A Comparative Study of Non-Ferrous Coatings on Steel
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A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF NON-FERROUS COATINGS ON STEEL A. N. KAPOOR, A. B. CHATTERJEA & B. R. NIJHAWAN National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur Abstract of hydro-electric projects and especially the setting up of the proposed 16,000 tons Considerable tonnages of zinc and tin are import- aluminium reduction plant at Hirakud, ed annually to meet the demands of galvanizing and tinning industries. Keeping in view the large quantities of commercial aluminium availability of raw materials in India, the possi- should be available, and much interest there- bilities of using aluminized steel are discussed. A fore applies to the suitability of aluminium comparison of the micro-structures obtained in for coating steel. different hot-dip processes for protection of steel It has already been established that a surfaces and of the resistance of the coated pro- ducts to corrosion is given. Points in favour of coating of aluminium on steel makes the aluminium-coated steel have been brought out. metal more resistant to heat and to atmo- spheric corrosion. Under many conditions, an aluminium coating on steel, like a zinc Introduction coating, affords galvanic or electrolytic pro- T HE annual consumption; of zinc and tection on bare spots, that is, through anodic tin in India amounts to nearly 30,000 sacrificial attack reduces the corrosive attack and 60,000 tons respectively, though of the exposed steel base metal which acts their indigenous production is almost negli- as the cathode. Zinc coatings, at high gible. The only source of zinc in India is ambient temperatures and humidities, e.g. the Zawar Mines, Udaipur. Deposits, how- in the tropics, corrode readily with the ever, are not very extensive. The zinc con- formation of bulky, unsightly white coatings, centrate produced at Zawar is exported to usually of basic zinc carbonate. Aluminium Belgium for the extraction of zinc, half of coatings, on the other hand, form a thin which is returned. About 40 per cent of the film of impervious aluminium oxide and this imported zinc goes to feed the galvanizing prevents further corrosion. Aluminium coat- industry of India. Tinning and tin-plating ings have also superior resistance to sul- industries consume nearly 50 per cent of the phurous atmospheres in which zinc coatings imported tin. Substantial proportions of the are adversely affected. imports of these metals would be eliminated In the electrochemical series, tin is electro- if some other metal abundantly available in negative to iron, so that no sacrificial protec- India could be used for coating steel. tion is involved. Tin plate very often shows Although the actual production of alu- pin holes in the tin coating given to the steel minium is not high at present, its reserves base. Tin plate is, therefore, not used for in the form of bauxite are extensive. The outdoor applications. Tin is also extremely Lohardaga area in Ranchi district alone is costly and restrictions on its use are justified. estimated to contain sufficient ore to meet Tin plate is consumed mainly by the canning the indigenous requirements for several de- industry. The tin coating in contact with cades to come. Further workable deposits canned food does not give rise to any pro- are available in Madhya Pradesh, Jammu ducts harmful for human consumption. and Salem districts. With the development Aluminium, like tin, is not affected on 25 ts KAPOOR of al .- A COMPARATIVE STUDY. OF NON-FERROUS COATINGS 257 contact with most foods and it is, therefore, protected from oxidation either by bright likely that aluminized steel sheets, possess- annealing or by suitable treatment in a ing all the surface properties of aluminium molten flux bath. Secondly, the aluminium but being much cheaper than aluminium bath must be protected from oxidation sheets, could replace tin plate in the canning either by covering it with suitable flux or industry.. For this purpose it would, of by surrounding it by an inert or reducing course, be essential for the coating to be at atmosphere. Many patents have been based least as perfect as that on good tin plate. on these ideas. Fink2 has suggested the use Aluminized steel sheet is said to lend itself of hydrogen as a reducing atmosphere, both to various fabricating processes, including for the molten aluminium and the base metal. shearing and forming on a press brake, and Alferieff's3-7 method uses an atmosphere can be moderately drawn as also moderately containing hydrogen, nitrogen and a quan- stamped. It can also be welded by conven- tity of water vapour, mixed in suitable pro- tional welding methods. portion so that the gas is oxidizing at low The difficulty associated with hot-dip and reducing at high temperatures- The aluminizing is the high melting point