Galvanized steel made to measure

Galvanized steel

Galvanized steel is steel that is coated with a protective layer of zinc to effectively protect it from environmental influences and rust. This zinc layer reliably protects the material from the weather and moisture and provides unalloyed steel with long-lasting corrosion protection.

Compared to traditional painting, galvanizing offers significantly greater resistance and generally has a longer service life. Although the acquisition costs are slightly higher, this price difference is quickly put into perspective. As galvanized components require hardly any maintenance and the protective coating does not need to be renewed regularly, there are no ongoing maintenance costs. The zinc coating is also more robust and less susceptible to damage.

Galvanized square tubes - ideal for outdoor constructions

Square tubes with a galvanized surface are ideal for weather-resistant constructions, as they combine the corrosion-resistant benefits of galvanization with the good structural properties of hollow profiles. Compared to other, rust-proof materials, they offer a particularly attractive price-performance ratio. If you opt for galvanized structural steel instead of aluminium or stainless steel, you can save a lot of money without having to sacrifice reliable protection against corrosion.

In addition to the low price, galvanized steel also offers the advantage of easy processing, making it particularly popular in trade, industry and construction. We also have many of our products protected against rust by hot-dip galvanizing and also offer a wide selection of galvanized square tubes in our online store.

• Galvanized square tubes made to measure
  Here you will find square tubes with a square cross-section from 15x15mm to 100x100mm
• Galvanized rectangular tubes made to measure
  Here you will find hollow profiles with different edge lengths from 30x20mm to 120x80mm

Self-healing properties

The self-healing properties of hot-dip galvanizing are another advantage of the corrosion protection process. They cause minor damage and scratches in the zinc surface to close automatically, so that the rust protection of the underlying material is automatically restored. This process is the result of the interaction of two mechanisms:

1. Sacrificial anode effect:
   When damage occurs to the protective layer, the steel loses electrodes and corrodes. However, as zinc is less noble than steel, a galvanic cell is created so that the zinc gives up its electrodes to the steel and makes up for the loss. So instead of the steel corroding, the zinc corrodes and in a sense sacrifices itself.
2. Zinc patina formation:
   Over time, a protective patina of zinc oxide, zinc hydroxide and zinc carbonate forms on the surface of galvanized steel. This layer slows down the further erosion of zinc and can renew itself in humid environments. If the galvanization is damaged, the exposed zinc reacts with air and moisture so that a protective patina forms again.

Galvanized steel vs. stainless steel

Whether you should make your structure from stainless steel or galvanized structural steel depends on a number of factors.

In general, stainless steel is often recommended for applications where particularly high corrosion resistance is required due to contact with acids, salts or other chemicals. The high-quality appearance and suitability for the food industry are also strong arguments against the use of galvanized steel.

However, galvanized steel is usually much cheaper and therefore a particularly economical solution for durable outdoor structures. It is not without reason that it is preferred by the construction industry, in agriculture and in the construction of street lamps or traffic signs.

For the sake of completeness, however, it should be mentioned here that these recommendations are formulated in very general terms and should be viewed with caution, as the term stainless steel covers a wide range of alloys that have very individual strengths and weaknesses. For example, standard V2A stainless steel is not suitable for contact with acids and salts.