Overview
ISO 14713-2:2019 - Zinc coatings - Guidelines and recommendations for the protection against corrosion of iron and steel in structures - Part 2: Hot dip galvanizing - provides practical guidance on design and fabrication to ensure effective corrosion protection by hot dip galvanizing. It focuses on components galvanized after fabrication (e.g., to ISO 1461) and complements product-specific standards (such as EN 1090-2), but excludes continuous wire or sheet coatings (e.g., EN 10346).
This standard is intended to help designers, fabricators and galvanizers optimize parts for immersion in the molten zinc bath (≈450 °C) and to reduce risks such as poor coating coverage, distortion or safety hazards.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Design for hot dip galvanizing: recommendations on geometry, venting, drainage and preferred profiles to enable complete wetting and prevent trapped air or zinc. Annex A illustrates preferred designs.
- Surface preparation: requirements for cleaning, grit blasting and removal of contaminants (e.g., graphite on castings or silica after annealing) to achieve a high-quality coating.
- Procedures related to fabrication: guidance on lifting points, racks/jigs, single vs. multiple dips and considerations for hollow sections to ensure internal and external coating.
- Material and process effects: treatment of castings, influence of steel composition and surface roughness, and effects of thermal cutting and welding on coating quality.
- Stress and cracking issues: discussion of internal stresses, distortion during galvanizing, hydrogen embrittlement, strain-age embrittlement and liquid metal assisted cracking - with advice to minimize risk through design and pre-treatment.
- Storage, transport and after-treatments: recommendations to protect the article before and after galvanizing and to consider duplex systems (galvanizing + paint) where applicable.
- Health & safety: strong emphasis on venting sealed compartments to avoid explosion risk during immersion.
Practical applications and target users
ISO 14713-2 is useful for:
- Structural and civil engineers designing steelwork for buildings, bridges and infrastructure
- Fabricators and workshops producing assemblies to be hot dip galvanized
- Galvanizing plants and process engineers planning baths, handling and pre/post treatments
- Procurement/specifiers writing corrosion-protection requirements
- Corrosion and quality inspectors assessing coating integrity
Practical benefits include improved coating coverage, fewer reworks, lower coating defects, safer galvanizing operations and longer service life of steel structures.
Related standards
- ISO 1461 - Hot dip galvanized coatings on fabricated iron and steel articles
- EN 1090-2 - Execution of steel structures (relevant product/manufacture requirements)
- EN 10346 - Continuous zinc-coated steel (note: excluded from ISO 14713-2 scope)
For implementation, consult the full ISO 14713-2:2019 text and coordinate early with your galvanizer to align design and production with galvanizing capabilities.