Surface Characterization of Hot and Cold Rolled Low-Carbon Steel Strips after Galvanizing and Galvannealing

Abstract

Surface topography is of paramount interest in science, technology, and industry. Surface characteristics dominate functional applications in the fields of friction, wear, lubrication, fatigue, sealing, joining, reflecting, painting, bearing surfaces, and optical properties. The morphology of surfaces can be studied with the aid of techniques such as contact profiler and atomic force microscopy, among others, as will be discussed in this work. Samples of galvanized and galvannealed low-carbon steel strips were obtained to analyze their roughness. The influence of parameters such as rolling direction and the type of rolling process (hot and cold) and the face (top or bottom) of the sheet was analyzed in samples that were either galvanized or galvannealed in a laboratory simulator. Results show that the processing parameters exert a high influence on surface topography.

Keywords:

• Galvanizing
• Galvannealing
• Steel strip
• Surface roughness

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors acknowledge the support from the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT), Mexico and the Program for the Support of Science and Technology (PAICYT) of UANL.

Notes

HR, Hot rolled; CR, Cold rolled.