The corrosion performance of Zn–Mg(1–2%)–Al(1–2%) (ZMA) coatings has been compared to zinc–iron alloy (galvannealed, GA) and zinc–aluminum coating (Zn–5Al, Galfan) as well as to conventional zinc coatings produced by hot‐dip galvanization (HDG) and electrogalvanization (EG). For this purpose, cosmetic samples (painted and uncoated) and hem‐flange panels were produced. Their corrosion performance was compared in three different accelerated corrosion tests, as regularly used by the automotive industry, e.g., VDA621‐415, N‐VDA (VDA233‐102), and Volvo STD 423‐0014. As can be concluded from our results, the behavior of ZMA coatings was strongly dependent on the testing conditions as well as on the configuration of the samples. The advantageous effect of ZMA coating was more pronounced in open situations than in confined ones, irrespective of the testing conditions. ZMA coatings provided a significant improvement in comparison to conventional coatings in tests involving a significant salt load such as VDA621‐415 or neutral salt spray especially on cosmetic configurations. By contrast, the beneficial effect of ZMA coatings was less obvious in tests with lower salt load (VDA233‐102, Volvo STD423‐0014), particularly when considering cosmetic corrosion on painted samples and corrosion in confinement. Interestingly, no significant differences were observed between samples with varying Al and Mg content in the metallic coating (1–2% each). The results were compared to data from field exposure at stationary sites.

This study was designed to investigate the effect of nanostructured TiO2 coatings on human gingival fibroblast and to explore the influence of ultraviolet (UV) light on surface wettability and cellular response. Ti‐6Al‐4V titanium alloy discs (n = 96) were divided into three groups: a sol–gel‐derived MetAlive™ (MA) coating; hydrothermal (HT) coating; and a non‐coated (NC) group. Forty‐eight titanium substrates were further treated with UV light for 15 min. The water contact angles of the substrates were measured using the sessile drop method. Human gingival fibroblasts were used to evaluate the cell adhesion strength and cell proliferation on experimental surfaces. The strength of cell adhesion against enzymatic detachment was studied after 6 hr of adhesion using gentle trypsinization for 15 min at room temperature. A fluorescence microscope was used for cell imaging (Zeiss‐stereo‐lumar‐v12), and images were analyzed for cell counting, and the percentage of detached cells were calculated. The proliferation of cultured cells up to 10 days was determined according to the cell activity using Alamar Blue™assay. The HT group had the lowest contact angle value (31.1°) followed by MetAlive™ (35.3°), whereas the NC group had the highest contact angle (50.3°). After UV light treatment, all surfaces become considerably more hydrophilic. There was a significant difference in the amount of adherent cells between sol–gel and HT groups when compared with the NC group (p < .05) with detachment percentages of 35.8%, 36.4%, and 70.7%, respectively. All substrate types showed an increase in cell proliferation rate until 10 days. It can be concluded that nanostructured titanium oxide implant surfaces, obtained by sol–gel and HT coating methods, enhance the surface wettability and improve human gingival fibroblast function in terms of adhesion and proliferation rate when compared with non‐coated surfaces. UV light treatment clearly enhances the wettability of all titanium surfaces.

Hot-dipped galvanised (HDG) steel and Zn5Al-coated steel were exposed for 6 years at different atmospheric weathering sites worldwide. The mass loss of the coatings has been measured after 1, 2, 4 and 6 years of exposure. In addition, corrosion products have been determined using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy. It is shown that Zn5Al is better than HDG-steel independently on the exposure duration and location. The mass loss of Zn5Al is also less dependent of the environmental parameters (such as chloride deposition, relative humidity and temperature) than HDG-steel. The ratio of performance after 6 years of exposure varied from 1.3 to 5.1 with the mean value of 3.1. The analyses of the corrosion products indicate the formation of protective Zn/Al -CO 2− 3 layered double hydroxide (LDH) and sulphate-containing corrosion products of Zn and Al after 6 years of exposure. A mechanism explaining the superior properties of Zn5Al is proposed.

The present intention to reach fossil-free steel manufacturing will inevitably result in an increase in the use of steel scrap as a raw material for steel production. Consequently, the amounts of elements, seen as impurities, will increase in steels. This has already been seen in electric arc furnace (EAF) processed steels, where the Cu and Sn levels have doubled in some cases after 1980’s. This may cause problems, as it is well-known, that some impurity elements have harmful effects on the properties of steel. This has been widely studied in low-alloy steels containing chromium and molybdenum which are widely used in components for the petroleum and electrical power generation applications. However, limited number of studies have been performed on formable steel grades, and the published reports/articles have mostly concentrated on the effects of P and B. Thus, there is still a need to understand the roles of other impurity elements. In the present study, a formable C-Mn steels containing additions (either individually or in combination) of Cu and Sn is investigated. The samples were cold rolled and annealed following typical time-temperature profiles of modern continuous annealing lines. Mechanical and forming properties (incl. bending and cupping tests) are determined as well as elemental profile analysis is conducted. The results identify that minor additions of impurity elements, in this case Cu and Sn, does not affect the mechanical and forming properties of low alloyed formable steel grades considerably.

Three commercial cold rolled Al‐killed steels were investigated to study the effect of annealing conditions on the crystallographic texture and the resulting plastic anisotropy. The heating rates, maximum temperatures and isothermal holding times were varied in 18 laboratory scale thermal cycles applied to all steels. The annealed and skin‐passed samples were tensile tested to determine mechanical properties and anisotropy parameters. Grain structures and average grain sizes were examined by an optical microscope and the textures were measured by X‐ray diffraction. It was found that the chemical composition of the steel had a significant effect on the texture and normal anisotropy obtained at certain heating rates. The differences between the current steels were discussed in the light of the competition between the kinetics of AIN precipitation and recrystallization. Excess heating rates led to a low normal anisotropy, which was not improved by extending the isothermal time of annealing. Pancake grain structure and the grain size larger than 20 mm were found to be indicators of the properly chosen heating rate and resulting in high normal anisotropy. At the proper heating rate high normal anisotropy was attained at low annealing temperatures and in short isothermal times, but a longer isothermal annealing was required to obtain a low yield strength.