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Corrosion DoctorsMetallic coatings provide a layer that changes the surface properties of the workpiece to those of the metal being applied. The workpiece becomes a composite material exhibiting properties generally not achievable by either material if used alone. The coatings provide a durable, corrosion resistant layer, and the core material provides the load bearing capability. The deposition of metal coatings, such as chromium, nickel, copper, and cadmium, is usually achieved by wet chemical processes that have inherent pollution control problems. (corrosion costs study)
Alternative metal deposition methods have replaced some of the wet processes and may play a greater role in metal coating in the future. Metallic coatings are deposited by electroplating, electroless plating, spraying, hot dipping, chemical vapor deposition and ion vapor deposition. Some important coatings are cadmium, chromium, nickel, aluminum and zinc.Plating and surface treatment processes are typically batch operations, in which metal objects are dipped into and then removed from baths containing various reagents to achieve the desired surface condition. The processes involve moving the object being coated through a series of baths designed to produce the desired end product. These processes can be manual or highly automated operations, depending on the level of sophistication and modernization of the facility and the application.
The most widely used metallic coating method for corrosion protection is galvanizing, which involves the application of metallic zinc to carbon steel for corrosion control purposes. Hot-dip galvanizing is the most common process, and as the name implies, it consists of dipping the steel member into a bath of molten zinc. Information released by the U.S. Commerce Department in 1998 stated that about 8.6 million metric tons of hot-dip galvanized steel and 2.8 million metric tonsof electrolytic galvanized steel were produced in 1997. The total market for metallizing and galvanizing in the United States is estimated at $1.4 billion. This figure is the total material cost of the metal coating and the cost of processing, and does not include the cost of the carbon steel member being galvanized/metallized.
Metallizing is defined as the application of very thin metallic coatings for either active corrosion protection (zinc or aluminum anodes) or as a protective layer (stainless steels and alloys). Application can be by flame spraying or electroplating. Other advanced processes such as plasma arc spraying can be used for exotic refractory metals for very demanding applications, but most of the advanced processes are not used for corrosion control. The metallizing anode market ranges from $5 million to $10 million annually, and is also growing due to the recognition by government agencies that life-cycle costs are significant if corrosion mitigation is not specified from the start. (reference)