From the last third of the last century to the present there have been numerous and important advances in the production technologies of steel, which have promoted and diversified its use to make steel a material without which modern civilisation could not have been conceived. The keys to this success are its high mechanical strength, its ease of production and its relatively low cost.
 
But steel, which is obtained from minerals made up of complex chemical compounds, is a thermodynamically unstable material that tends to recover its initial state by reacting with certain elements of the atmosphere and water, mainly oxygen, salts and acids. This process of combining metals with the environment is what constitutes the phenomenon of corrosion, which leads to its destruction.
 
A variety of methods have been developed to prevent or delay the phenomenon of steel corrosion, with a different degree of efficiency. These methods consist mainly in the addition of some alloying element that facilitate its passivation or in the application of a coating. In short, to provide an insulating barrier between the metal and the aggressive elements of the surrounding environment.
 
Too often the term “galvanisation” is the word used to designate the different coatings use zinc as the basis of protection, without taking into account that there are very sensitive differences between them. For all zinc coatings, the duration of the protection they provide is directly proportional to the zinc mass (or thickness) of said coating, this being the most important characteristic to be taken into account when selecting the system, in order to ensure that the required service life will be reached. Here at Trailer Supplies we provide you with top quality galvanised trailers.
 
What is hot-dipped galvanised coating?
Hot galvanising consists of immersing the steel parts in a bath of molten zinc, maintained at approximately 450ºC. At this temperature, a process of diffusion of the zinc in the steel takes place, which gives rise to the formation of zinc-iron alloys on the surface of the pieces. In the general procedure, the pieces are previously subjected to an exhaustive process of chemical cleaning, which includes degreasing (usually alkaline), pickling (in hydrochloric acid), fluxing in a salt bath (zinc chloride and ammonium chloride) and drying the thickness of the final coatings.
 
There are a number of properties that make hot galvanized steel the most effective protection known against corrosion. We will proceed to summarise it in ten reasons that make this material unbeatable in its performance.
 
1- The life expectancy of these coatings is extremely long.

More than one hundred years of experience in the use of galvanised steel throughout the world have made it possible to know quite accurately the duration of the protection provided by hot-dipped galvanised coatings. Thus, for example, a galvanized coating of medium thickness can protect parts and ferrous materials without needing maintenance for more than 100 years in rural atmospheres, between 35 and 70 years in urban or coastal environments of low salinity and between 17 and 35 years in industrial or coastal environments of normal salinity.
 

Electrolytic zinc coatings, which are sometimes also known under the name of cold galvanised or electrogalvanised, with thicknesses between 5 and 20 microns, provide a much shorter protection. It is not uncommon to see hot-dipped galvanised traffic signs with rust stains from the corrosion of electrogalvanised nuts that, surprisingly, have been used to assemble the various elements.
2- Galvanised coatings protect steel in three different ways:
• Forming a barrier that corrodes at a speed 10 to 30 times lower than that of steel.
• Providing cathodic protection to small areas that may be left bare (edges of cuts or holes, scratches, etc.)
• Sacrificing itself and thus preventing iron oxide from forming in these same bare areas, the main cause of paints’ failure (iron oxide is more voluminous than iron, causing the paint to peel and, therefore, accelerating its oxidation, which does not happen with the zinc coating).

3- Due to the way of obtaining the galvanized coatings,
Which consists of the immersion of the parts and materials to be protected in molten zinc baths, the entire surface thereof is covered both inside and outside. It also happens with the narrow slits, the corners and the hidden parts of the pieces, which are not well protected by other types of coatings.
4- The hot galvanising process produces a zinc coating that is metallurgically bonded to the base steel through a series of layers of zinc-iron alloys.
There is no other coating with this feature, which is what gives galvanised steel its high resistance to shock and abrasion, of great importance to prevent deterioration of the coating during handling, transport, storage and assembly of galvanised material.
Galvanised coatings have a great versatility of use in service, since they protect steel both from atmospheric corrosion and from that caused by water or soil.
5- Maintenance is unnecessary.
The long duration of protection provided by galvanised coatings, which often exceeds the expected service life of the installations, makes the maintenance of galvanised steel constructions unnecessary in most cases. However, if it were ever necessary to extend the duration of the protection of a galvanized material, this can be done easily and at low cost by painting, since these coatings can be reconditioned without the need of expensive surface preparation treatments.
6- Hot galvanising is a simple and perfectly controlled industrial process,
Which allows to obtain zinc coatings of quality and thickness regulated on practically any article or piece of iron or steel. Hot dip galvanised coatings are one of the few steel protection systems that are perfectly specified by national and international standards.
7- The reasonable initial cost of the galvanisation
That in many applications is lower than the other possible alternative coatings, together with its long duration, results in this procedure being the most economical of all known for the long-term protection of buildings. metallic made with steel.
8- Galvanised steel is an environmentally friendly material.
It is a fully recyclable material, capable of producing steel and zinc again. In addition, this mineral, zinc, which constitutes the external envelope of the material and, therefore, the one that is in contact with the environment, is an essential natural element for the life of microorganisms, plants, animals and people.