Super Fitness Health BlogWhy Choose Hot-Dipped Galvanized Steel Products
Hot-dipped galvanizing provides a cathodic zinc protection to steel from rust. Steel put through hot-dipped galvanizing goes through a series of chemical cleaning steps that lead up to the final step of being completely submerged in an 830-Fahrenheit bath of molten zinc. The viscosity properties of zinc and cleaning solutions, heat effect on zinc, and the metallic zinc finish, require particular design guidelines be observed to ensure that steel after hot dipped galvanising performs precisely as the engineer intends it to.
Hot Dipped Galvanising Process
Hot dipped galvanising is a factory-controlled process where strong steel is cleaned progressively in caustic, acid (sulfuric or hydrochloric) and flux solutions before it is immersed in a bath of 830 Fahrenheit of molten zinc. Because of a metallurgical reaction, the molten zinc gives a nice coating on the steel. This finish has 4 layers, the 3 layers are zinc alloy, and the 4th is a top layer of pure zinc. A tight adherent and abrasion resistant coat is created as a result of the said reaction. In fact, the three layers of zinc alloy are harder than the steel itself and have a bond to the steel of an estimated 3,600 psi, creating a tough coating, very hard to damage when erected and exposed to harsh weather conditions. Normal coatings for steel are in excess of 4 mils, but this vary depending on the steel type and thickness. Unlike many steel coatings where there’s a specified thickness, the engineer must provide minimum thickness, depending on the coat specification utilized.
How the Zinc Protects the Steel
A zinc finish is metallic, therefore there is no way moisture can penetrate it. The zinc coating serves as a barrier. It separates the steel electrolyte solutions like rain, salt water, dew, and water. The zinc coat which is exposed to the air will sacrificially corrode before the steel will corrode. This includes when gouges or scratches occur when steel products are erected.
The rate of corrosion of zinc in most environments is very low, meaning the hot-dipped galvanised coating will protect the steel from rusting for 75 long years or more. In the zinc corrosion process, the zinc coating continuously forms a luster of zinc carbonate, zinc oxide, and zinc hydroxide. The carbonate coat is tightly bound to the zinc underneath, slow to react to the caustic elements in the air, and is not soluble in water.
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