of material, after bright annealing, directly aluminium, coupled with its rapid oxidation enters the molten bath of aluminium main- at aluminizing temperature, necessitating tained under a reducing atmosphere. The the use of suitable fluxes for the protection water vapour effects some decarburization of the aluminium bath. of steel surface and promotes the quick for- mation of the Fe-Al alloy layer. Fig. 1 Coating Processes shows the layout of the process patented by Sendzimire. It shows how wire can be In principle, the hot-dipping process is aluminized under controlled atmospheres. very simple. The steel article to be coated Various chloride- mixtures°"10 have been must be properly cleaned, fully immersed used as suitable fluxes for cleaning and pro- in the molten metal bath and withdrawn tection of the base metal before it enters after an optimum thickness of coating has the aluminium bath. Work done by the been obtained. But in practice the process authors" involving flux treatment of steel is not so simple. Cleaning of the surface of strip has given satisfactory aluminium coat- the molten metal bath, regulation of the bath ing. The flux used was a mixture contain- temperature and the use of additive agents ing 10 per cent cryolite, 10 per cent zinc thereto are important factors each of which chloride, 25 per cent sodium chloride, 30 per exercises marked influence on the quality cent potassium chloride, 20 per cent barium of the resultant coating. chloride and 5 per cent aluminium fluoride. Galvanizing and tinning are relatively Two separate furnaces were used, one for easy operations because of low operating holding the molten flux mixture and the temperatures. The higher melting point of other for the molten aluminium bath. The aluminium makes aluminizing processes more temperature of the flux was maintained at difficult. At these high operating tempe- about 700°C. and that of the aluminium bath ratures, steel tends to get oxidized before at about 675°C. The steel strip was de- it comes into contact with the molten greased and pickled prior to treatment in aluminium bath. Secondly, the tenacious the flux bath. From the flux bath it was film of aluminium oxide, which forms so quickly transferred to the aluminium bath readily in the bath, tends to cover the steel and removed after 15 to 30 seconds' dipping. in the dipping operation and hinders good The coatings obtained were good in respect adhesion. Two precautions are, therefore, of adhesion and uniform thickness of the necessary. First, the base metal must be coated layer and were of pleasing appearance. 258 SYMPOSIUM ON NON-FERROUS METAL INDUSTRY IN INDIA Z S'9 6f 272] 33 2 46 62 00O 0 0 0 00 16 sa 4/ FIG. I - PROCESS FOR COATING WIRES WITH LAYERS OF ALUMINIUM [ From 7'. Se-ndzimir Patent 2,110,893 ( 1938 ) ] Hughes and Moses12 have reported that they such pots easily react with the molten have produced good coatings by using gly- metal and go into solution. The difficulty cerol in place of molten halide flux. The is overcome by the use of special nickel- pilot plant of the fluxing processes as used chrome cast iron containers. Certain refrac- by them is shown in Fig. 2. tory materials, such as graphite, are also Molten halide fluxes are highly reactive resistant to molten aluminium. and corrode not only steel and stainless steel pots but also many refractory materials in- Dross Formation cluding graphite. Mullite containers are resistant to the corrosive action of the flux In galvanizing it is rather difficult to avoid and may, therefore, be used provided their loss of zinc, but it can be reduced to a mini- inherent porosity is low. The melting of mum by adopting suitable precautions. aluminium is not possible in steel pots as Dross formation is comparatively high, but the percentage of zinc lost in the dross varies very widely from a minimum of 6 per cent to a maximum of 38 per cent. In alumin- izing, dross formation is much less and the dross settles down more readily than in gal- vanizing, because it is much heavier than the bath itself. In galvanizing, the dross density does not differ more than 3 per cent from that of the bath. Nature of Coating Microscopic examination of tin, zinc and aluminium coatings does not reveal funda- FIG. 2 - MODIFIED PILOT PLANT ( 1 IN. ]EQUALS mental structural differences. They all con- APPROXIMATELY 41 FT. ) [From Metallurgia, 48 tain one or more alloy layers between the (Sept. 1953) ] 1. Decoiler; 2. Vapour decreaser; 3. Scrubbing box; outer pure metal and the steel base. The 4. Wash tank; 5. Pickling tank ; 6. Pickling tank; coatings, however, differ in their character- 7. Wash tank; 8. Glycerol application ; 9. Furnace and pot; 10. Coiler istics and behaviour. R^q^ n+p1^PpP•^n+nwl^lw I ^+^^"q^^ ► III ii KAPOOR el at.- A COMPARATIV E STUDY OF NON-FERROUS COATINGS 259 When steel is immersed in a molten metal thin and is difficult to detect.