Textures and Microstructures, 1995, Vol. 23, pp.

131-147 OPA (Overseas Publishers Association)

(C) 1995
Reprints available directly from the publisher. Amsterdam B.V. Published under license by
Photocopying permitted by license only Gordon and Breach Science Publishers SA
Printed in Malaysia

CRACKING IN ZINC LAYERS ON

CONTINUOUS GALVANIZED SHEETS
A Review
S. LAZIK, C. ESLING and J. WEGRIA*
Laboratoire de Mtallurgie des Matriaux Polycristallins (LM2P),
E.P. CNRS 98, Universit de Metz, 57045 Metz, France
*Union Minidre (UM), Recherche et D#veloppement, Usine des ASTURIES,
59950 Auby les Douai, France
(Received 19 November 1994)
The purpose of this paper is to survey the different investigations about cracking behaviour in zinc
coatings, due to deformation. Different forming tests have been carded out on electrodeposited and hot-
dipped zinc coatings. Generally, agreement in the results has been found. The texture gives a good
indication about the cracking behaviour of zinc coatings. Thus, texture determination should be
performed systematically in examinations relating to the cracking behaviour.
KEY WORDS: Zinc coating, cracking, coating failures.

INTRODUCTION
Zinc based coatings are widely used for corrosion protection of steel-sheet products
[Habraken, 1978]. However, there are some significant problems that need to be solved
concerning the forming of coated sheet steels. The two most significant problems are
those of the coating effect in friction [Hylton et al., 1992], [Hylton, Van Tyne, Matlock,
1993], [Shaffer et al., 1990] and coating damage during forming, depending on the
flow and fracture behaviour of the coating material. Characterization of the coating
in terms of its microstructure and texture would be a first step in understanding the
forming characteristics of coated sheet steels.
The formability of zinc layer is influenced by many factors such as formability
behaviour of the substrate, existence of an intermetallic layer between the steel substrate
and the zinc coating, zinc texture, grain size of zinc grains, coating hardness, surface
roughness as well as quality and quantity of alloying elements in zinc. In particular
the texture in the zinc coating influences the forming, due to the anisotropic deformation
behaviour of zinc.
This paper gives a review of examinations relating to the cracking behaviour in zinc
coatings during forming. First theoretical considerations on deformation behaviour are
given. After a short reference to the coating process, the experimental observation of
cracking behaviour- especially depending on deformation in pure zinc coatings- will
be discussed.

131
 132 S. LAZIK ET AL.

DEFORMATION MODES OF ZINC

Slip, twinning, and cracking are the deformation modes to accommodate the strain states
in zinc.
The predominant slip mode in zinc is basal slip (0001) along the <110> directions
[Davis and Teghtsoonian, 1963]. The 11.2} < 1123 > slip system (pyramidal slip) was
also observed in zinc [Bell and Cahn, 1957].
Twinning occurs on the {1012} planes and the twinning shear directions are
<1011>. For zinc, twinning is favoured by compression parallel and tension normal
to the c-axis. Thus, unlike slip, twinning is very dependent on the sense of the stress
applied [Partridge, 1967]. One effect of twinning is that grains unfavourably oriented
for slip will be reoriented into a more favourable position [Clark and Craig, 1952].
The stress required to activate the deformation modes in hexagonal metals is higly
dependent on the orientation of the stress axis and can be described by Schmid’s law:
o On cos q cos A, (1)
where o denotes the shear stress resolved on the slip or twin system and o the applied
stress, q is the angle between the stress axis and slip or twin plane normal and
the angle between the stress axis and slip or twinning direction.
,
If cracking occurs in zinc at a critical stress state, two cracking mechanisms are
possible, cleavage and intergranular cracking [Mei and Morris, 1993]. Cleavage in a
zinc single crystal was observed to occur exclusively on the basal plane (0001)
[Deruyttere and Greenough, 1955-1956], [Gilman, 1955] because of its larger than ideal
c/a ratio (1.856>1.633). Intergranular cracking in metals usually results from both grain
boundary movement at high temperature and residual element segregation at grain
boundaries. At room temperature, grain boundary movement is unlikely during
deformation with relatively high speed. Moreover, twin-interface cracking has been
observed in hexagonal metals subjected to cyclic stresses [Partridge, 1965].
Behaviour of a zinc-coated steel sheet under tension stress:
In the case of prism texture (c-axis parallel to the sheet plane) twinning is impossible
for those grains with their c-axis parallel to the tensile axis (shortening of the
c-axis), and either cleavage or intergranular cracking will occur. For the extreme
case in which the c-axes of all grains are normal to the tensile axis, twinning occurs
under tensile stress rather than cleavage.
In the case of a basal texture (c-axis normal to the sheet plane) twinning or
Schmid factor cos q cos ,
intergranular cracking occurs (cleavage is impossible because the geometrical
vanishes). As a result of lattice orientation changes
caused by twinning, basal slip will be improved. The c-axis, which is normal to
the sheet plane in the untwinned crystal, changes in twinned crystal to become
almost parallel to the sheet plane that means prismatic texture.
In comparison, a basal-textured coating is more resistant against cracking than a prism-
textured one [Mei and Morris, 1993].
Behaviour of a zinc-coated sheet steel under stamping and friction loads:
In the case of a prism texture alone twinning cannot occur because it causes
elongation along the sheet plane normal. Cleavage is not possible, because the
resolved normal stress on the basal plane is zero. If the coating/tool interface is
not well lubricated, frictional force can cause cracking.
 CRACKING IN ZINC LAYERS 133

