Process and advantages and disadvantages of weathering steel plate

Weather-resistant steel, that is, atmospheric corrosion resistant steel, is a low alloy steel series between ordinary steel and stainless steel. The weather-resistant plate is made of ordinary carbon steel adding a small amount of copper, nickel and other corrosion resistant elements, and the weather-resistance is 2 to 8 times that of ordinary carbon steel, and the coating property is 1.5 to 10 times that of ordinary carbon steel.

Weathering Steel with "Corrosion resistance" (corrosion resistance) and "Tensile strength" (tensile strength) abbreviation for the brand name "COR-TEN" is the most known, so the English often "Corten Steel" for weathering steel. Unlike stainless steel, which can not rust at all, weathering steel only oxidizes the surface and does not penetrate deep into the interior, which has anti-corrosion characteristics like copper or aluminum.

Weathering steel barbecue

Why can weathering steel rust and not rot?

Weathering steel is different from ordinary steel, in the beginning, it will rust on the surface like ordinary steel. Due to its high degree of alloy, this process is even faster than ordinary steel. However, because the lattice inside the weathering steel is more complex, a dark dense rust layer will grow under the loose rust on the surface. In this dense layer of rust, nickel atoms replace some of the iron atoms, making the rust layer cation selective and resistant to corrosive anions.

It is this dense layer of rust that makes the weathering steel rust on the surface, but the interior will not continue to rust. In fact, as long as you carefully distinguish, you can see that the surface of weathering steel is not the same as ordinary rust: the rust of weathering steel is uniform and dense, close to the surface of the steel to protect the steel; Rust, on the other hand, is patchy, loose and porous, and will be slag off when touched