Corrosion effects on axial pile capacity

Increase in surface roughness by corrosion processes has long been neglected as potential factor influencing pile setup. However, recently there has been an increasing number of studies who referred pile setups largely or solely to corrosion and sand incrustation. Only limited research has been conducted to assess the potential impacts of corrosion directly on pile capacity development. Therefore, we sampled steel and crust surfaces from a steel monopile having been aged for ∼four years in sand. Surface roughness measurements and interface direct shear testing were performed to quantify changes for friction angles. The impact of friction angle changes on pile capacity were calculated using ICP-05 and UWA-05 for a large- and small-diameter geometry and referenced by field data. We can show that corrosion can significantly contribute to temporal pile capacity gains. Evidence have been found that the maximum and critical interface friction angles evolve differently considering the same changes in roughness. Also, differences in shearing behavior to literature were observed, being potentially a result of the naturally corroded surfaces sheared in our study. A strong, maybe exaggerated sensitivity of the capacity prediction approaches to pile diameter was observed. Effects causing an increase in surface roughness, should be reconsidered as an important factor influencing pile setup.