Abstract
Galvanized steel is generally used in mechanically stabilized walls to reinforce the soil due to its high corrosion resistance compared to carbon steel and also its cost effectiveness compared to stainless steel. With galvanized steel reinforcement, steel is protected against corrosion by a thin layer of zinc with a thickness of 20-80 μm. The corrosion of galvanized steel in soil consists of three stages. In the first stage of corrosion, the zinc layer dissolves into soil pore solution. When the underlying steel is exposed to the soil environment in the second stage of corrosion, a galvanic corrosion cell forms between the zinc and steel that limits the corrosion of the steel. The carbon steel reinforcement starts corroding after the depletion of the zinc layer in the last stage of corrosion. In this work, the three stages of galvanized steel corrosion were modeled using the finite element method and a numerical study was conducted to determine the corrosion rate of galvanized steel in soil exposed to corrosive environments. The effect of soil resistivity and oxygen concentration on the corrosion performance of galvanized steel and the effect of zinc thickness on the service life of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls were studied.
