Hot-dip galvanizing – hotter than steel

Steel is a material of innovative power. In transportation, in architecture and in many other areas, it symbolizes modern life. There is no other material that comes even close to attaining the widths, heights, and the strengths of steel. However, steel must be protected because it corrodes as the result of constant exposure to climatic influences. Hot-dip galvanizing provides the most durable corrosion protection for steel. Steel needs zinc.

During the process of hot-dip galvanizing, steel is not simply coated with zinc, the steel parts are immersed in liquid-hot zinc up to about 450°C. This causes a metallurgical reaction in which the two substances are inextricably merged. Hot-dip galvanizing produces iron-zinc alloys that are even stronger than steel itself, providing protection that lasts for fifty years or longer.

Hot-dip galvanized steel has been used in the construction of numerous world-famous buildings, such as the Hongkong-Shanghai bank or the Guggenheim museum. It has also been used for factories, industrial plants, railway stations, multi-story buildings, and shopping centers, as well as public buildings, such as town halls, sports facilities, schools and hospitals.

Hot-dip galvanized steel is even used in the construction of private houses and apartments. Construction elements often consist of hot-dip galvanized steel, regardless of whether they are part of pre-fabricated houses or solid constructions. And don’t forget the large number of small things that we tend to overlook just because they are natural parts of our environment: gratings over cellar shafts, balcony railings, outside staircases, terrace canopies, conservatories, playground equipment, and garden furniture, to name but a few examples.