In the case of a basal texture, twinning occurs under stamping, which orientates
grains for possible cleavage cracking by the frictional force.
Again, a basal-textured coating is more suitable to resist cracking than a prism-textured
one [Mei and Morris, 1993].
When considering the orientation of the c-axis in relation to the stress-axis, it can
be stated that:
cleavages takes place when the c-axis is parallel to the tensile axis;
twinning occurs when the c-axis is either parallel to the compression axis or normal
to the tensile axis;
neither twinning nor cleavage occurs when the c-axis is normal to the compression
axis.

COATING PROCESS
Commercial production of coated low carbon sheet steels is carded out by either hot-
dipping or electroplating [Townsend et al., 1986]; [Wamecke et al., 1990]; [Marder,
1990]. Various kinds of zinc coating textures can be produced by various processes
and by adjusting the processing parameters such as steel composition, substrate texture,
additives in deposition bath, bath temperature, electrodeposition current density, holding
time, cooling rate etc. Due to several microstructural and textural characteristics, the
coatings show different cracking frequency depending on the coating process.
Different intermetallic phases, which can develop during hot-dip galvanizing,
influence the bonding between zinc and steel substrate and the subsequent deformation
behaviour. The phases are indicated on the iron-zinc phase diagram (Figure 1). The

Weight percent Zinc

20 40 60 00 100
1538C
1500
%

1300

1100

900 112C
77o’c ( Fo, Fo) 7e2’c
700 623 eC
Magnetic transferlnatlen
500

300
0 20 40 60 8O 100
Fe Atemic percent Zinc Zo
Figure 1 Fe-Zn equilibrium phase diagram [Kubaschewski, 1986].
134 S. LAZIK ET AL.

phase is a solid solution of zinc in iron. The intermetallic phase located closest to
the iron substrate is the F phase (75at.% Zn, 25at.% Fe). The 5 phase (90at.% Zn,
10.at% Fe) is next to develop, followed by the phase (94 at.% Zn, 6 at.% Fe) [Cameron,
Harvey, Ormay, 1965]. The last phase found on the surface of the coating is the rl
phase (solid solution of iron in zinc) which solidifies as a cast dentritic structure (Table
1) [Marder, 1990].

Table 1 Zn-Fe phases, by [Marder, 1990].

Phase Formula Crystal structure
1 Zn(Fe) hcp
FeZn3 monoclinic
5 FeZn hexagonal
17’ FeZn fcc
F Fe3Zn0 bcc
0 Fe(Zn) bcc

The thickness of the intermetallic phases depends on the diffusion of iron into the zinc
coating and is a function of bath temperature, dip time, as well as of alloying elements.
In several cases, a few microcracks have been found in hot-dip coatings fight after
the processing [Makimatilla, Ranta-Eskola, 1984], [Deits, 1990]. It has been reported
that hot dip coating cracks may nucleate from cracks observed in the relatively brittle
zinc-iron interface [Stevenson, 1985], [Gronostajski and Ali, 1988]. It has been
recognized that powdering resistance decreases with the increase of Fe content within
coating layer. Nevertheless, there is no unanimous agreement yet about which
intermetallic phase 5 or F causes powdering. However, Chang (1990) has shown
that the 5 phase is responsible for the loss of coating during deformation. Measurements
of hardness and total crack length have confirmed, that the 5 phase is the harder one
[Foct, lost, Reumont, 1993].
A major orientation of hot dipped zinc is {0001}<uvtw> and a minor one
100 <0001 > for minimized spangle [Takechi et al., 1981 ]. But further investigation
[Vlad, Dahms and Bunge, 1988] has shown that a (0001) fibre texture in the zinc phase
of galfan- and hot-dip galvanized sheet steels is formed when no alloy layer exists
between the iron and the zinc. The formation of an alloy layer between the zinc and
the iron seems to be favoured by the presence of the (113)[10] and (557)[10] texture
components at the expense of the 111 }<110> texture component. A strong texture
component <111> parallel to the normal direction will induce a larger zinc volume
(0001) parallel to the sheet surface.
The electrogalvanizing process is conducted at a temperature close to room
temperature. Intermetallic layers are not produced in the coating. A bond is formed
between the Fe and Zn by sharing electrons at the interface [Rangarajan, 1989]. In
commercial electrogalvanized sheet steels the texture of the zinc grains has a relationship
to the iron substrate texture because of the interfacial lattice coincidence between zinc
and iron crystals, as can be seen in Figure 2. The closest packed planes and directions
of both lattices, the 110 < 111 > for iron and the 0001 < 110> for zinc, are nearly
in coincidence. Takechi et al. (1981) have found that substrates with a higher Lankford
coefficient (i.e. higher concentration of 111 planes parallel to the sheet surface) induce
 CRACKING IN ZINC LAYERS 135

{110} Fe// {0001} Zn

< 111 > Fe//< 1120 > Zn

(110) iron
0001) zinc

Figure 2 Interfacial lattice coincidence between zinc and iron crystals [Takechi et al., 1981].

a 103 }<110> main orientation in the zinc. By decreasing Lankford coefficient the
1013 preferred planes shift to {0001 }, which is very commonly found in the case
of coatings on amorphous iron substrate. A 100 texture in cold rolled steel favoured
a 1120} texture in the coating [Lindborg, 1975].

EXPERIMENTAL OBSERVATION

Deformation behaviour of zinc coatings

Two commercial zinc electrodeposits were studied before and after 25% uniform tensile
elongation by [Shaffer, Morris, Wenk, 1990]. The first coating (Figure 3a) shows very
little changes in texture after deformation, while the second one in 3b exhibits changes
of the basal planes, both towards sheet normal (moved towards center) and away from
tensile axis. SEM studies have shown that in the first coating with the majority of
basal planes 55 to 75 degree inclined from the sheet plane, straining was primarily
accommodated by intergranular cracking. In the second coating, slip and rotation of
grains result in a change of texture.
Pak, Lin and Meshii (1989) found cracking in commercial, coatings exhibiting a
majority of basal planes nearly perpendicular (85 degrees or more) to the sheet plane.
Little cracking has been found in coatings with pyramidal orientations (basal planes
40 to 70 degrees to the sheet).
Nine commercial pure zinc electrogalvanized steel sheets (coating weight between
40/40 to 90/90 g/m2) were studied with three testing methods, axisymmetric stretch
forming test, the drawbead test, and the tensile test, in the work by Pak and Meshii
(1990a). Two classes of deformation behaviour, cracking and non cracking, were found
136 S. LAZIK ET AL.

