PSI - Issue 79

A. Bacco et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 79 (2026) 342–347

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4. Conclusion The experimental investigation provided quantitative data and microstructural observations that are fundamental to understanding the fatigue behaviour of STRENX700E galvanised with Zn–5%Al alloy. While galvanising significantly enhances corrosion resistance, it can also introduce surface discontinuities and microcracks, particularly near notched regions, leading to embrittlement and reduced fatigue strength. This is particularly relevant for applications in marine or saline environments, where the interaction between the coating and the local geometry can compromise mechanical durability, requiring more careful evaluation during the design phase. The work also demonstrated that the silicon content in the substrate influences the quality of the coating and its adhesion, with direct effects on crack nucleation. This aspect, rarely considered in conventional calculation models, suggests the opportunity to integrate metallurgical parameters into fatigue design criteria. The experimental evidence collected provides a solid basis for future studies on alternative coatings and geometry optimization. Alhamdany, A.A., Alhamdany, A.A., Kadhim, M.K. (2024a). Characterization the effect of hot dip galvanize on the mechanical and the fatigue properties of the steel B500B. AIP Conference Proceedings, 3002(1), 060019. Alhamdany, A.A., Alhamdany, A.A., Kadhim, M.K. (2024b). Numerical and experimental investigation of fatigue behavior of hot-dip galvanizing steel. AIP Conference Proceedings, 3002(1), 080023. Astorre, A., Brevaglieri, B., Cecchini, M., Natali, S., Pace, F., 2000. No-traditional flux for the reactive silicon steel hot dip galvanising. Metall. Ital. 92(10), 43–48. Bellini, C., Carlino, F., Natali, S., 2019. Analysis of the Al and Ti additions influences on phases generation and damage in a hot dip galvanizing process. Procedia Struct. Integr. 18, 688–693. Berto, F., Mutignani, F., Pittarello, L. (2016). Effect of hot-dip galvanization on the fatigue behaviour of welded structural steel. Procedia Structural Integrity, 2, 1813–1820. Carpinteri, A., Di Cocco, V., Fortese, G., Scorza, D., Vantadori, S., 2016. Kinetics of Intermetallic Phases and Mechanical Behavior of ZnSn3% Hot-Dip Galvanization Coatings. Adv. Eng. Mater. 18(12), 2088–2094. Di Cocco, V., Iacoviello, F., D’Agostino, L., Natali, S., 2017. Damage micromechanisms in a hot dip galvanized steel. Procedia Struct. Integr. 3, 231–236. Di Cocco, V., Iacoviello, F., Natali, S., 2014. Damaging micromechanisms in hot-dip galvanizing Zn based coatings. Theor. Appl. Fract. Mech. 70, 91–98. Guraja, S.S.S., Patra, S., Arora, K.S., Kumar, N. (2022). Liquid metal embrittlement (LME) of high-strength steels during spot welding: A review. Transactions of the Indian Institute of Metals, 75(7), 1695–1709. Hasegawa, K., Morita, M., Motoda, S. (2020). Effect of microstructure at coating layer on fatigue strength in hot-dip galvanized steel. ISIJ International, 60(11), 2525–2532. Ikeda, Y., Han, S., Maaß, R., Wallis, T., Kamachali, R.D. (2025). On the preference of liquid-metal embrittlement along high-angle grain boundaries in galvanized steels. Scripta Materialia, 265, 116723. Jabbar, M.A., Yousif, M.Y., Jasim, N.H. (2023). Effect of elemental additions on hot-dipping galvanization behavior. Cogent Engineering, 10(1), 2220480. Kuang, C.F., Zheng, Z.W., Wang, M.L., Xu, Q., Zhang, S.G. (2017). Effect of hot-dip galvanizing processes on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 600-MPa hot-dip galvanized dual-phase steel. International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials, 24(12), 1379–1383. Kühne, R., Voelkel, J., Bartsch, H., Feldmann, M., Pinger, T., Sharma, R., Reisgen, U. (2025). Fatigue strength of additively manufactured hot- dip galvanized steel coated with a Zn–5Al alloy. Progress in Additive Manufacturing, 10, 4887–4899. Lipiäinen, K., Björk, T., Hänninen, H. (2022). Fatigue performance of notched and hot-dip galvanized S960 steel components. International Journal of Fatigue, 162, 106899. Prabitz, K.M., Asadzadeh, M.Z., Pichler, M., Antretter, T., Beal, C., Schubert, H., Hilpert, B., Gruber, M., Sierlinger, R., Ecker, W. (2021). Liquid metal embrittlement of advanced high strength steel: Experiments and damage modeling. Materials, 14(18), 5451. References