Abstract:
The surface cleanliness of the uncoated steel strip after the cleaning section is extremely important to avoid residue and incrustation on the hot-dip galvanizing line (CGL) rolls, the lack of adhesion of the coating to the substrate surface and contamination of the Zn bath, mainly with Fe. The typical method to assess the surface cleanliness is the reflectance test, as it is low cost, requires few laboratory resources, is non-destructive and fast. It consists of applying a pressure-sensitive adhesive tape over the strip to collect the contaminants and, later, their evaluation by a reflectometer. However, this is a qualitative analysis, and its result is only indicative. Therefore, in this study a comparative analysis was performed between this method and the C and Fe remained concentrations the steels’ surfaces processed in the cleaning section of CGL2 of Unigal. Statistically significant correlations were obtained between the reflectance measurements and the remained concentrations of C, measured by C analyzer, and Fe, analyzed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. Thus, it was possible to validate the reflectance test providing subsidies for a better understanding of this extremely relevant process parameter for the surface quality and coating adhesion of hot-dip galvanized steels