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 CRACKING IN ZINC LAYERS 137

independent of the testing method. Figure 4 shows the intensity as a function of the
,
basal plane inclination angle before (a) and after (b) tensile deformation. The non-
cracking specimens have a maximum intensity around 30 which is shifted to the left
after deformation and becomes fiat, indicating that the basal planes tilt further in the
tensile-direction due to shear strain. The maximum for the cracking specimens was
around 90 and changed only little after deformation. That means that less plastic
deformation takes place in the cracking specimens. The cracking group showed a prism
texture (zinc basal plane largely perpendicular to the substrate, (110) is the surface
plane) and the non cracking group a pyramidal texture (zinc basal plane about 30
to the substrate, (1013) is the surface plane).
Nevertheless, Aoki, Horita and Herai (1982) stated that a change in strain path has
a greater influence on the separation of the coating from the substrate than does a single
strain state. Compared to a single state (the flange of partially drawn cups) the separation
of the coating from the substrate has shown to be greater after a change in strain state
(fully drawn cups).
Laboratory deep drawing tests were investigated on three electrogalvanized pure zinc
coatings (coating weights between 60 to 70 g/m2) in the work by Deits and Matlock
(1990). The coatings with favorable (10i3) orientations parallel to the sheet surface
accommodated plastic deformation by slip, related to an orientation shift to (0001). The
coating with unfavorable (1011) orientations has cracked to accommodate substrate
deformation perpendicular to the maximum tensile stress without plastic deformation.
The microstructure of the coating between the cracks was left relatively undeformed
and almost identical to that observed in the as-received condition.
Uniaxial tensile tests (strain rate 0.25/min) were investigated on three
electrogalvanized coatings (coating weights 30, 70 and 100 g/m2) called EG30, EG70
and EG100 respectively by Rangarajan et al. [1989]. The coatings have grains with
112 surface planes, which were favorable for basal plane slip. In Figure 5 the texture
changes due to deformation were monitored. The strong 112} texture, especially on
the surfaces of the heavier coatings (EG100 and EG70), disappears and the {101}
texture stabilizes with strain. Figure 5b shows that the deviation factor of {0002}
becomes more negative with increasing strain in the heavier coatings, while EG30 shows
no change. The ability to accommodate strain by plastic flow prevented cracking in
the electrogalvanized coatings and ensured good substrate coverage, except in the
thinnest coating at high strains.
Draw-bead test, tensile test, V-shaped bending test and drawing test were used to
study the correlation of peeling-off behaviour and press formability of electrogalvanized
steel sheets (coating weight between 10 to 40 g/m2) [Hisamoto et al., 1990]. Peeling-
off is caused by internal cracks and deformation of the coating due to compressive
stress during forming. After the drawing test without compressive stress component,
no peeling-off was observed. Futhermore it was found that the coating hardness,
especially corresponding to an increase in coating weight of more than 20 g/m2,
contributed most to its peeling-off behaviour. The difference in hardness can probably
be due to a difference in texture in the pure zinc coatings. An improvement of cracking
behaviour was made with double layered coatings, which have the ability of mitigating
compressive stress during forming in their components [Hisamoto et al., 1990].
Bending under tension tests of eight pure zinc laboratory electrogalvanized coated
sheet steels (coating weights from 20 to 100 g/m2) with different textures was carded
out to examine the dependence of deformation behaviour on texture, surface morphology
and grain size [Wenzloff, Van Tyne, Matlock, 1993]. Only the coatings with prism
138 S. LAZIK ET AL.

