Understanding the Apparently Poor Conductivity of Galvanized Steel Plates

This paper investigates the physical reasons for apparently poor conductivity of galvanized steel plates (GSP), which has not yet received a proper explanation. Apparent conductivities as low 0.1 MS/m were reported in past, are incongruously compared to DC steels (4 8 MS/m), or zinc (16.7 most common coating agent used against corrosion products. A comprehensive review results from metallurgy and materials science is presented, providing insights about multi-layered structure zinc-based coatings. These found be made limited set intermetallic zinc-iron compounds each characterized by steeply decreasing their iron percentage increases. Depending on galvanization process relative thickness these layers can vary widely, explaining seemingly random apparent GSP. Theoretical modeling structures shows that scales linearly with frequency, suggesting it far lower than acknowledged so far. An extensive analysis power-dissipation data literature GSP-based reverberation chambers confirms predictions, multiple instances 10 kS/m.The conclusion GSP hopelessly poorly conductive, but rather care should taken selecting right technology, only based protection minimizing costs, also view its impact conductivity.