Effect of the metallic substrate and zinc layer on the atmospheric corrosion resistance of phosphatized and painted electrogalvanized steels

In this work, the influence of the metallic substrate and zinc layer on the atmospheric corrosion resistance of phosphatized and painted electrogalvanized steels was evaluated. For this purpose two types of electrogalvanized steels were used, one with drawing quality carbon steel as metallic substrate, and the other one with a substrate of Ni-Cu-Cr added carbon steel. The corrosion resistance was determined by accelerated and non-accelerated corrosion tests, using cyclic test chambers and field tests in industrial and marine atmosphere. The mean corrosion advance and the maximum corrosion penetration of samples were measured using image analysis techniques. The study showed that the substrate and zinc layer mass play a decisive role on the atmospheric corrosion resistance of the phosphatized and painted electrogalvanized steels. It was also verified that it is possible to use smaller zinc layer masses without compromising the corrosion resistance of the material, provided that the metallic substrate has characteristics of atmospheric corrosion resistance, thus contributing to the improvement of the zinc coated steels.