Sandelin Effect

The chemistry of your steel substrate dictates the quality of your galvanizing. The Sandelin Effect describes a specific range of Silicon content (roughly 0.05% to 0.15%) where the iron-zinc reaction becomes hyper-reactive. In this "Sandelin Zone," the intermetallic layers grow uncontrollably fast, resulting in a dull, gray, and extremely brittle coating. For a Manager, checking the mass spectrometer data for Silicon levels is the first step in preventing this defect.