturbed soils to support
most common foundation downward and lateral forces.
used for utility-scale PV Corrosion is not a significant
applications. Piles are used concern in the design. These
for both tracker and fixed-tilt racking sys- piles often have no corrosion
Co u rt es y M cCa r t h y B u i l d i n g C o m p a n i e s

tems because they are low cost, quick to protection for the portion that
install and well suited to the relatively low is below grade, and they are
loads imposed by PV arrays. used in an unprotected state for
Driven steel piles have been used for projects having 75- to 100-year
many years in a variety of applications out- design lives.
side of the solar industry. Corrosion is not In PV power plant appli-
a concern in most of these applications. cations, however, the friction
However, there are aggressive environments needed to resist uplift loads
where corrosion can compromise the struc- generally governs pile designs.
tural integrity of the pile. In this article, I In addition, PV plants are fre-
review the causes of corrosion with driven quently installed in disturbed
H-pile driver Driven steel piles are com-
steel piles. I also consider the potential soils, on agricultural land that
monly used as the foundation for utility-
effects of corrosion and suggest preventa- was taken out of service. In these
scale PV power plants. Typical pile shapes
tive measures. applications, steel piles are nor-
for this purpose include the H-pile (shown
mally hot-dip galvanized for
Pile Applications and Corrosion here), round pile and screw pile.
above- and below-grade corro-
Historically, piles have been widely used in sion protection. Hot dipping is
a variety of marine applications, including in dams and as very effective at reducing atmospheric corrosion; however, it
supports for bridges and docks. Piles are made from a vari- is less effective against some types of soil corrosion.
ety of materials, such as concrete, timber and steel. Steel Pile shape, driving method, material and coatings all affect
piles are very common, due to their strength and relatively how steel piles corrode. H-piles have become very common
low cost. Shapes include H-piles, round piles, screw piles for solar structures: They have very good structural character-
and sheet piles. istics in one direction, which makes them well suited for the

60 S o l a r Pr o | December/January 2012
 Susceptibility of metals

Less noble: Magnesium and its alloys

loads seen in solar installations (see Diagram 1). Assuming more susceptible to
corrosive attack; Zinc and its alloys
soil conditions are favorable to H-piles, they typically provide lower number on
the best value. galvanic scale
Aluminum and its alloys

Understanding Corrosion Mild steel

Broadly speaking, corrosion takes place when two different
metals come into contact with a conductive liquid, resulting Cast iron
in a flow of dc electricity. Electrons always flow away from the
anodic metal (anode), and the anode is corroded as a result. Brasses
The current path runs through the electrolyte to the cathodic
Copper
metal (cathode), and the cathode is not corroded. (For more
information, see “Galvanic Corrosion Considerations for PV Stainless steel
Arrays,” June/July 2011, SolarPro magazine.)
The potential (voltage) that causes electrons to flow is Silver
More noble:
always caused by a difference between the anode and the less susceptible to
cathode, such as a difference in the two metals, a difference corrosive attack; Gold
in concentration of the conductive liquid, a difference in tem- higher number on
peratures or a difference in the amount of oxygen present. galvanic scale Platinum
The relative susceptibility of metals to corrosion is shown in
Diagram 2. Steel has a fairly low number on the galvanic scale, Diagram 2 The relative susceptibility of various metals to
which means that it acts as an anode in many environments. corrosion is shown here. In a corrosive environment, anodic
Corrosion concerns that impact steel piles can be broken metals such as steel disintegrate over time.
into two categories: atmospheric and soil corrosion. These two
types of corrosion have different drivers and behave differently. with impurities in the steel. Average seasonal humidity and
the potential of hydrogen (pH) and amount of sulfur dioxide
Atmospheric Corrosion (SO2) in the atmosphere all influence the effectiveness of the
This is the most visible form of corrosion. Because the steel electrolyte and could increase corrosion.
is in contact with a great deal of oxygen, the corrosion rate is The amount of humidity present is generally affected by
governed by the presence of an electrolyte. It occurs as a thin, a combination of the pile application, the regional weather
wet film created by the humidity in the air in combination patterns and the proximity to marine environments. The

Diagram 1 In ground-mounted PV applications, the driven steel pile needs to be positioned so that its maximum strength lies
in the north-south direction, as shown here. Pile depth is determined for the most part by wind uplift loads and soil conditions.

