Damaging and cracks path in bended galvanized specimens: influence of Pb and Sn contents

Hot-dip galvanizing is one of most important protection technique against corrosion in many environments. In this work damage and crack propagation in intermetallic zinc based coating phases was investigated in order to evaluate chemical influence of Pb and Sn in the bath, comparing not-alloyed zinc bath. Hot dip zinc coated ipersandelin steel specimens were investigated in order to identify the main damaging micromechanisms during bending tests, considering both chemical composition and intermetallic phases distribution influence. Longitudinal sections of bended specimens were observed by means of a LOM (Light Optical Microscope) and main damage micromechanisms were identified as longitudinal and radial cracks. Experimetal results obtained with Zn-Pb and Zn-Sn baths were compared with coatings obtained using Zn bath.