Enhancing adhesion and anti-corrosion performance of hot-dip galvanized steels by sandblasting/phosphating co-treatment

The substations outdoor steel structures employed in aggressive marine environments can accelerate corrosion damage and cause incredible degradation of performance. Hot-dip galvanizing and organic coating dual-coated anticorrosion system is currently the most effective and efficient protection strategy. In present paper, sandblasting and phosphating technique were applied to the surface of zinc plating, the effect of various grit-blasting and phosphating technology conditions on the adhesion performance and corrosion resistance of duplex-coated system were systematically investigated. Results revealed that the bonding strength of the duplex coating after grit-blasting and phosphating pretreatment was 3.25 and 2.71 times higher than that of the untreated, respectively. In particular, sandblasting and phosphating coprocessing of duplex coating could furtherly improve the adhesion behavior and corrosion resistance, which mainly due to their synergistic effect. Sandblasting can rough the surface of galvanized coating and generate many pits and scratches. Thus, phosphating can form more needle-like zinc phosphate crystals in those positions, anchoring and pinning firmly the interface between galvanized coating and organic coating. Meanwhile, the phosphating film still acted as an anti-corrosion physical barrier to hinder the intrusion of corrosive medium and protect galvanized steels from storage rust before painting for a long time.

Effects of alkaline zinc bath formulations on electrochemical corrosion behavior of electrogalvanized coatings

The effects of alkaline non-cyanide zinc plating bath formulation on the plating characteristics and deposit properties are investigated. Scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffractometer are used to study the surface morphology and texture of the zinc deposits respectively. Uniform and compact coatings with a dominant (110) texture are obtained for all of the bath formulations. Nevertheless, significant differences in surface morphology and relative preferences for the (110) and (100) planes were found to result from the concentrations of zinc and sodium hydroxide in the bath. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization scan were employed to evaluate the corrosion resistance. The coatings with a moderate Zn (8-11 g/L) and controlled NaOH (120 g/L) contents show good corrosion resistance, with the corrosion current and corrosion rate being the lowest at 8 g/L of Zn and 120 g/L of NaOH. The ratio of texture coefficient, morphology, and compressive residual stress from different bath composition contribute to the corrosion resistant property. The findings from this work should provide useful information of electrogalvanized zinc coatings with enhanced corrosion resistance.

Effect of Current Density Distribution in the Zinc Plating Process

This paper presents an analysis of the current density distribution in the zinc plating process, using a two-dimension approach. The simulation presents a model based on COMSOL Multi-physics software. The simulation neglected the effect of mass transfer and production of gaseous species, in order to simplify the resolution. Additionally, a validation from the simulation through a comparison with the experimental data at similar conditions was performed. The results presented a good agreement between the experimental and simulated data. The graphics from both approaches showed a decreasing trend in the current density along the cathode length. This trend arises from the electrons movement in the electrodes; electrons flow through the least resistive path. Given the fact that zinc electroplating incurs an important industrial application, simulation is becoming a promising way to optimization and improvement.