PV Module
Profile
Max wind
load

Minor load condition

Co u r t e s y Mc Ca r t h y B u i ld i n g Co mp an i es ( 2 )

Pile foundation

Grade

Max wind load in

North north-south direction

solarprofessional.com | S o l a r P r o 61
 Corrosion Impacts

remaining atmospheric drivers typically vary based Diagram 3 The Wenner 4-pin test method for taking soil resistivity mea-
on the site location and are identified as rural, urban, surements uses four metal electrodes that are driven into the ground
industrial and marine. in a straight line and equidistant from one another. The measured resis-
Rural settings. These locations are generally the tance (ohms) is converted to soil resistivity (ohm-cm) by accounting for
least corrosive and normally do not contain chemical pin separation distance using manufacturer-specified formulas.
pollutants. The principal contributors to corrosion
are moisture and, to a lesser extent, carbon dioxide. 10.35 Ohms (Ω)
Agricultural lands can also have significant amounts Wenner 4-pin test

C o u r t e s y M c C a r t h y Bui l di ng C o m pa ni e s
C1 P1 P2 C2
of salts and other chemicals that can contribute to
corrosion near the soil due to splashing water during
periods of high rains.
Urban environments. These locations are slightly more
corrosive than rural environments. Additional contami-
nants include sulfur oxides (SOX) and nitrogen oxides
(NOX) from motor vehicle and domestic fuel emissions.
Probe/
Industrial environments. These locations are stake dirt
associated with heavy industry and can contain
concentrations of sulfur dioxide, chlorides, phos-
phates and nitrates—all of which can encourage
extreme corrosion. piles. A majority of the existing studies come from govern-
Marine environments. These locations have significant ment agencies investigating corrosion in marine applica-
amounts of humidity and windswept chloride particles that tions. The combination of studies and research give several
are deposited on the surface of the pile. Marine environments insights into soil corrosion:
are usually highly corrosive, and the corrosion tends to be sig- P Pitting corrosion is very common for buried steel.
nificantly dependent on wind direction, wind speed and dis- P Extremely localized pitting corrosion can cause
tance from the coast. pipelines and tanks to be compromised, especially if
Most utility-scale solar projects are located in rural or they are under pressure.
urban areas. For these projects, standard corrosion protec- P Structural load-bearing piles are not significantly
tion measures, adjusted for regional moisture levels, are affected by pitting corrosion.
adequate. In arid rural environments, typical atmospheric P Overall loss in weight is the key corrosion concern
corrosion rates for bare steel can be as low as 0.005 inches for piles.
per face per year. Nonetheless, several conditions may accel- P The greatest proportion of load resistance is derived
erate atmospheric corrosion. For example, steel located near from the lowest 25% of a pile.
the soil can have more atmospheric corrosion than the rest In contrast to atmospheric corrosion, soil acts as an elec-
of the pile. Driven piles often have low spots around the pile trolyte in below-grade corrosion with varying amounts of oxy-
caused by the driving process. Water pools in these low spots gen. Because oxygen is the major corrosion driver, how the
and accelerates corrosion. In addition, soil pH also can drive soil was used is a key indicator of corrosion potential: undis-
corrosion when rainwater splashes on the pile. However, this turbed soils contain limited amounts of oxygen and so pres-
is not a critical concern for most solar installations because ent a minor risk of corrosion, while disturbed soils contain
the modules shield the soil from the rain. more oxygen and thus present a greater risk of corrosion.
Undisturbed soil. Soil that is undisturbed has very little
Soil Corrosion corrosion potential below grade, regardless of its chemistry.
Soil corrosion is caused by direct contact with moisture and A majority of the piles used in the US are installed uncoated
chemicals in the soil. It is much less predictable than atmo- below grade and experience minimal corrosion. Many stud-
spheric corrosion, because soil characteristics can vary with- ies show that mill scale—the hardened, oxidized surface that
in a single site. In some cases, metal storage tanks have been develops on hot-processed steel—is still present on the piles
compromised in as little as a year, while metal tools hundreds after significant periods of time when set in undisturbed soils.
of years old have been found in desert climates. Melvin Romanoff performed comprehensive studies of
Much of the historical information on soil corrosion steel pile corrosion in the 1950s and 1960s. In “Corrosion
comes from a combination of research focused on cor- of Steel Pilings in Soils” (Journal of Research of the National
rosion on pipelines and storage tanks. There are few sys- Bureau of Standards; see Resources), Romanoff observes: “Soil
tematic studies specifically reviewing corrosion on driven environments that are severely corrosive c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 6 4

