scope:

The excellent long-term protection of steel by galvanizing or metallizing, together with the attendant low maintenance cost, have led to the widespread application of zinc coatings to large structures such as highway bridges, power and television transmission towers, etc. The use of zinc-rich paints in the form of welding primers for the temporary protection of shotblasted steel during fabrication and prior to the application of the final paint coating is also increasing each year, typical applications being ship hulls and plating and all forms of structural steelwork. To exploit the exceptional advantages of zinc coatings, both for permanent and temporary protection, it is essential to be able to weld zinc-coated steel and to produce joints having qualities equal to those of joints in uncoated steel. With this objective in mind, the International Lead Zinc Research Organization, Inc. (ILZRO) sponsored a four-year program of work on the arc and gas welding of zinc-coated steels at The Welding Institute, Cambridge, England. The work identified the problems that can occur when welding zinc-coated steel; solutions to these problems have been found. The manual is based on the results of this work and also includes data from other published work.

abstract: