Experimental Study on the Electrochemical Anti-Corrosion Properties of Steel Structures Applying the Arc Thermal Metal Spraying Method

The arc thermal metal spraying method (ATMSM) provides proven long-term protective coating systems using zinc, aluminum and their alloys for steel work in a marine environment. This paper focuses on studying experimentally the anti-corrosion criteria of ATMSM on steel specimens. The effects of the types of spraying metal and the presence or absence of sealing treatment from the thermal spraying of film on the anti-corrosion performance of TMSM were quantitatively evaluated by electrochemical techniques. The results showed that ATMSM represented a sufficient corrosion resistance with the driving force based on the potential difference of more than approximately 0.60 V between the thermal spraying layer and the base substrate steel. Furthermore, it was found that the sealing treatment of specimens had suppressed the dissolution of metals, increased the corrosion potential, decreased the corrosion current density and increased the polarization resistance. Metal alloy Al–Mg (95%:5%) by mass with epoxy sealing coating led to the most successful anti-corrosion performance in these electrochemical experiments.