62 S o l a r Pr o | December/January 2012
 Corrosion Impacts

to iron and steel under disturbed conditions in excavated disturbance, especially in soils with low resistivity. Disturbed,
trenches were not corrosive to steel pilings driven in undis- low-resistive soils are a corrosive environment for steel piles.
turbed soils.” Romanoff deduces that the difference in corro-
sion is attributable to the differences in oxygen concentration Contributing factors
in the soil. He concludes: “The data indicate that undisturbed In general, soils need to be disturbed to present a significant
soils are so deficient in oxygen at levels a few feet below the risk of corrosion. For soils that have not been disturbed or
ground line or below the water table zone, that steel pilings have been systematically compacted during site preparation,
are not appreciably affected by corrosion, regardless of the atmospheric corrosion is the main concern.
soil types or the soil properties.” While undisturbed or compacted soils are standard for
Lack of oxygen is the main reason undisturbed soils do most traditional construction projects employing piles,
not corrode piles. Even where undisturbed soils cause sig- PV power-plant applications may present special circum-
nificant corrosion on piles for the first year, the oxygen is stances—such as the presence of dissimilar metals or instal-
consumed and the reaction quickly slows. According to stan- lation on agricultural land disturbed to a depth of several feet
dards published by the US Army (see Resources), when cor- and left uncompacted—that also impact corrosion risk.
rosion occurred in undisturbed soils, only localized corrosion Dissimilar metals. Solar projects often employ ground-
of 0.0004–0.0005 inches per year per surface was present. For ing systems, similar to ground grids at utility substations and
H-piles, which have two surfaces in contact with the soil, the power plants. These ground grids have bare copper conductors
total corrosion rate would be 0.0008–0.001 inches per year. connected to the steel structures and buried in the trenches
Disturbed soil. Disturbed and aerated soils contain signifi- adjacent to the piles. These copper conductors can add to the
cantly more oxygen than undisturbed soils. When oxygen is corrosive action of the soil by introducing dissimilar metals
present, soil chemistry can significantly affect corrosion on that act as a cathode. The presence of this copper near the steel
piles and zinc coatings. piles with or without zinc coatings accelerates corrosion.
Soil resistivity, which quantifies the resistance to electri- Agricultural lands. More solar projects are being sited on for-
cal current across a cubic meter of earth, is the single most mer agricultural lands. This land is often low cost and privately
important indicator of soil corrosion potential. Soil resistiv- owned. It has limited environmental sensitivities, reducing the
ity is driven by chemistry and moisture level, and should be risk to the development activities. However, the soil at these
measured on-site using the Wenner 4-pin test method (see sites has typically been disturbed to a depth of 2 to 4 feet for
Diagram 3 on p. 62). many years. There is often limited compaction of the site when
As shown in Table 1, soil resistivity and soil corrosivity are a PV power plant is installed due to cost. In addition, the land
inversely related. The lower the soil resistivity, the more effec- is typically irrigated, adding to its moisture content. In the dry
tive the soil is as an electrolyte and a conductive path; the bet- Southwest, flood irrigation, which adds large amounts of salt to
ter the soil is at conducting electrical current, the faster the the soil, is common. For these reasons, agricultural lands pres-
anodic metal—in this case the driven steel piles—will corrode. ent significant risk of corrosion.
In addition to resistivity, extremely low pH levels in the
soil can accelerate the corrosion of zinc coatings. Soil chloride Impact of Corrosive Soils on Steel Piles
and sulfate levels can also affect corrosion. While a concern, Corrosion rates vary based on environmental conditions. The
these factors are not as important as soil resistivity when it predicted corrosion rates for a surface are typically presented
comes to pile corrosion. in inches, microns or millimeters per year. The structural
The corrosive impact of aerated impact on piles—like those described
soils can be reduced significantly
through appropriate compaction.
Soil Resistivity and Corrosivity in Table 2 (p. 66)—is calculated based
on the corrosion rate multiplied by
Properly compacted soils have corro- Field-Measured the surface area of the pile. When
sion factors similar to those of natu- Soil Resistivity Soil Corrosiveness reviewing the pile life, it is impor-
ral, undisturbed soils. Since oxygen (ohm-cm) in Disturbed Soils tant to understand that the ratio of
content is a major driver of soil cor- <1,000 Severely corrosive surface area to weight can signifi-
rosion, the top 1 to 2 feet of piles is 1,000–5,000 Corrosive cantly impact the predicted time it
the key area of concern for corrosion 5,000–10,000 Moderately corrosive takes for corrosion in a pile to reach
in generally undisturbed soils. >10,000 Slightly corrosive the weight limit included in the
Since the top portions of a site are design. A pile used for a solar instal-
often disturbed to some extent dur- Table 1 A soil with a lower resistivity is more lation has significantly more surface
ing site preparation, it is important effective as an electrolyte and a conductive area per pound, as shown in Table
for pile designs to account for soil path, facilitating galvanic corrosion. 3 (p. 66). This c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 6 6

