Product criteria of suitability for hot-dip galvanizing
Description Suitability for hot-dip
1 Dimensions
2 Weight
3 Thin-walled articles (wall
thickness of 0,8-2 mm)
4 Structures without holes or
hinges
5 Tanks, drums, pipe coils
6 Reservoirs, containers
7 Pockets, closed cavities,
air-pockets
8 Hollow products and
articles of irregular shape
9 Pipes, branch pipes, Unsuitable
housings with blind plugs
10 Welded tube structures
11 Welding gap is less than 4
mm
12 Welded structures where
different steel grades are
used
Remarks
galvanizing
Design
13,6 2,2 3,1 m Galvanizing of longer articles
(LWD) - is possible upon prior
recommended agreement
maximum 9 t Limited by the crane capacity
Test galvanizing is Risk of temperature
required deformation
Method of loading on jig Additional provision of holes
should be considered or hinges, or usage of special
tooling
Unsuitable Generally, fabrication holes are
not acceptable in such
structures, and galvanizing of
structures with enclosed
volumes is not acceptable.
Each structure to be Formation of air pockets or
considered separately. areas with significant amount
of trapped zinc is possible.
Unsuitable, or adaptation All cavities should ensure
is required unimpeded inlet and outlet of
liquids, melted zinc and flux
decomposition gases.
Each structure to be Test galvanizing is required
considered separately
There is no free outlet of zinc
from the interior volume of the
product, formation of air-
pockets is possible
Suitable, if fabrication Thorough examination of
holes are available structure for availability of
fabrication holes is required.
For requirements to fabrication
holes refer to table
Relationship between pipe
size and number of holes in
plugs at their ends
Blind gaps are not Liquid from pre-treatment area
acceptable, through gaps can penetrate into blind gaps
can be sealed off with causing explosion due to its
zinc evaporation during immersion
into the zinc melt.
Through gaps of less than 4
mm size are subject to
intensive crevice corrosion
over time
Suitable Coating appearance on
different steel grades can differ
significantly
13 Internal stress
concentration zones
(unacceptable bend radius)
14 Different wall thicknesses
of structural components
15 Overlapping zones
16 Sheet metal products
17 Folded or flanged edges of
metal sheets
18 Edge bend radii
19 Tanks, pipes:
-for potable water
-for service water
-for process fluids transfer
25 Product surface has marks
of paint coats, highlighters,
silicon grease or sealants
26 Product surface has marks
of rust, scale, oils, greases,
coolants
27 Surface roughness
Unsuitable Possible destruction at the
galvanizing temperature
Expansion of material Minimum and maximum
and behavior of thickness ratio should not
components with thin exceed 1:5
and thick walls during
cooling down can differ
depending on thickness
ratio
Presence of overlapping Small overlapping zones to be
zones should be avoided, airtightly welded along the
where possible contour. For large overlapping
zones, on the contrary, vent
holes to be provided.
Stability of sheet metal is It is preferable to use not flat
not high. Besides, if sheets, but sheets with large
there is no possibility for bend radius.
product expansion during
hot-dip galvanizing, then
distortion can easily
occur.
Possibility of gap Particular care is required, so
formation that during galvanizing acid or
flux residuals did not sediment
in crevices and these
overlapping zones could be
sealed off with zinc melt.
Possibility of air-pockets It is required to ensure
formation unimpeded inlet and outlet of
zinc; if required, special holes
should be provided.
Purpose
Unsuitable Coating contains lead
Suitable
Suitable, if fluid is
5,5 to 12,5 and fluid
temperature does not
exceed 35
Surface
Such zones will not be Mechanical removal of such
galvanized contaminants is required
Suitable These contaminants to be
removed in the pre-treatment
zone
Affects the coating Surfaces with very deep
thickness roughness, for example, steel
elements shot blasted using
shots with very sharp edges,
 generally, form thicker zinc
coating, since rough surface
provides larger area for
reaction.
28 Low quality surfaces These are the reasons of Mechanical removal of such
having such defects as low quality coating or defects is required
voids, flakes, stripes, coating unsuitable for
wrinkles. operation
29 Thread surfaces Zinc coating thickness is Thread surfaces should be
significant, thus, this isolated before galvanizing by
thread cannot be used means of cloth tape (male
without rethreading thread), heat-proof mastic
(female thread)

30 Welded joints:
- butt welding or double-
sided welding, or single-
sided welding with backing
run;
- overlapping loopback
connections continuous
along the perimeter,
without gaps;
-point or non-continuous
welding;
-pores, blowholes, cracks,
slag inclusions, filler
coupling of weld joins,
splatters;
-manual welding using
high silicon electrodes
31 Products requiring
preliminary degalvanizing
Welded joints
Suitable
Suitable
Unsuitable
Unsuitable Deseaming is required, sand
blasting is recommended
Suitable, but not High silicon content causes
recommended visible difference of weld joint
from other surface
Special cases
Suitable, but test In case of thin-walled articles
galvanizing is thickness can be reduced to
recommended undesirable tolerances.
Products can have worse
appearance than the ones non
subject to degalvanizing, and
this should be approved with
the customer.

Relationship between pipe size and number of holes in plugs at their ends

Pipe type Holes quantity and size

1 2 3
15 15 2010 8
20 20 3015 10
30 30 4020 12 10
 40 40 5030 14 12
50 50 6040 16 12 10
60 60 8040 20 12 10
80 80 10060 20 16 12
100 100 12080 25 20 12
120 120 16080 30 25 20
160 160 200120 40 25 20
200 200 260140 50 30 25

Diameters of fabrication holes should not be less than 10 mm. Actual sizes shall be selected from
experience, namely, fabrication hole area of long-profile structures should be minimum1/7
1/10 of sectional area of profile included in the structure. The more the size of fabrication holes
is, the smoother galvanizing proceeds and the higher is the coating quality.

Large-sized parts should have fabrication holes of 15-25 mm diameter at 50 mm distance from
the article end (parts longer than 2 m should have holes at two sides).