Secrets of Hot Dip Galvanizing

Hot Dip Galvanizing is the proven way to protect steel from corrosion. It’s zinc-iron alloy coating is tougher than steel, which makes it ideal for transporting and erecting on site.

It is also extremely durable, providing as much as 100 years maintenance-free life in most environments. In line with the new EU guidelines on the Circular Economy, Hot Dip Galvanizing is one of the most sustainable forms of corrosion protection for steel due to its durability and recyclability. It will often outlive its design life, allowing the steelwork to be dismantled for re-use without re-processing.

The real secret of Hot Dip Galvanising is Sacrificial Protection. Zinc corrodes in preference to steel and also sacrifices itself to protect any exposed steel. This is also known as Cathodic protection and ensures that areas of minor damage to galvanized coatings do not become a problem.

Rusty Gates Test

To illustrate this, we galvanized half this farm gate and left the other half exposed to the elements. You can clearly see how the rust is halted where it meets the galvanizing and no sideways creep occurs.

In the unusual event that a galvanized coating is locally damaged, and bare steel is exposed, the zinc coating will limit the damage and prevent any danger of sideways creep of rust, unlike most other coatings.

Because galvanisation involves dipping the steel in molten zinc, all parts of the surface are coated, including the inside of tubes and hollow sections, which would be impossible to protect in any other way.

Hot-dip Galvanizing is the best way to ensure that your project will stand the test of time, saving money in costly maintenance repairs later. And since galvanizing is less expensive than other corrosion protection systems, the cost savings begin before the construction does, while the long-life and maintenance benefits ensure the lowest lifetime cost for your structure.