64 S o l a r Pr o | December/January 2012
 Corrosion Impacts

comparison between two beams clearly shows the impact of Design Parameters
the relative difference in beam surface areas on the corrosion System description: ground-mounted PV tracking system
of the two piles to 80% of the installed weight. Design life: 30 years
Pile shape also affects corrosion. Compared to H-piles, Pile size: W6x9 beam with a 20% corrosion allowance and an
round piles generally corrode slower. The interior of the pipe embedment depth of 10 feet
does not come into contact with the exterior soil, which has Pile coating: 3.9 mils hot-dipped zinc galvanized coating to
significant oxygen content. The oxygen contained in the soil provide protection against atmospheric and localized soil
on the inside of the pipe is consumed fairly quickly and cor- corrosion
rosion then slows. In contrast, all surfaces of the H-pile are Corrosive environment: Results of the Wenner 4-pin test range
exposed to the aggressive soils. from 4,800 ohm-centimeter (ohm-cm) to more than 10,000
ohm-cm; therefore, a design condition of 4,800 ohm-cm is
Example Pile Life Evaluation used for the plant design.
Recently, McCarthy Building Companies installed a solar Corrosion analysis. The hot-dipped galvanized zinc coat-
project in the desert Southwest on agricultural land. This ing provides the first layer of corrosion protection and is
project provides a good example of the corrosive properties consumed first. The life expectancy of the zinc coating is cal-
of this type of environment. culated based on the total amount of zinc per pile and the
consumption rate of the zinc, which is determined based on
Beam Characteristics the measured soil resistivity at the site.
In this case, the weight of the
Beam PV Pile Large-Load Flange width zinc coating per square meter
Characteristics Application Application
of pile is 610.8 grams per square
Trade size W6x9 W12x65 meter. The total surface area of a
Beam height (inches) 5.90 12.12 W6x9 steel beam with 10 feet of
Flange width (inches) 3.94 12.00 embedment is 2.109 square meters.
Web thickness Therefore, total weight of zinc per
0.17 0.39 Web
(inches) pile is calculated as follows:
Flange thickness
0.215 0.605 Total pile zinc = 610.8 g/m2 x
(inches)
Beam height

