DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GALVANIZED AND NON-GALVANIZED STEEL

Steel is one of the most used materials in the construction of facilities and in the fabrication of metal parts such as washers, wires, nails, bolts, screws or bigger structures such as pipelines, high voltage towers, roofing sheets or metallic stairways. All these metallic elements will play a key role in the functioning of the wanted final product or project, therefore the quality and especially the resistance of the metal against corrosion is a very important factor to consider when the manufacturing process is carried out.

The galvanizing process starts with the application of a zinc coating, which is made by immersing the metal piece in a bath of molten zinc, at a temperature of approximately 450º C. This new zinc film offers a cathodic protection to the steel piece, which prevents it from the corrosion. This is due to the fact that in the presence of ambient humidity, zinc acts as an anode and the base material to be protected, in this case steel, acts as a cathode.

LONGER PRODUCT LIFE: A piece of industrial galvanized steel with a layer of zinc of only 0.1 mm in thickness can last up to 70 years under normal conditions.
NO MAINTENANCE COST: Once galvanized, it is not necessary to paint or perform any maintenance.
LOW INITIAL COST: The cost of galvanization is low compared to other protection methods.

VERSATILITY: The immersion process allows galvanizing a varied range of sizes and shapes of the materials.
GREATER THICKNESS AND LAYER RESISTANCE: The achieved alloy gives great resistance against bumps and scrapes derived from movements or installation operations.
COATING GUARANTEE: Galvanizing by immersion ensures a coating of the whole piece.

Hot-Dip Galvanizing Provides Triple Protection

PHYSICAL BARRIER

This kind of coating has a greater hardness and resistance than any other type of coating.

ELECTROCHEMICAL PROTECTION

Over time, a thin layer of zinc oxide that acts as an insulator is formed for the galvanized area.

SELF-CURING

On superficial scratches, a clogging occurs by chemical reaction on the damaged surface. It produces a clogging by chemical reaction of the damaged surface.

On the other hand, the non-galvanized metal does not have any protection against the worst enemy of metals, the corrosion.

This means that the metal that will be used in the fabrication of metal parts, metallic structures or in big projects will have a low resistance and eventually the corrosion will cause deep problems regarding the operation of the same ones, since the used metal would have a very low quality.