Failure Analysis

Chemical and corrosivity analysis of soil samples in Matergenics soils lab and modeling for remaining life.  Lab activities include:

Laboratory analysis of the soil sample collected from site.

To determine the life expectancy of water mains, it is important to analyze the soil in which they are buried in. Matergenics is unique in its approach to soil testing. We analyze 3000-4000 soil samples per year. A combination of both field and laboratory tests coupled with a specialized algorithm are able to determine the expected corrosion rate of buried assets.

A dedicated soil laboratory supported by a multidisciplinary team of NACE-certified materials and corrosion engineers is able to receive the samples taken by the field teams and quickly measure several key soil corrosivity factors including pH and chloride concentration.

In-lab tests will include the following tests for soil corrosivity assessment and evaluation of input parameters for a predictive model for corrosion rate.

  1. Instantaneous corrosion rate measurement (for steel) in mils per year (mpy), per ASTM G59: Standard Test Method for Conducting Potentiodynamic Polarization Resistance Measurements, and ASTM G102: Standard Practice for Calculation of Corrosion Rates and Related Information from Electrochemical Measurements. This method is unique to Matergenics and provides corrosion rate
  2. As received and saturated soil resistivity measurement per ASTM G187: Standard Test Method for Measurement of Soil Resistivity Using the Two-Electrode Soil Box Method
  3. Moisture content measurement, per ASTM D2216: Standard Test Methods for Laboratory Determination of Water (Moisture) Content of Soil and Rock by Mass
  4. Salt contaminations for the following water-soluble salts:
    1. Chloride, per ASTM D512: Standard Test Methods for Chloride Ion in Water
    1. Sulfate, per ASTM C1580: Standard Test Method for Water-Soluble Sulfate in Soil
    1. Sulfide, per ASTM D4658: Standard Test Method for Sulfide Ion in Water
  5. Soil pH measurement, per ASTM G51: Standard Test Method for Measuring pH of Soil for Use in Corrosion Testing
  6. Soil redox potential measurement, per ASTM G200: Standard Test Method for Measurement of Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP) of Soil
Microbiological analysis for the soil sample, including:
  • Acid-producing bacteria (APB).
  • Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB).
  • Aerobic bacteria (AERO).
  • Anaerobic bacteria (ANA)
  • Iron-reducing bacteria (IRB).
  • Nitrate-reducing bacteria (NRB).
Primary Cause of Fracture (Break)
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