The corrosion behaviour of nine Zn-Al alloys, pure zinc and pure aluminium was examined in a 2 mass% HCl solution. Furthermore, the behaviour of Zn-50 mass% Al and Zn-60 mass% Al alloys cooled to room temperature by eight methods was also examined in 2 mass%HCl and 3 mass% NaCl solutions. To obtain the information on the effect of cooling conditions after coating on the corrosion behaviour of hot dip Zn-Al alloy coated steel sheet, the results obtained were discussed from the standing point of matrix structure.Up to 60 mass%Al, a sample surface is corroded extensively, while at and above 70 mass%Al, a part of original sample surface remains uncorroded. At 10 mass%Al, a dendrite is corroded preferentially, on the contrary, an interdendritic portion is corroded at and above 30 mass%Al. The mass loss of Zn-Al alloy by corrosion decreases generally with increasing Al content of alloy, except Zn-50 mass%Al, Zn-60 mass%Al and Zn-90 mass%Al alloys. The mass loss of Zn-60 mass%Al alloy is greater than that of pure zinc.Independent of the cooling condition and the alloy type, the mass of sample decreases in a HCl solution, while it increases in a NaCl solution. The mass loss of Zn-50 mass%Al alloy in a HCl solution decreases with decreasing cooling rate, while the mass gain in a NaCl solution increases. The mass loss of Zn-60 mass% Al alloy in a HCl solution is greater when the alloy is cooled to room temperature in 54ks, and is smallest when the alloy is held in an alpha region and then water-quenched. In each solution, a Znrich portion is corroded prior to an Al-rich one. (Received June 16, 1986) Keywords: zinc-aluminium alloys, corrosion behaviour, HCl solution, NaCl solution, hot dip alloy coating, cooling conditions, matrix structure Recently, several alloy coatings which had a more corrosion resistance than zinc coating were developed. For example, Zoccola et al. (1) studied the relation between the corrosion behaviour and the composition of Zn-Al alloys, and from the results obtained they developed the Al-43.5 mass%Zn-1.5 mass% Si alloy coating called a Galvalume alloy coating.A hot dip alloy coated steel sheet is produced by pre-treating, followed by hot dipping and cooling. Generally, the cooling condition after coating is decided mainly on the basis of spangle structure. If the corrosion behaviour depends on the matrix structure, namely the cooling condition after coating, an adequate cooling would lead to an increase in the corrosion resistance of alloy coated steel sheet.In this study, the effect of Al content on the corrosion behaviour of Zn-Al alloys was studied first from the standing point of matrix structure. The corrosion behaviour of Zn-50 mass%Al and Zn-60 mass%Al alloys was studied second to obtain the information on the effect of cooling conditions on the corrosion resistance of alloy coated steel sheet.
Materials and specimen preparationThe materials employed in this study were nine Zn-Al alloys, and pure zinc and pure aluminium for comparison.The alloys were prepared by weighing zinc (99.9%) an...