Structural Properties of Zinc and ZnMgAl Coatings on Steel Sheets

Abstract

In the paper mutual comparison of zinc coatings enriched with small additions of Mg and Al (up to 1 wt.% Mg and 1 wt.% Al) and traditional zinc coatings produced by hot dip galvanizing, concerning some important properties of coatings like coating structure, cracks formation after deformation and corrosion resistance of deformed samples was studied. It was shown, that while traditional hot-dip zinc coatings are formed by homogenous zinc layer, exhibiting only low amount of soluble aluminium, coatings enriched by small amounts of Mg and Al, namely 0.6% Mg and 0.8% Al are formed by dendritic zinc matrix and interdendritic phase containing Zn-Mg-Al eutectics. Development of cracks was investigated in the area of maximal deformation of the samples subjected to stretching. It was found, that while traditional zinc coatings showed sporadic long fine cracks, zinc coatings enriched with Mg and Al exhibited aggregation of short thick cracks in the deformed area. Samples of both materials after stretching were also exposed in neutral salt spray atmosphere in corrosion chamber. It can be concluded, that material with coatings enriched with Mg and Al showed better results in corrosion tests contrary to the presence of massive cracks in the coating. This significantly increased corrosion resistance is possible due to excellent adhesion of zinc coatings, containing Mg and Al on drawing steels.