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texture cracked, whereas the coatings with pyramidal textures showed large deformation
regions after the test.
Three different hot-dip galvanized sheets were submitted to a complex roll forming
operation, which induces tensile strains, in the work by Rangarajan et al. [1990]. Due
to different spangle sizes and textures, the coatings showed different cracking
characteristics by deformation. The coating with relatively large spangle size and a
moderate basal plane texture accommodates strain by a combination of plastic flow
and cracking. Due to slip, the crack faces showed little separation. The second coating
with comparable spangle size but strong basal plane texture accommodated strain
primarily by the development of large, wide cracks with limited associated plastic flow.
The third coating with the smallest spangle size and dominant basal plane texture,
exhibited extensive fine cracking. The crack widths were smaller than in the second
sample [Rangarajan et al., 1990].
Laboratory deep drawing at hot-dip galvanized sheets [Deits, 1990] showed a few
cracks with aluminium-rich inclusions. However, the cracking adjacent to the inclusions
is oriented perpendicular to the radial direction or maximum tensile stress. Inclusions
have been shown to be sites of crack initiation where decohesion of the particle and
matrix occurs [Gronostajski and All, 1988].
Cracking in zinc coatings may depend not only on the overall texture with respect
to macroscopic stress or strain state, but also on the local grain misorientation, and
the inherent grain boundary strength. Even at favorable inclinations to the sheet plane,
cracking could be expected for clusters of grains whose basal planes were oriented
parallel to the loading direction [Shaffer, Morris, Wenk, 1990]. Such groups of grains
would have zero resolved shear stress on the basal slip system, thus strain
accommodation of these regions would have to be achieved through cracking. However,
since twinning in zinc may be expected to occur for such grains under tension parallel
to the basal planes, it is also possible that the deposition conditions of this particular
coating led to inherently weak grain boundaries. Therefore, local texture measurements
of grain misorientations across the fracture boundaries via TEM may be necessary to
answer these questions.
The effect of grain size on cracking behaviour was found to be secondary to that
of texture although larger grains tend to promote some cracking [Pak and Meshii, 1990a].
The previously described observations of deformation of zinc coated steel sheets have
been summarized in Table 2.
With electrogalvanized sheets, it can be seen that cracking occurs for inclinations
of basal plane larger than 65 to the sheet surface. For inclinations lower than 65
plastic deformation in the coating prevents cracking. These results were obtained after
different deformation tests. The different cracking behaviour at an inclination of the
basal plane of 65 could be due to the different applicated deformation tests. Therefore,
an inclination of about 65 seems to constitute a borderline case.
Generally a basal plane texture exists in hot dip coatings. Cracking was found in
all cases described after different deformation tests. Microstructural investigations have
shown that this is especially due to cracking in the brittle intermetallic.
Nevertheless, as can be seen in Table 2, tests were examined on various ways and
are not always comparable with each other. For a better comparison of results, it would
be necessary to have similar experimental procedure tests. In particular texture
investigations should be introduced into observation programs. Futhermore,
microstructural characterisations may be useful.
 CRACKING IN ZINC LAYERS 141

Table 2 Results of observations.

Coating Surface Inclination of Defomation Deformation Reference
type plane basal plane test behaviour
to sheet
surface I1
Electrogalv. (1120) 90 axisymmetric stretch cracking Pak and Meshii
forming test, (1990a)
drawbead test,
tensile test
Electrogalv. (10i0)+ 90 bending under tension Wenzloff, Van Tyne,
(1120) friction test Matlock (1993)

Electrogalv. 75 tensile test intergranular Shaffer, Morris,

cracking Wenk (1990)

Electrogalv. (10[ 1) 65 laboratory deep cracking Deits (1990)

drawing Deits and
(tensile stress) Matlock, (1990)

Electrogalv. 65 tensile test sip Shaffer, Morris,

Wenk (1990)

Electrogalv. 1122 60 uniaxial tensile tests slip Rangarajan et al.

(1989)
bending under plastic flow Wenzloff, Van Tyne,
tension friction test Matlock (1993)

Electrogalv. (1013) 35 axisymmetric stretch slip Pak and Meshii

forming test, drawbead (1990a)
test, tensile test
laboratory deep Deits (1990)
drawing (tensile stress)
bending under tension Wenzloff, Van Tyne,
friction test Matlock (1993)
bending under tension Rangarajan,
strip drawing test Matlock and Krauss
(friction stress) (1990)
deep drawing Deits and
Matlock, (1990)

Eletrogalv. (1013)+ 35 + 90 bending under tension plastic flow Wenzloff, Van Tyne,
(1120) friction test Matlock (1993)

Hot-dip (0002) bending under tension cracking Rangarajan,

strip drawing test Matlock and
(friction stress) Krauss (1990)
Hot dip moderate complex roll forming plastic flow Rangarajan et al.
(0002) (tensile strain) and cracking (1990)
texture

strong cracking
(0OO2)
texture

Hot-dip laboratory deep cracking Deits (1990)

drawing without and
(tensile stress) with Al-rich
inclusions
2 $. LAZIK ET AL.