2.109 m2
Weight per linear foot
9 65 Web = 1,288 grams
(pounds) thickness

Table 2 The relative characteristics of a W6x9 According to the corrosion

beam, which is often used in PV applications, and a tables from the National Bureau
W12x65 beam, typical of large-load applications, are of Standards, the zinc coating
shown here. consumption rate in disturbed
soils with a resistivity of 4,800
Pile Size Versus Life Expectancy Flange ohm-cm is 60 grams per year per
square meter. For a steel pile with
Beam W6x9 W12x65 a surface area of 2.109 square
Characteristics Beam Beam meters, the annual zinc consump-
Flange thickness
Surface area per linear foot tion rate is 126.5 grams (60 g/yr/
378 870
(inches2) m2 x 2.109 m2).
Weight per linear foot (pounds) 9 65 Based on the total pile zinc and the annual zinc consump-
Square inches per pound 42 13 tion rate, the life expectancy of the 3.9 mils hot-dipped zinc
Years to consume 20% corrosion
galvanized coating is calculated as follows:
9 30
allowance
Zinc life expectancy = 1,288 g ÷ 126.5 g/yr
Table 3 The surface area to weight ratio for a W6x9 = 10.2 years
beam is 223% higher than it is for a W12x65 beam.
As a result, the 20% corrosion allowance is con- After the zinc coating is consumed by corrosion, the steel
sumed much more quickly in the W6x9 beam used has a 20% corrosion allowance before it is no longer considered
as a PV pile. structurally sound. This means that the c o n t i n u e d o n p a g e 6 8

66 S o l a r Pr o | December/January 2012
 Corrosion Impacts

steel can tolerate a significant amount of corrosion before years). This does not meet the 30-year design life parameter
failure. However, the life expectancy of the steel’s 20% corro- for the PV installation.
sion allowance still needs to be quantified. The above analysis shows the life of a steel pile in corro-
According to the National Bureau of Standards, the cor- sive to moderately corrosive soil, but variations in resistivity
rosion rate of steel given a soil resistivity of 4,800 ohm-cm can affect the pile life. Table 4 shows the impact of varying
is 1.127 mils per year (0.001127 inches per year). This rate of soil conditions.
corrosion applies to both sides of the steel pile. Therefore, the
total reduction in steel wall thickness over a 1-year period is Pile Corrosion Protection
2.54 mils (0.00254 inches). The many options for minimizing the effects of corrosive soils
The thickness of W6x9 steel pile is 0.215 inches. Since the include employing zinc coatings, epoxy and other painted
steel corrosion allowance is 20%, the pile design allows for 0.043 coatings; thicker pile selection; impressed current systems;
inches (0.215 inches x 20%) of surface corrosion. Based on the concrete encasement; or installing sacrificial anodes. These
corrosion allowance and the rate of corrosion, the structural options have various advantages and drawbacks. More impor-
life expectancy of the steel pile is calculated as follows: tantly, these options have different cost benefits.
Zinc coatings. This is one of the most common methods for
Corrosion allowance life expectancy increasing pile life in corrosive environments. Zinc coatings
= 0.043 inches ÷ 0.00254 inches per year are applied using several methods, including hot-dipped gal-
= 16.93 years vanizing and plating. Zinc is very durable and provides a sac-
rificial anode. Even when damaged, the zinc corrodes before
As shown in these calculations, the overall life of zinc- the steel is attacked because it is higher on the galvanic scale.
coated W6x9 steel piles at the project site—the amount of Hot-dipped galvanizers can “double dip” the steel material;
time before the pile structural strength is compromised—is this doubles the thickness of the galvanizing and generally
calculated to be slightly more than 27 years (10.2 years + 16.93 doubles the life of the coating.

68 S o l a r Pr o | December/January 2012
 Soil Resistivity and W6x9 Driven Steel Pile Life well as coal tar, which is a very durable and more
C o ur te sy M c C a r thy Bui l di ng C o m pa n i e s

