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Welding galvanized steel is dangerous due to fumes generated by excessive heat. The process involves high temperatures, which vaporize the zinc coating, and waiting to galvanize after welding is safer but less efficient. Galvanized steel is widely used and often needs to be welded for outdoor applications.
Welding galvanized steel is a process where the welder operator fuses together two pieces of steel that have undergone the galvanizing process to prevent oxidation. Welding galvanized steel is often considered one of the most dangerous types of welding due to the fumes generated by excessive heat applied to the galvanized steel layer during the welding process. The danger associated with welding galvanized steel often requires the welder operator to be more experienced than a typical MIG or TIG welder, even though the basics of the welding process are largely the same.
The process of welding two pieces of steel takes place at an extremely high temperature. The heat generated by an arc in the welding process often needs to exceed 15,000 degrees Fahrenheit (8,315 degrees Celsius) to be hot enough to melt steel, which has a melting temperature of just over 2,400 degrees F (1,315 degrees C) . The problem encountered when welding a piece of galvanized steel is that the temperature at which the zinc is vaporized is less than 1,000 degrees F (537 degrees C), which means that when the weld temperature has been reached, the coating of zinc at the weld point has been completely vaporized from the workpiece.
Due to the zinc vaporization problem, there are some methods of welding galvanized steel that involve waiting to galvanize the pieces until the weld has formed. This means that the galvanizing process is applied after the welding has taken place, so there is less danger in welding. This method, however, requires weld protection during galvanizing.
Due to time constraints and the need for efficiency in many manufacturing environments, however, this process of welding and then galvanizing has not been used as much as conventional methods of welding galvanized steel involving steel. While the danger is still present when welding a piece of steel that has been galvanized, it is often still a necessary choice due to the fact that many fabrication facilities do not have the necessary equipment to galvanize the material after welding.
Galvanized steel has been used in thousands of different applications since it was discovered that coating steel with zinc created a rust resistant material. It has even been used to create rust-resistant cables for suspension bridges, which are exposed to the elements perhaps more than in any other application. Due to the increased use of galvanized steel, many items that have been galvanized also need to be welded together to create parts for use in outdoor applications, and welding from galvanized steel has also become more common.
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