Alloy elements
Research in the past few years has shown that Zn-alloy coatings perform better in
atmospheric corrosion tests than pure zinc. The predominant hot dip zinc-alloy coatings
include the galvannealed coating which is made up of Zn-Fe alloys [Shi et al., 1990]
as well as Galfan (5% A1) and Galvalume (50% A1) coatings- which are Zn-A1 alloy
coatings [Dreulle et al., 1985] of various compositions. As in the case of hot dip coatings,
they are electroplated Zn-alloy coatings.
Makimatilla and Ranta-Eskola (1984) have shown that the Galvalume and Galfan
coatings perform better than pure zinc hot dip coatings under biaxial stretching.
Therefore, texture changes should been studied under tests simulating industrial
conditions.
In electrodeposited heat treated iron-zinc alloys (11 and 18 wt.% iron) cracks have
occured along the coating, so that the coating appears very blocky [Drewien, Ackland,
Marder, 1990]. When heated to temperatures of 300C or more the coatings show cracks
perpendicular to the coating/substrate interface. A slower cooling rate helps maintain
the coatings integrity, but cracking still occurs. It has been found that cracks are
associated with asperities and grain boundaries in the substrate. Similar observatioris
have been made in the work by Deits and Matlock (1990). The cracks in the substrate
were shown to be a consequence of the galvannealing process on the integrity of ferrite
grain boundaries. Gupta, Cline and Patil (1984) have stated that microcracks in the
coating caused propagation of cracks into the substrate at ferrite grain boundaries with
increasing strain. Substantial diffusion of zinc in iron had occurred especially at the
grain boundaries. The chemical composition of substrate may influence the diffusion
of zinc to the ferrite grain boundaries as was indicated by Allegra, Hart and Townsend
(1983). This would influence the deformation behaviour of the substrate.
Beside the above mentioned Zn-alloys there are alloying elements in a small quantity
which may influence the forming and corrosion behaviour of the zinc coatings. The
metals co-deposited with zinc may include iron, nickel, chromium, cobalt and
molybdenum, either singly or in combination [Rangarajan, 1989]. Alloying elements
in the steel substrate may influence the forming of hot dipped coatings. A small content
of S in the iron substrate influences the thickness of the intermetallic layer, especially
the -phase, and causes the so-called Sandelin effect. That means that, at a Si
concentration of about 0.07 wt%, the coating may be several times thicker [Foct,
Reumont, Perrot, 1993]. C and P in the steel substrate delay the alloying reaction between
zinc and iron while Ti and Ni promote it [Lin, Chiou and Meshii, 1993]. A1 in the
Zn-bath moderates the alloying in the interphase by forming an Fe-A1 or Fe-A1-Zn
intermetallic compound at the beginning of galvanizing a so-called inhibition layer [Lin,
Chiou, Meshii, 1993] and contributes to limiting the growth of the intermetallic layer
[Hughes, 1951], [Bablik, 1950], [Haughton, 1953]. At an Al-content of 0.144% in the
Zn-bath and a immersion time less than 30s the thickness of the inhibition layer became
thin, and discrete distributed crystallites exist in the interface [Tang, Adams, 1993].
The addition of the Antimony, especially in electrogalvanized coatings, produces a
smoother surface [Wenzloff, Van Tyne, Matlock, 1993]. A prismatic texture formed
by addition of Cd causes low friction coefficient but an increased tendency to cracking
in the Zn-coating [Shaffer et al., 1990].
The size of the spangles influences the fracture behaviour of coatings. A small spangle
size is preferred in many applications. The addition of lead, tin and cadmium are made
to the zinc bath to control the spangle size. A low Pb content in the bath promotes
minimum spangle or spangle free appearance. The presence of aluminium decreases
the spangle size. An addition of antimony increases spangle density and improves the
 CRACKING IN ZINC LAYERS 143

quality, lustre and uniformity of the coating [Rangarajan, 1989], [Deits, 1990].
The difference in the type of cracking observed indicates that by controlling the
orientation of the solidification structure, intraspangular cracking may be avoided. To
reduce the interspangular cracking, the cleanliness of the solidifying zinc would be
important to reduce alloy segregation at spangle boundaries and thus limit crack
nucleation sites [Deits,. 1990].

