Scribd
Upload
20 views2 pages

Galvanizing Materials

Galvanizing is a method of protecting metal from corrosion by applying a zinc coating, which shields the base metal from environmental elements. There are various methods of galvanizing, including hot-dip, pre-galvanizing, and electro-galvanizing, each with its own advantages and disadvantages regarding coating consistency and corrosion protection. The process works by creating a protective barrier and utilizing galvanic corrosion principles to enhance the longevity of the base metal.

Uploaded by

Design Oraipl
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
20 views2 pages

Galvanizing Materials

Galvanizing is a method of protecting metal from corrosion by applying a zinc coating, which shields the base metal from environmental elements. There are various methods of galvanizing, including hot-dip, pre-galvanizing, and electro-galvanizing, each with its own advantages and disadvantages regarding coating consistency and corrosion protection. The process works by creating a protective barrier and utilizing galvanic corrosion principles to enhance the longevity of the base metal.

Uploaded by

Design Oraipl
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Galvanizing Materials

What is Galvanizing?
Galvanizing is one of the most widely used to methods for protecting metal from corrosion. It involves
applying a thin coating of zinc to a thicker base metal, helping to shield it from the surrounding
environment. The next time you are in your car, take a look at the street signs and lamp posts you
pass. A large number of them will have a mute, silver color on them. That "silver" is actually the
coating of zinc.

Quite simply, galvanizing a metal gives it anti-corrosion properties. Without the protective zinc coating,
the metal would remain exposed to the elements and potentially oxidize and corrode much faster.
Galvanized Steel is a cost effective alternative to using materials such as austenitic stainless steel or
aluminum in order to prevent corrosion.

How Does It Work?


Galvanizing can protect metal is a number of ways. Firstly, it creates a protective coating that shields
the metal from the surrounding environment. The layer of zinc prevents water and moisture and other
elements in the air from corroding the steel underneath. Should the zinc coating be scratched deep
enough, the metal would become exposed and susceptible to corrosion.

Galvanizing can also protect metal through a process called "galvanic corrosion". Galvanic corrosion
occurs when two metals of a different electrochemical make up are placed into contact with one
another with an electrolyte present, such as salty water. Depending on the atomic structure of the two
metals, one metal is the anode and the other is the cathode. The anode corrodes more rapidly than it
would by itself and the cathode corrodes at a slower pace than it would by itself. The reason zinc is
used for galvanizing is because it has an affinity towards being the anode when in contact with many
different types of metals. Since the zinc coating in contact with the base metal is usually the anode, it
slows the corrosion of the base metal, or the cathode.

Different Methods of Galvanizing


There are several different processes for galvanizing metal..

Hot-Dip Galvanizing

 As the name implies, this method involves dipping the base metal into a molten pool of zinc.
First, the base metal must be cleaned either mechanically, chemically, or both to assure a
quality bond can be made between the base metal and the zinc coating. Once cleaned, the
base metal is then fluxed to rid it of any residual oxides that might remain after the cleaning
process. The base metal is then dipped into a liquid bath of heated zinc and a metallurgical
bond is formed.
 The advantages of this method are that it is economical; it can be performed quickly and to
complex shapes. However, the final coating can be inconsistent relative to other galvanizing
processes.

Pre-galvanizing

 This method is very similar to hot-dip galvanizing but is performed at the steel mill, usually on
materials that already have a specific shape. Pre-galvanizing involves rolling metal sheet
through a similar cleaning process to that of the hot-dip galvanizing process. The metal is
then passed through a pool of hot, liquid zinc and then recoiled.

An advantage of this method is that large coils of steel sheet can be rapidly galvanized with a
more uniform coating compared to hot-dip galvanizing. A disadvantage is that once
fabrication of the pre-galvanized metal begins, exposed, uncoated areas will become present.
This means that when a long coil of sheet is cut into smaller sizes, the edges where the metal
is cut are left exposed.

Electro-galvanizing

 Unlike the previous processes, electrogalvanizing does not use a molten bath of zinc. Instead,
this process utilizes an electrical current in an electrolyte solution to transfer zinc ions onto the
base metal. This involves electrically reducing positively charged zinc ions to zinc metal which
are then deposited on the positively charged material. Grain refiners can also be added which
helps to ensure a smooth zinc coating on the steel. Similar to the pre-galvanizing process,
electrogalvanizing is typically applied continuously to a roll of sheet metal.

Some advantages of this process are a uniform coating and precise coating thickness.
However, the coating is typically thinner than the coating of zinc achieved by the hot-dip
galvanizing method which can result in reduced corrosion protection.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy