White Rust on Galvanized Steel

Galvanized surfaces, unlike bare steel that develops reddish oxides, exhibit white corrosion products, which manifest as tenacious zinc-based contaminants under humid exposure. This contamination, it forms in layered patterns dependent from environmental moisture, creating adherent films that obscure the underlying metal. The process, influenced from atmospheric factors, leads to irregular deposits, often flaky yet persistent, that demonstrate unique adhesion to the zinc coating. In laser cleaning applications, these contaminants pose distinct removal challenges; the laser beam, it interacts selectively with the zinc layer, risking substrate damage if pulses prove too intense. It appears that material-specific behaviors vary, as galvanized alloys show heightened sensitivity to thermal effects, which complicates efficient ablation. The surface, post-cleaning, exhibits restored smoothness, though residual traces sometimes persist, demanding optimized parameters for complete efficacy.