costly coating.
Time to Consume Total Wall Surface damage is one of the biggest issues to
Soil 20% Corrosion Corrosion Rate Thickness Loss keep in mind when selecting a coating. Most piles
Resistivity Allowance of Steel in 30 years used in PV applications are low-displacement piles,
(ohm-cm) (years) (microns/yr) (inches) meaning the piles themselves displace very little
500 11.4 3.5 0.105 soil. Damage to the piles and coatings are often
750 11.7 3.4 0.102 caused by the presence of dense layers of cobble.
When using an anti-corrosion coating, it is
1,000 12.2 3.3 0.099
important to ensure that the coating is durable
5,000 16.9 1.13 0.076 enough to keep the pile structurally intact for a
Table 4 As soil resistivity changes, so does the amount of time it takes 30-year life-span. I suggest driving several coated
for a 20% corrosion allowance to be consumed. sample piles and digging them out to check how the
coating resists installation damage.
Because galvanizing is effective against atmospheric corro- Because of the additional oxygen content in the top 1 to 3
sion, it is one of the most common protection options; it is also feet of soil, damage is most problematic if it is close to the sur-
cost effective. The disadvantage is that the coating is eventu- face and coating losses are large. Typically, however, damage
ally consumed in a disturbed soil condition, along with the steel close to the surface should be minimal because a large portion
corrosion allowance. of the pile has already been driven into the ground, clearing the
Epoxy and other painted coatings. Paints are often used to way. However, the section of the pile near the surface should
prevent atmospheric and soil corrosion. The cost and effec- be examined to determine if additional protection is required.
tiveness of these coatings vary greatly. Coatings include With coating damage similar to that shown in the pho-
standard paint, which can effectively prevent corrosion, as tographs of test piles (p. 70), the corrosion attacks localized

solarprofessional.com | S o l a r P r o 69
 Corrosion Impacts

Test piles These photographs

show damage caused to two dif-
ferent coatings on piles driven at
a PV site in Arizona. In the photo
on the left, the black coating
is coal tar and shows minimal
damage; the other coating is a
high-solids epoxy coating. While

C o u r t e s y M c C a r t h y B u i l di n g C o m pa ni e s ( 2 )
the epoxy coating shows some
additional damage compared to
coal tar, this damage is limited to
the area below the disturbed soil.
The photo on the right shows the
damage to the coal tar coating at
the disturbed soil level.

areas and does not adversely affect the overall weight of the Driving It Home
pile. The localized corrosion can be significant without affect- Note that for any corrosion measure to be effective, the fol-
ing a pile’s structural integrity. lowing steps are necessary:
Employing epoxy coatings may affect the project delivery 1. Enlist the help of a corrosion protection expert who
schedule. Steel piles normally need to be shipped to a second- is familiar with pile corrosion.
ary facility after fabrication for coating, and a limited number 2. Secure accurate soils information to guide the
of facilities are qualified to coat the piles. engineer on the effects of aggressive soils.
Thicker pile section. Heavier piles can be installed to pro- 3. Ensure that the corrosion expert works in conjunc-
vide sacrificial steel that can be corroded without loss of tion with the structural engineer to accurately deter-
structural integrity. This common solution can be combined mine the impact of localized corrosion.
with other strategies. Without this combination of site-specific data and engi-
Impressed current. Impressed current systems apply a neering expertise, the developer or contractor often ends up
dc voltage to a system anode, in this case the steel pile. with solutions that are too conservative or too costly, or that
The added voltage and current interrupts the galvanic do not accurately address the potential for corrosion, which
reaction and stops below-grade corrosion, as long as the introduces significant quality and warranty issues.
steel is electrically continuous. The presence of the current
can eliminate the need for zinc galvanization or epoxy coat- g C O N TAC T
ings. While impressed current systems are very effective,
Scott Canada / McCarthy Building Companies / Phoenix, AZ /
they require ongoing maintenance, consume power and can
[email protected] / mccarthy.com
be costly.
Concrete encasement. Each pile can be placed in a small Resources
concrete foundation that provides a barrier to corrosion. Camitz, Göran, “Corrosion and Protection of Steel Piles and Sheet Piles in
Often, 3 to 6 inches of concrete needs to encase the pile to Soil and Water,” Swedish Commission on Pile Research, Report 93.
ensure protection.
Sacrificial anodes. This type of corrosion protection system US Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division, “HSSDDR
requires the installation of magnesium anodes—either strip Design Guidelines—Wavers for Steel Piles Corrosion Protection,”
or block anodes—that are electrically connected to each pile. December 16, 2005.
Magnesium is higher on the galvanic scale and has a greater
electrical potential than steel or zinc, so it is consumed before Romanoff, Melvin, “Corrosion of Steel Pilings in Soils,” Journal of
the other metals are attacked. In practice, this option is often Research of the National Bureau of Standards (Volume 66C, No. 3),
used in conjunction with a galvanized zinc coating and an July/September, 1962.
increased corrosion allowance for perimeter piles.

70 S o l a r Pr o | December/January 2012