Corrosion Resistance Of Mg-Added Galvannealed Steel Sheets With Nano-Composite Coating

As competition among global automakers intensifies, demand for materials that are better in price and performance is increasing. While steel and plastic materials compete for automotive fuel tanks, plastic materials have advantages such as light weight for automobiles. However, they have high prices. Accordingly, in this paper, four types of Zn-X plated steel sheets, electroplating (X = none, Sn) and galvannealed (X = Fe, Fe-Mg), were manufactured and their applicability as a fuel tank material was evaluated. Nano-composite coating solution with good conductivity was treated on the surface of plated steels using a roll coater and then cured through induction furnace to improve corrosion resistance. Quality characteristics such as corrosion resistance, fuel resistance to diverse gasoline and diesel fuels, and seam weldability were evaluated for the above plated steels. Their properties were compared and analyzed with conventional Zn-Ni electroplating steels. Among the above plated steels, Zn-Fe-Mg galvannealed steels coated with nano-composite coating exhibited better properties than other steels. Detailed experimental results suggest that evenly distributed Mg elements on the coating layer play a key role in the enhanced quality performance.