Improving the Quality of the Coating at Hot-Dip Galvanizing of Machine Steels in the Zinc Melt with Microadditives of Nickel

The technology of microalloying zinc melt by nickel is widely used to control the thickness of the zinc coating when the machine steels are subject to hot-dip galvanization. However, in some cases inclusions of Ni-Zn-Fe dross are formed on surface of the products, which leads to their deterioration. The aim of this work is to investigate the microstructure, mechanism of formation and elemental composition of this dross. Conditions for the formation of different phases in the coating were analyzed using Ni-Zn-Fe ternary diagram. It was found that Ni-Zn-Fe dross is a ζ-phase containing about 0.5 at. % nickel and isomorphic with FeZn13-phase. The main reasons for the formation of Ni-Zn-Fe dross are Zn-Fe contamination in the melt, the excess nickel concentration (more than 0.06 at.%), and the irregular nickel concentration in the melt. Methods for preventing this type of defects in hot-dip galvanization have been proposed.