| The present, comprehensive study of the reactions occurring early in galvanneal processing under conditions typical of commercial production represents the first detailed investigation of the microstructural evolution of the coating in the early stages of galvannealing and the results shed new light on the course of the coating microstructural development.; During hot dipping, an Fe2Al5 inhibition layer formed on the surface of the steel substrate in the first instants of immersion in Zn baths containing as low as 0.10 wt.% Al. When hot-dipping in a 0.14 wt.% Al, the as-dipped coating microstructure consisted of an Fe2Al 5 layer on the steel surface. That layer was covered by a layer of the Fe-Zn compound Gamma1, which was covered by the zeta phase or unalloyed Zn. Substrate chemistry did not affect coating microstructure development in the bath. Thermodynamic predictions of the precipitation behavior during the bath reactions agrees well with experimental observations. A mechanism for coating microstructure development in the Zn bath which is consistent with all the experimental results is proposed. From this information, the metallurgical variables which govern inhibition layer formation are discerned.; The breakdown of the Fe2Al5 inhibition layer during galvannealing at 500°C occurred without the formation of outbursts. Instead, the grain boundary diffusion of Al into the steel substrate accounted for dissolution of the inhibition layer in the first second of galvannealing. A mechanism for inhibition layer breakdown is presented. P-additions affected only the rate at which the inhibition layer dissolved and did not affect the rate of Fe-Zn compound formation. P in the substrate blocked grain boundary diffusion of Al into the substrate thus slowing inhibition layer dissolution. The slower overall galvannealing behavior often observed on P-bearing substrates is due to a longer period of inhibition layer survival which results in a longer incubation period for the initiation of the formation of Fe-Zn compounds.; The coating solidified after inhibition layer dissolution by the continuous formation of new delta grains from the liquid at the solidification front. The microstructural evolution of the entire coating, including the formation of Gamma and Gammal, during solidification is also presented. |
