Ways to protect building structures against rust

Corrosion of metals causes a lot of economic damage every day: companies spent a lot of money on replacing rusted pipes and supporting steel parts to prevent accidents. Business owners are looking for effective ways to protect metal products and extend their exploitation as much as possible. There are four main methods: covering with varnish and paint, hot-dip galvanizing, thermal spraying, electrochemical protection.

Let’s take a look how to better protect metal in the most effective and cheapest way.

Painting with paints and varnishes

Powder coating materials are noted for their ease of application and reliability. The low price is an additional significant advantage. It is important to choose a paint based on the right resin base: epoxy — will protect better in soil and acidic environments, polyurethane — will resist the effects of sea salts well, polyester — will withstand UV radiation well.

The powder hardens at a high temperature of 180°C and above. Such strong heating is necessary because the powder mass does not contain harmful organic solvents that easily evaporate, harming the environment and human health. The painting process will require a special polymerization furnace and other equipment, but it will pay off quickly.

Hot-dip galvanizing

Sometimes iron is protected by covering it with another metal that is more resistant to corrosion by moisture or other factors. It is done as this — the product is immersed in zinc melted to a liquid state.

There are two ways of applying a protective layer — “dry” and “wet”, the difference is in the application of flux, which makes zinc coating easier. In the first case, the thing is placed in the flux in a separate bath, in the second — the layer tops the molten metal. This method is quite expensive — it reaches 80% of the cost price.

Thermal spraying

Rust-resistant powders are used: lead, chromium, titanium, copper. With a highly heated gas jet, they are evenly distributed over the iron product, so they weld or stuck to a certain surface. Sometimes, the coating turns out to be porous and does not adhere well enough, so it is easily damaged.

Electrochemical protection

Another method is used to avoid the electrochemical type of corrosion, it differs from the chemical one in that electrons are separated in the process, and this damages the entire structure of the iron. A structure, such as a pipeline, is connected to a current source with a negative charge, and any iron object buried in the ground is used as a positive. Such a large number of electrons accumulate on the surface of the part, and it does not rust. Such a solution is technically complex and is used only in special cases.

The Lacover company provides you with simple and high-quality solutions to combat rust. Call +38 (067) 536 53 64 – we are always ready to help!