Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Distribution of aluminum in hot-dip galvanized coatings

  • Published:
Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Hot-dip galvanized panels of low-carbon (LC) and interstitial-free (IF) steels were produced in a laboratory simulator with an average coating mass of 60 g/m2. Three pot aluminum levels were used, viz., 0.10 pct (by wt), 0.15 pct, and 0.18 pct. Metallography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize coating and base steel microstructures. Wet chemical analysis and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) were employed for compositional analyses. The aluminum content of the melt was found to be the predominant factor influencing the distribution of Al in the coating. At 0.18 pct melt aluminum, Al is partitioned between the aluminide inhibition layer at the coating-steel interface (∼80 pct) and the zinc overlay (∼20 pct). At 0.15 pct, it is partitioned among the aluminide layer (∼75 pct to 80 pct), zinc-iron (FeZn13, ζ) intermetallic layer (∼5 pct to 15 pct), and the coating overlay (∼10 pct). At 0.10 pct, the aluminum is divided almost equally between the overlay and the zinc-iron intermetallics. At the two lower aluminum levels is the distribution marginally influenced by the steel grade. The ζ was found to not preferentially nucleate at the ferrite grain boundaries. When both the aluminide and ζ occurred at the coating-steel interface, the ζ particles appeared near discontinuities and thinner regions in the aluminide layer. The coating, relative to the melt, is enriched in aluminum because of its concentration in the aluminide and in the zinc-iron intermetallics. This enrichment increases with melt aluminum through an increase in the aluminum content of the aluminide layer and not of its thickness. In addition, a few tens-of-nanometers-thick layer enriched in aluminum, oxygen, and iron is observed on the outer surface of all coatings. The aluminum content in this layer also increases with an increase in the melt aluminum, but it contributes negligibly to the coatings’s content because of its extreme thinness.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. M.L. Hughes: J. Iron Steel Inst., 1950, Sept., pp. 77–84.

  2. Mirek Urednicek and J.S. Kirkaldy: Z. Metallkd., 1973, vol. 64(12), pp. 899–910.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. G.J. Harvey and P.D. Mercer: Metall. Trans., 1973, vol. 4, pp. 619–21.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. A. Nishimoto, J. Inagaki, and K. Nakaoka: Trans. Iron Steel Inst. Jpn., 1986, vol. 26, pp. 807–13.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. M. Saito, Y. Uchida, T. Kittaka, Y. Hirose, and Y. Hisamatsu: Iron Steel Inst. Jpn., 1991, vol. 77 (7), pp. 947–954.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. S. Belise: in The Physical Metallurgy of Zinc Coated Steel, A.R. Marder, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1993, pp. 65–76.

    Google Scholar 

  7. M. Gagne, S. Belise, G.L. Esperance, and F. Goodwin: Intergalva 97, Proc. 5th Int. Zinc Coated Sheet Conf., Birmingham, England, 1997, pp. 1–9.

  8. G.G. Brummit, S.L. Boston, H. Guttman, and S. Belise: Galvatech ’92, 2nd Int. Conf. on Zinc and Zinc Alloy Coated Steel Sheet, Amsterdam, 1992, Centre de Recherches Metallurgiques, ed., Stahleisen, Dusseldorf, pp. 55–61.

    Google Scholar 

  9. I. Hertveldt, J. Craenen, J. Dilewijns, B. Blanpain, C. Xhoffer, and B.C. De Cooman: in Zinc Based Steel Coating Systems: Production and Performance, F.E. Goodwin, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1998, pp. 13–25.

    Google Scholar 

  10. M. Guttmann, Y. LePretre, A. Aubry, M.J. Roch, T. Moreau, P. Drillet, J. Mataigne, and H. Baudin: Galvatech ’95: The Use and Manufacture of Zinc and Zinc Alloy Coated Sheet Steel Products into the 21st Century, The Iron and Steel Society, Warrendale, PA, 1995, pp. 295–307.

    Google Scholar 

  11. P. Toussaint, L. Segers, R. Winand, and M. Dubois: in Zinc Based Steel Coating Systems: Production and Performance, F.E. Goodwin, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1998, pp. 27–37.

    Google Scholar 

  12. M. Gagne, E. Baril, S. Belise, G.L. Esperance, E. Boutin, B. Hong, and F. Goodwin: in Zinc Based Steel Coating Systems: Production and Performance, F.E. Goodwin, ed., TMS, Warrendale, PA, 1998, pp. 229–38.

    Google Scholar 

  13. C.S. Lin and M. Meshii: Galvatech ’95: The Use and Manufacture of Zinc and Zinc Alloy Coated Sheet Steel Products into the 21st Century, The Iron and Steel Society, Warrendale, PA, 1995, pp. 335–42.

    Google Scholar 

  14. V. Furdanowicz and K.E. Downey: J. Microsc., 1994, vol. 174, Warrendale, PA, part 1, pp. 55–58.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. P. Perrot, J.C. Tissier, and J.Y. Dauphin: Z. Metallkd., 1992, vol. 83, pp. 786–90.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Ortrud Kubaschewski: Iron-Binary Phase Diagrams, Springer-Verlag, New York, NY, 1982, pp. 172–75.

    Google Scholar 

  17. N.Y. Tang: J. Phase Equilibria, 1996, vol. 17 (5), pp. 396–98.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Z.W. Chen, R.M. Sharp, and J.T. Gregory: Mater. Sci. Technol., 1990. vol. 6, pp. 1173–76.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. R. Swalin: Thermodynamics of Solids, John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY, 1962, p. 84.

    Google Scholar 

  20. J.A. Rice: Mathematical Statistics & Data Analysis, Wadsworth, Belmont, CA, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  21. A. Stadlbauer, A. Angerberbauer, A. Kapellina, W. Pusch, F. Rubenzncker, J. Faderl, and L. Schonberger: SEAISI. Q., 1998, Apr., p. 46.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Homer Research Laboratories, Bethlehem Steel Corporation, 18016, Bethlehem, PA

    Valdemar Furdanowicz (Research Engineer) & C. Ramadeva Shastry (Research Consultant)

Authors
  1. Valdemar Furdanowicz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. C. Ramadeva Shastry
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Furdanowicz, V., Shastry, C.R. Distribution of aluminum in hot-dip galvanized coatings. Metall Mater Trans A 30, 3031–3044 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-999-0214-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-999-0214-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation