Synergy of ball-milling and pre-oxidation on microstructure and corrosion resistance of hot-dip zinc coating of nodular cast iron
Zhiwei Li, Haoping Peng, Ya Liu, Xuping Su, Sibudjing Kawi, Jianhua Wang
Abstract
In this study, nodular cast iron parts, grinding balls, and NaHCO3 powder were placed together in a ball milling cylinder to perform the coordinated pretreatment of ball-milling and pre-oxidation. And then the cast iron parts were hot-dipped galvanized to study the synergy of ball-milling and pre-oxidation on the microstructure and corrosion resistance of the coating. The results showed that after pre-oxidation at 300 °C, Si on the surface of nodular cast iron is oxidized to form SiO2, Fe is not oxidized, and the substrate surface is selectively oxidized. After the non-oxidization sample is pickled, its surface Si content is 2.88 wt. %. After the pre-oxidized sample is pickled, its surface Si content is 2.07 wt. %. After the synergy of ball-milling and pre-oxidation, the surface Si content on the cast iron is 1.52 wt. %. Compared with the sample without pre-oxidation, the surface Si content on the cast iron after pre-oxidation decreases by 28%, and the surface Si content on the cast iron with the synergy of ball-milling and pre-oxidation decreases by 47%. In the hot-dip galvanized coating, as the surface Si content on the cast iron decreases, the ζ grains are refined, and the thickness of the Fe–Zn alloy layer decreases. The sample with the synergy of ball-milling and pre-oxidation has the finest ζ grains and the thinnest alloy layer thickness. In electrochemical corrosion, as the Si content on the cast iron surface decreases, the corrosion potential of the ζ layers are consistent, the corrosion current density decreases, the thickness of the passivation film increases, and the polarization resistance increases. The corrosion resistance of the ζ layers obtained under different pretreatment conditions is in order non-oxidization and pickling sample < pickling after pre-oxidation sample < synergy of ball-milling and pre-oxidation sample.