Role of silicon in steels on galvanized coatings

In this article, five kinds of silicon-containing steel sheets have been electrodeposited, and then immersed in a pure molten zinc bath at 450 °C for various periods of time. The results by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) show that the coating of the sample (0.09 wt pct Si) with iron-electrodeposited pretreatment eliminates the reactive zones which are found in the coating without iron-electrodeposited pretreatment. The galvanized sample (0.28 wt pct Si) with iron-electrodeposited pretreatment exhibits a compact and coherent coating. The coating of the sample (0.37 wt pct Si) with the iron-electrodeposited pretreatment experiences a transition from a compact and coherent coating to a reactive one. The energy dispersive spectrum (EDS) results reveal that for the galvanized samples with iron-electrodeposited pretreatment, excessive silicon accumulates on the surface of the substrate due to the low solubility of silicon in the Γ, after the iron layer is depleted by the increasing growth of the Fe-Zn intermetallics. With the movement of the substrate/Γ interface toward the substrate, silicon-enriched α-Fe peels offi from the substrate and breaks into the particles. The particles move toward the δ layer through the Γ layer because silicon-enriched α-Fe cannot be absorbed in the Γ layer. When the particles reach the δ/Γ interface, they are dissolved in the δ layer, making the Γ layer thin or even vanish.