MODELS OF CRACK FORMING

Various models depicting the deformation characteristics of the coatings were presented
by Deits and Matlock, (1990). The substrate is assumed to deform isotropically and
the zinc coating anisotropically.
Cracking due to tensile stress is illustrated by the model in Figure 6. Stage 1 shows
the stresses developing in the coating to accommodate tensile strains applied in the
substrate, transferring a tensile stress concentration to the coating through shear stresses
at the coating/substrate interface. When a critical stress state is obtained at the interface,
the coating cracks, and the crack propagates towards the surface (stage 2). Since the
tensile stresses in the coating have been relieved by cracking, the coating acts as an

Figure 6 Three-stage schematic drawing showing the steps leading to coating cracking due to imposed
tensile strains [Deits, 1990].
144 S. LAZIK ET AL.

elastic body and provides enough rigidity to withstand the shear stresses applied at
the coating/substrate interface. As tensile deformation continues the shear stresses
applied at the interface reach a critical value causing separation between the coating
and substrate followed by relieving of stresses. Only a small region that remains attached
to the substrate is not influenced by the shear stresses and will not completely separate
from the substrate (stage 3).
A mechanism for denting/cracking of Galfan during solidification is schematically
illustrated in Figure 7 [Bluni and Marder, 1993]. Due to a shortage of liquid between
adjacent growing eutectic nodules which causes a surface depression and a segregation
of impurities such as Pb (t l) the grain boundary areas should be weak and impure
in comparison to the bulk coating. When solidification and cooling stresses are induced
(t2), cracking will occur within these grain boundaries (t3). This so-called denting is
associated with subsequent cracking during deformation.
An analytical method to calculate the stress distributions and microcracking behaviour

Growth Direction Growth Direction

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Figure 7 Three-stage schematic drawing showing the steps leading to denting/cracking on Galfan
(tl<t2<t3) [Bluni, Marder, 1993].
 CRACKING IN ZINC LAYERS 145

of the zinc coatings, based on the shear analysis, is given by Pak and Meshii (1990b).

SUMMARY
The texture of the zinc coating influences the cracking behaviour during deformation,
due to the anisotropic deformation behaviour.
It has been stated in theoretical consideration, that cracks, caused by cleavage, take
place when the c-axis is parallel to the tensile axis. If the c-axis is normal to the
compression axis neither twinning nor cleavage occurs.
According to the forming test there are various parts of tensile, compression and
sliding stresses that operate simultaneous in the zinc coating. Differences in the
elongation or flow behaviour of substrate and coating may induce shear stresses in the
interface. Alloying elements in zinc usually change the mechanical properties and
therefore the deformation behaviour of zinc. Therefore, the cracking behaviour of zinc
coatings has to be considered as complex.
The texture determines primarily the deformation and cracking behaviour in zinc
coatings. If no plastic deformation is possible in the zinc because of an unfavourable
texture, cracks have to accommodate substrate deformation. Such unfavourable textures
have shown to be prism textures where the basal plane is tilted 90 to the sheet surface,
but also the 1011 texture with their basal planes tilted 65 to sheet surface. In coatings
with favourable textures plastic flow occurs, which leads to texture changes.
The grain size effect on cracking behaviour is of secondary order when compared
to texture, but larger grains tend to promote cracking.
Especially in the hot dip zinc coatings, if extensive cracking has been found, this
is not only due to a basal plane texture, which has been observed in several cases,
but also to the intermetallic layer, which nucleates cracks during the deformation. The
intensity of cracking increases with an increasing thickness of the intermetallic layer.
In general, if the same textures in zinc occurred, similar results of deformation
behaviour were found despite diffferent test methods.

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