Anticorrosion protection of strength bolts

Abstract

Corrosion damage may, from the technical point of view, cause changes in mechanical and physical characteristics in particular, at the same time it may also cause changes in surface geometry. These aspects are likely to manifest themselves in all steel parts. The presented study looks at corrosion protection in bolts and bolt connections protected by metal coating based on zinc.Four different types of passivation, easily accessible on the Czech market, have been selected for this experiment. They are as follows: first, galvanic plating using white zinc; second, galvanic plating using yellow zinc; third, hot dip galvanizing; fourth, specific type of plating using the technology Dacromet 500 LC. In order to compare the given parameters there have been selected a unified M bolt size of 8 × 30 mm. The experimental part of this study can be further divided into two phases. The initial phase puts stress on the exact specification of the protection layer, namely, the analysis and establishment of the elemental compositon contained in the given coating, its microhardness, weight and thickness. The second phase of the experiment analyses the results of tests according to the norm ČSN ISO 9227 (Salt Fog Test) and ČSN ISO 6988 (Sulphur Dioxide Test). With the tests we have concentrated on the initial stages of corrosion degradation and its overall process.