What is Galvanized Steel – Galvanized Steel Advantages & Types of Steel Galvanization

2022.2.22

Steel is a popular material forsheet metal fabrication. Galvanized steel refers to the galvanized treatment on the steel surface. Galvanized steel is not easy to rust due to the protection of zinc. How does the galvanization work and what are the different types of steel galvanization, let’s get into it.

What is Galvanized Steel?

Galvanized steel refers to ordinary carbon construction steel, which can effectively prevent steel corrosion and rust after galvanizing such as electro galvanizing and hot-dip galvanizing, so as to prolong the service life of steel. It is generally used for building exterior walls, such as glass curtain walls, marble curtain walls, and aluminum curtain walls as columns and stress-bearing materials, or for outdoor telecommunications towers, highways, and other open-air buildings


Advantages of Galvanized Steel

Galvanizing the metal can make it corrosion-resistant. Without a protective zinc coating, steel will always be exposed to elements and will be oxidized and corroded faster. In terms of corrosion prevention, galvanized steel is an economical and effective alternative to austenitic stainless steel, aluminum, and other materials.

镀锌如何工作?

通过镀锌有很多方法可以保护金属。首先,它形成一种保护涂层,将金属与周围环境分开。锌层防止了空气中的水,水分和其他元素来腐蚀钢。如果锌涂层被刮伤,并且划痕非常深,则金属暴露且易于腐蚀。

当具有不同电化学组合物的两种金属接触现有电解质时,会发生电腐蚀。根据两种金属的原子结构,一个是阳极,另一个是阴极。阳极腐蚀的速率比其自身的腐蚀快,而阴极腐蚀的速率比其自身的腐蚀慢。锌用于镀锌,因为当与许多不同类型的金属接触时它充当阳极。由于与基础金属接触的锌涂层通常是阳极,因此基础金属或阴极的腐蚀性减慢。

Types of Steel Galvanization - Types of Galvanizing Methods

1. Hot Dip Galvanizing

As the name suggests, it involves immersing the base metal into the molten pool of zinc. First, the base metal must be mechanically cleaned, chemically cleaned, or both. This ensures a good bond between the base metal and the zinc coating. After cleaning, the matrix metal is dissolved to remove any residual oxides. The matrix metal is then immersed in the heated zinc solution to form a metallurgical bond. The advantages of this method are economy, speed, and complex shape. However, the resulting coating may not be consistent with other galvanizing processes.

2. Pre-Galvanizing

预镀锌非常类似于热浸镀锌,但通常在已经具有特定形状的材料上进行。欧宝官网首页该方法的一个优点是大线圈可以用比热浸镀锌更均匀的涂层快速镀锌。缺点是,一旦开始制造预镀锌金属,就会出现未涂覆的未涂覆区域。这意味着当长片被切割成较小尺寸时,露出切割金属的边缘。

3. Electro Galvanizing

Electro galvanizing, different from the previous process, electro grinding zinc does not use the molten pool of zinc. Instead, the process uses the current in the electrolyte solution to transfer zinc ions to the matrix metal. The advantages of this method are uniform coating and accurate coating thickness. However, this coating is usually thinner than the zinc coating obtained by the hot-dip galvanizing method, which may lead to reduced corrosion protection.